There are several places where you can find free stock charts online.  These are great resources for anyone learning how to read stock charts and trade the stock market.  They provide up-to-date information, and some of them even provide up-to-the-minute information during the trading day.

First, one of the most well known, and frequently used sites is StockCharts.com.  This website is pretty straight foward.  You go to the “free charts” tab, and you have several different types of charts to choose from.  Their SharpCharts are great for general market, and specific stock research.  As the name seems to imply, they are very easy to read and study, and have a wide variety of indicators that can be added to them to enhance the chart.

Another useful site offering free stock charts is BigCharts.com.  This site has a ticker search bar right on the home page, and you choose whether you want to plot a basic, advanced, or interactive chart.  The best option here is the advanced chart, which is also easy to read, like StockCharts.com, and has a lot of options and indicators as well.

These two sites are great, but if you’re looking for free intraday stock charts, then your best bet is FreeStockCharts.com.  When you land on their homepage, you’re already in a charting environment.  If you’ve ever used a broker’s charting platform, you’ll be somewhat familiar with the layout here.  You can create a watch list, load your portfolio, and even hook into your broker.  The charts are highly customizable, and unlike the previous two sites, the data is real-time, not delayed.  This is the closest thing to a real, free (with no log-in required) trading platform you will find.

There are many places you can get free data, though it’s often delayed.  Google & Yahoo have their own charts, though they are not very useful.  The sites above a far more useful for charting stocks, and each has its strengths and weaknesses.  Your final choice will likely rely on your trading style, whether it’s swing, day, or long-term position trading.

An announcement was recently made by the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) that they are undertaking an investigation of high frequency trading (HFT). CESR, who has its headquarters in France, seems to feel that the trading developments that are triggered by this kind of technology need to be watched more closely.

Their investigatory interest is prompted by the fact that the markets seem to be more and more heavily controlled by the big dollars, because high frequency trading is only available to those with deep pockets, involving as it does mega-fast computer systems and powerful servers hosted in close proximity to the various exchanges. The percentages of HFT are alarming, coming in at approximately &0% of the trading in the US and approximately 50% of the activity in the European markets (as reported by the HFT review).

Another concern that CESR has is that high frequency trading is bringing about inequality in the markets, leading to the discouragement of traditional investors and smaller traders. If the market is mostly being controlled by the bigger Wall Street proprietary trading firms that have the funds to actively trade in and out at a rapid pace – at times up to thousands of trades per second – then anyone who does not have this facility is at a disadvantage. To be a major HFT player, you need to invest heavily in technology.

It appears that this will be an on-going investigation and a major debate is now ongoing. It has been noted that there are many traders who want high frequency trading to be eliminated completely. However, the major players with the huge amount of capital to invest continue to use their power to lobby through the government to have this trading activity remain. We are curious to see what the outcome will eventually be. Will the regulators clamp down on the high frequency traders or not? Time will tell!

There has been much debate about whether or not it’s the right time to get back into the stock market. There are many reasons for this. One is that the market has been up between 60% and 80% in the last year, depending on which exchange you’re looking at. Another reason is that while the economy seems to be improving, it has only really been improving for those earning over $100,000 per year. All that said, these stats and situations might be irrelevant if you’re looking for stocks to buy now. Helicopter Ben, otherwise known as Ben Bernake, is likely to print more money if things go south. This could lead to hyperinflation down the road, but that’s not what this article is about. It’s about making money now. And even if Helicopter Ben decides to do the prudent thing and let the economy deflate, there are still some investments that can make money.

One stock with enormous potential is Citigroup. This stock is currently trading at around $4, and there’s a reason for that. Stocks trade at these levels because there are a lot of problems. But, if these problems are slowly cleared up, the stock price will begin to rise. For example, investing in companies with no debt might sound like a great idea, but the potential for that stock to move will be decreased because they won’t have as many problems to solve. This might sound crazy, but it’s the way Wall Street works. It’s also why most people don’t make money investing. As far as Citigroup goes, they just announced they expect to make a profit. There has also been a lot of insider buying in the past six months. And they’re on the ‘too big too fail’ list. Therefore, the upside greatly outweighs the downside.

Another great stock to buy now is Toyota. The runaway Prius in California is beginning to look more like a hoax. Also, what many people don’t realize is that Toyota’s pedal problems are on very few vehicles. The entire issue has been blown out of proportion and the stock has suffered because of it. What was once a $92 stock is now trading at $77. Needless to say, a great investment for those thinking long-term.

There is no guarantee these two positions will lead to gains. They are positions that offer more upside than downside potential.