As a platform for market visualization and trading, Bookmap allows individual traders to get real insight into price direction and to improve their trading timing.
Bookmap was long-awaited in India, and in May 2022 TrueData announced the launch of its strategic partnership with this platform. This meant that a cutting-edge platform was combined with industry-leading low latency data feed for Indian traders. It is available for trading stocks, futures on NSE/MCX, as well as digital currencies.
With this combination, now is certainly the time to see if you have what it takes to become a success at trading. However, before looking at a platform take a step back and ask yourself some fundamental questions first.
Having a solid base is key for success in financial markets. Without a method to approach the market, you will be shooting in the dark. So let’s look at some of the building blocks that will help you construct this base.
What type of trading style or strategy?
A trader should choose how to frame the market with a trading style and strategy, or even combine multiple strategies (but this is recommended for more advanced traders). Not every strategy will work at all times, but it’s a good idea to have some way of structuring your approach to trading the markets. Here are some of the most common.
Intraday Trading
Intraday Trading is a strategy in which the trader purchases and sells securities within a single day, or a single session (e.g. during the opening hours of the NSE).
With this approach, a trader seeks to profit from fluctuations that occur throughout the day. Intraday trading eliminates the risk of gaps in opening and closing prices, since all positions are closed before the end of the trading day.
Scalping
Scalping is a trading strategy that focuses on making profits from small changes in price by buying and selling swiftly.
This requires a speedy internet connection and access to high-quality live market data. The good thing about this strategy is that even if it seems like the market has barely moved in a day, a good scalper could have still made a small but decent profit from the micro swings.
Swing Trading
Swing trading is a strategy that involves entering and exiting trades over multiple days. Traders using this strategy are on the lookout for the bigger swings in market prices, hence the name.
News Trading
News Trading is based on judging market expectations of events and breaking market news. With this kind of strategy, the trader needs to consider the implications of the latest news and trade accordingly. The trader can also attempt to predict the impact of upcoming news events on the market.
While it is a good idea to have a general understanding of market fundamentals and macroeconomic factors, it isn’t absolutely necessary to understand deeply, since the idea is to trade around the price reactions to these events.
Position Trading
Position trading is a strategy that involves holding a security for a much longer time than even swing trading, ignoring volatility and rises and falls within a particular timeframe. This type of trading might miss the potential profits with swings within the market, but will reduce the stress of managing positions, instead trading with a clear target in mind.
Algorithmic Trading
Algorithmic trading is when a strategy is automated, taking the element of human decision out of the equation. Algorithmic trading systems can be anything from market making strategies that trade in and out in seconds, or trend following strategies that track multiple asset classes and hold positions for weeks and months.
Trend Trading
Trend trading strategies play with the old adage slightly, making the idea to “buy high, sell higher” (and vice versa). Trend trading strategies attempt to catch the “fat tails” in financial market returns, but suffer from large drawdowns during choppy markets, making them hard to stick with even though the strategy rules tend to be quite simple.
What is right for your situation?
Ultimately, the purpose of every trading strategy is to make profits and minimise risks. However, it is critical to understand which trading strategy suits you, your personality, and your circumstances.
How much time do you have to devote to trading? Individuals working full-time can find it challenging to keep track of every tick and piece of breaking news in the market. Considering that they have other commitments and have less time to dedicate to the screens, swing trading or position trading is the way to go. Analysing the markets in the evenings or on weekends and modifying orders means they will have the rest of their time to focus on their career.
On the other hand, if you are someone who can focus intently and has swift reaction speeds you might want to try your hand at scalping, intraday trading or news trading. These strategies require quick decision making under pressure.
Choosing a trading strategy can be tough for new traders, because it will define their approach to the market for a long time. This is why it is essential to understand the various factors which can influence your decision of which trading strategy to go with. There are some additional requirements that may affect your decision as to what sort of trader you can become.
Costs
Leaving aside the costs of equipment and internet connections, the cost of trading is also vital. You will need to pay for market data, charting software and brokerage fees. There can also be large differences between trading fees across asset classes and product types.
TrueData Bookmap India has a choice of packages to suit every budget. It offers a free package that is not limited by a trial period, meaning you can use it as long as you want. This gives you access to the Bookmap charting tools and digital currency data from twenty exchanges. If you want to test the waters for shares, it also provides data access to one NSE instrument: Reliance.
Image shows NIFTY : NSE Level 1 data on Bookmap’s platform.
It also offers paying packages. These are competitively priced and the basic package gives you additional access to a limited number of powerful visualisation tools. There is an advanced PRO package that provides access to some of the best add-ons in the business. These include the recently released Footprint Indicator for Indian markets.
Footprint indicator has been built with Indian traders in mind and enables you to see footprint data right on the main Bookmap chart.
Importantly, both these packages come with data included. This is an important cost-saving for small, individual traders, who often struggle with data costs.
Trading in the financial market requires data to be studied and analysed to make decisions. But there are differences in the quality and speed of data. With TrueData, users of the Bookmap India paying packages have access to high-quality and low-latency level 1 NSE data for stocks and futures. As mentioned above, Bookmap India also includes data for digital currencies and this is full-depth data.
All in all, no matter what type of trader you are or whether you are a beginner or experienced, the combination of TrueData and Bookmap offers the right tools for Indian markets. For more details, watch this complete guide to understand what it can do.
Traders who want to start with the Annual PRO package, also get exclusive, free access to more than 15 hours of order flow education videos for Indian traders. Indeed education and learning are important parts of the Bookmap India offer and all users, free and paying, can share and learn in the Bookmap India Discord channel.
Risks and Other Considerations
Risk management for traders is a very large subject. It ties in with all of the above considerations and also includes factors such as the amount of risk capital you have, your financial status, whether you will be holding positions overnight, and how much leverage you will use. The tools in the Bookmap platform help traders manage risk.
Bookmap was designed for traders, by traders, and is meant to help you win. Whatever type of trader you will be, Bookmap has the tools for you. Try it out today!
