How to Create Custom Stock Watchlists Using E-trade

Trading on the stock exchange can be a challenging experience for a new investor. Many tools are available to help do-it-yourself traders, but sometimes, they are not easy to find and use. This article details how to easily create custom watchlists using the E-trade website in order to track stocks from different companies.

Sign up for an E-trade Financial account and deposit the money that you wish to invest. While waiting for the funds to transfer, begin researching the companies that you are considering investing in. This area is found under the "Quotes and Research" tab.

To add the stock to a watchlist, there are two options. From the "snapshot" screen of the company's stock, there is a link on the right-hand side of the screen under "Quick Links" for "Add to Watchlist." Clicking this link will add the stock to your generic watchlist.

Finding the watchlist can be a challenge and when we do find it, we will address the second method for creating custom watchlists. Click the "Trading & Portfolios" tab and then click the "Portfolios" sub-tab. Once you have purchased some stock, it will be displayed on this screen. Now, click the dropdown box beside "Account/Watchlist." There is an option on this list labeled "Investments to Watch." Selecting this option will present a screen displaying all of the stocks that have been added to the generic watchlist.

Let's say you want to group these stocks into categories, for example, breweries. This is very easy to do. Beside the dropdown box, there is a link for "Create / Edit List." Click "create." Step 1 on this screen is to give your watchlist a name. We'll name it "Breweries." Step 2 has a box where the stock symbols, or ticker symbols may be typed or copy/pasted from another source. Try adding these symbols (without the quotes) "ABV,BUD,SAM,TAP,PMID,HOOK", and then click the button labeled, "Add Holding Information."

From the dropdown box, you will now have the option to view the stocks that you own, the generic watchlist, and any other watchlist that has been created. For an easy way to find different stocks from companies in similar industries, use Google and search for terms like "breweries stock" or "automotive manufacturer stock." Have fun, but invest your time and money wisely.

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