Trade Ideas Review 2026: Pros & Cons

Trade Ideas is the best stock screener for day trading. Advanced artificial intelligence tools like the AI Gen. 2 Money Machine, or the AI Gen. 1 HOLLY AI, real-time picture-in-picture charts and indicators, broker integration, automated trading, backtesting, a live trading room and great support set Trade Ideas apart from the competition.

Trade Ideas has also been rewarded by Investopedia as the Best Short Term Stock Screener. But is it worth the cost? My Trade Ideas review breaks down all the features, compares the plans and includes examples.

Transparency: We may get compensated when you click on links in this article.

🚀 Features	Stock scanner, AI screener, trade alerts, charts, simulated trading, automated trading, chat room, backtesting, simulated trading
💻 Technology	Installable software for Windows and web-based version
💰 Subscription	Monthly, yearly
📆 Founded	2003
🏢 Headquarters	United States

Features

Trade Ideas AI

Trade Ideas AI scans the market conditions and evaluates buy and sell signals based on high probability setups. It’s free for all Trade Ideas Premium Alpha Pro subscribers.

To use Trade Ideas AI technology open the software, go to the Channel Bar and click on HOLLY AI. Now you get the trading signals in real time with details like entry time, long/short label, stock symbol, number of shares traded, entry price, profit target and more.

The trades are active as long as the stop is not hit. So you can use the signals for short term day trading or longer term swing trading.

To see historical trades right click on the Strategy Trades window, select History and then choose how far back in time you want to go to see previous trade signals. To see the current trades in real time select Realtime in the Strategy Trades window and restart the HOLLY AI channel.

Charts

Your broker platform probably allows you to open multiple charts at the same time and apply different time frames to each one. Monitoring multiple time frames is helpful to stay on top of the overall trend.

Trade Ideas goes a bit further and let you combine two time frames in one window. So, if you want to combine a 1-minute time frame relative to the performance on the daily chart over the past weeks, you can do and the so-called Picture-in-Picture charting looks like this:

Stock Scanner

Trade Ideas is the best stock scanner for day traders and comes with multiple pre-configured scanner layouts.

MarketScope 360

Trade Ideas is fully powerful when installed as a Windows application. But the web version has also been improved. The so called MarketScope is the web version where you can use most features from any device with a web browser. Market data supports real-time updates and asset selection to help you make better decisions.

Stock Racing

The Trade Ideas stock racing feature let’s you compare stocks based on chosen metrics like performance over the past 5 minutes, over the past day, or one of the other filters and alert types available (over 500). Here is how this type of stock market action visualization looks like:

Automated Trading

Trade Ideas comes with a free and fully integrated automated trading system. You can send a trading signal directly to your broker (via API to e.g. Interactive Brokers and E-Trade) and automate the trade flow so a trade alert triggers a buy or sell order which then gets sent to the broker and stock exchange for execution. You can also use the Trade Ideas paper trading account to test your automated trading systems risk free.

Brokerage Plus API

Trade Ideas Brokerage Plus currently includes a free paper trading account and connections to E-Trade and Interactive Brokers. TD Ameritrade will be added soon. With Trade Ideas Brokerage Plus active traders can trade from a chart, alert window or by using the customizable buy and sell buttons. It can also be used as a trading robot for automated trade execution and management. And you see the performance graphs and statistics.

Idea Surfing

When you open Trade Ideas for the first time the highlighted stocks in any of the channels will start to change by themselves. What’s going on? This is called “idea surfing”. Trade Ideas helps investors get started. The founders know how hard it is to just get started so the software will automatically start to scan different stocks in the channel.

This means without doing anything Trade Ideas is already showing you stocks and situations you wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Mousing over a chart will pause idea surfing so you can investigate the chart further.

Realtime Streaming Alerts

Trade Ideas streaming alerts show ideas as they happen in real time. Streaming real time alerts are the backbone of Trade Ideas. While Trade Ideas has been around for over 20 years there is still no competition to this technology. You can see the timestamp on each new event.

One window can be set up to see a stock on extremely high volume making a new 20 day high while crossing the 50 day moving average and a stock that just traded below its last weeks low after earnings. The platform is customizable. You can set up windows to look for anything you want.

This streaming technology is the magic behind the scenes that makes Trade Ideas a game changer for the seasoned investor and the beginner. Now you won’t just be watching what everyone else is watching. You will be seeing information before the competition knows about it.

Chart Based Halt Notification

Sometimes stocks move so fast the exchange computer systems can’t keep up. This triggers a halt and that halt notification will show up at the top of the Trade Ideas charts and in an alert window that is set to notify you of stocks that have halted. In the stock market it’s all about being aware of what’s happening before your competition and that’s where Trade Ideas shines.

Chart Based Trading

Chart Based Trading is one of the features showing how the Trade Ideas designers are active in the financial markets. Every time a new chart comes up the Trade Ideas software assumes you might want to buy or sell the stock.

So it provides visual risk guidelines based on your typical behavior. There are visual Risk and Reward levels for every stock. Trading buttons are located right next to the customization menu for each chart. These buttons on the chart are linked to your paper trading or real account. When you click on a button you will send an order to buy or sell based on the chart levels.

OddsMaker Backtesting

Other products like TradeStation and MetaStock have backtesting but only Trade Ideas lets subscribers backtest trading strategies by asking questions. For example, is the 200 day moving average cross on stocks you like a good stock market strategy right now? Is it systematic?

Maybe it’s a better stock investment strategy to play the downside or shorting. And unlike all others today, trying to find what indicator works as a signal for a given stock, Trade Ideas tells you what real time event turns out to be a Buy or Sell signal.

The feature is called OddsMaker. It allows you to see the trade performance of every stock trading strategy and its variations in seconds without any programming or coding knowledge.

Channel Bar

Like Hulu, Netflix and other streaming services Trade Ideas has themed channels to view any type of market environment. There’s a Channel Bar on the left of the screen where these market views are located. Clicking on any channel changes the layout to that view and shows an “ON” in the selected channel icon.

Custom Scanners

Trade Ideas Pro scanner is a market scanner that works on real time basis.

The stock scanner has interactive features that make it possible for the traders to scan the market, to identify the best trading setups and to develop their own trading strategies within a short period of time.

No coding knowledge is needed. The traders configure their strategies via drag & drop within TI Pro. Make use of hundreds of pre-configured trading strategies.

Trade Ideas Pro is easy to use and one of the most powerful tools for real time trading analysis that are just available. It is perfect for those who want to trade stocks, options and ETFs.

Trade Ideas Pro facilitates traders discover the most profitable setups in the market in the very moment. Great functions help the traders to discover the most profitable trading opportunities in the stock market.

Beside this, on a regular basis Trade Ideas introduces new features to improve the software with every new release.

Let me show you the components and features of Trade Ideas scanner layout that enables you to screen the market movements:

Plans | Costs | Pricing

Trade Ideas Plan	Trade Ideas Basic	Trade Ideas Premium
Monthly Plan	$127 per month	$254 per month
Annual Plan	$1,068 per year (equals $89 per month)	$2,136 per year (equals $178 per month)

There is a free version available, where you don’t need a Trade Ideas subscription right from the start. You can try the free web version, to get a basic understanding of the features, with 15 minute delayed quotes, one picture-in-picture charts and pre-built layouts to test and try out.

Trade Ideas Basic

Trade Ideas Basic is the entry level subscription. With the Basic version you get access to all the classic stock scanner features with real time data (pre market and after hours), customizable scans, charts, trading simulator and more.

Trade Ideas Premium

Trade Ideas Premium includes all features. Compared to the Basic version you get free access to the Portfolio Master Challenge (a tournament where you can win prizes), Multi-Strategy Windows, custom Stock Races and unlimited watchlists. But more importantly, you access to the most powerful features:

• Full access to Trade Ideas artificial intelligence features Gen. 1 Trade Ideas HOLLY and Gen. 2 Trade Ideas Money Machine with AI trade alerts
• Strategy backtesting (backtest all your scanner setting alerts without coding)
• Auto trading via the broker API (e.g., connects with Interactive Brokers and E-Trade)

Trade Ideas Discount

As an official Trade Ideas Partner, we provide 100% verified Trade Ideas coupon codes and a helpful, step-by-step guide that shows you how to apply the discount. I wrote an article about the discounts, sales, special offers, promo codes and coupons.

Bottom Line

Trade Ideas is the best stock scanner for day traders. Subscribers get access to AI trading signals via the Money Machine, or HOLLY, can use real-time stock scanning for over 8,000 U.S.-listed stocks (with pre-configured scanner layouts and over 500 available data points to build a scanner from scratch). There is also a brokerage API, automated trading, backtesting and charting.

Pros

• Artificial Intelligence engine with real-time trade alerts
• Scans over 8,000 stocks and ETFs
• Trading chat room with desk sharing
• Broker integration, backtesting and trade automation

Cons

• Only U.S. markets supported (NYSE, Nasdaq, OTC)

Trade Ideas Alternatives

Investors and market technicians consider using TradingView or TrendSpider.

FAQs

How much does Trade Ideas cost per month?

Trade Ideas runs $127/month for Basic or $254/month for Premium if you pay monthly. Go with the annual plan and you’ll drop that to $89/month for Basic or $178/month for Premium. The Premium plan is where you get the good stuff like HOLLY AI, Money Machine, and automated trading. Basic is fine for scanning, but you’re missing the AI features that make Trade Ideas special.

What is the difference between HOLLY AI and Money Machine?

HOLLY AI is the OG artificial intelligence from Trade Ideas. It checks patterns across multiple timeframes and updates about every minute. Money Machine is the newer, faster version that refreshes every few seconds and honestly just performs better for day trading. Both come with Premium, and most traders run them side-by-side since they sometimes catch different setups.

Can you use Trade Ideas for swing trading?

Yeah, Trade Ideas works for swing trading, but it’s really built for day traders. You get solid backtesting for multi-day strategies and can set up scanners for longer timeframes. The fundamental filters help too when you’re holding positions overnight. But let’s be real, if you’re only swing trading 2-3 times a week, that $2,136 annual cost stings. The backtesting feature alone might justify it though.

Does Trade Ideas offer a free trial?

Nope, no real free trial. They have a “free version” but it’s delayed data by 15 minutes, which is useless for actual trading. It’s basically just a demo to see the interface. No AI signals, no trading room, no backtesting. And they don’t advertise any money-back guarantee either. Some people have gotten refunds for tech issues, but don’t count on it.

Which AI trading platform is best for day traders?

Trade Ideas wins for day traders. The HOLLY AI and Money Machine combo actually works, it scans 8,000+ stocks in real-time, and it connects directly to Interactive Brokers for auto-trading. You also get the pre-market scanner and live trading room. TradingView has prettier charts, TrendSpider does nice multi-timeframe stuff, but neither has AI that compares to Trade Ideas for finding opportunities.

What brokers work with Trade Ideas?

Right now Trade Ideas connects to Interactive Brokers and E-Trade through their Brokerage Plus API. You can auto-execute trades, trade from charts, send orders straight from alerts to your broker. They also give you a paper trading account for free testing. TD Ameritrade was supposed to be added but still isn’t available as of 2026.

Is Trade Ideas worth the money?

Worth it if you’re day trading 3-4+ days a week and actually making money. If you’re pulling $5k+ monthly from trading, the $178-254 subscription is background noise. Making under $2k/month? The cost hurts more. The AI and time savings are real, but Trade Ideas can’t fix bad trading. You still need the skills. Think of it as amplifying what you already do, not replacing it.

What are the best Trade Ideas scanner settings?

You can customize the Trade Ideas scanner settings and screeners with your own parameters, create a scanner from scratch at any time and use over 500 filters and alert types. You can also select stock exchanges, specific stocks or create your own list of stocks to apply the screener to.

How can beginners quickly learn how to use Trade Ideas?

Watching a couple of YouTube videos from their channel is extremely helpful. Focus on the Getting Started videos and the support session videos. From there, I’d then test the tool and check the help guide for dedicated questions. Use the channel bar to open different channels to see what’s possible to visualize, and then start creating a stock scanner from scratch if you like. Make sure, to use the Trade Ideas Pro software for Windows, but also check out the web version.

Is it possible to connect Trade Ideas to my brokerage account?

Yes. Using the Trade Ideas Brokerage Plus API lets you connect the tool directly to your broker. Currently, Interactive Brokers and E*Trade are supported. In addition, you can always connect to a free brokerage account for paper trading and strategy testing.

Learning Trade Ideas: The Education Side

Here’s something most Trade Ideas reviews skip: the learning curve is real. This isn’t a plug-and-play tool where you hit “go” and watch money roll in.

The good news? Trade Ideas education comes built into the subscription. The live trading room alone is worth the price of admission for many active traders. You’re literally watching professional traders work through their setups in real time, explaining why they’re taking certain trading signals and passing on others. I’ve learned more from listening to these sessions for a few weeks than I did from months of reading trading books.

The YouTube channel has hundreds of videos. Start with the “Getting Started” playlist, seriously. I made the mistake of jumping straight into advanced features and wasted two weeks being confused. The basics matter here.

Weekly webinars cover different topics depending on what’s happening in the market. Last month they did a deep dive on how to use the HOLLY AI during high volatility periods. This week it’s about refining strategies for low-volume summer trading. The Trade Ideas team clearly pays attention to what active day traders actually need.

The best education tool is the paper trading simulator. You can test every crazy idea you have without losing a dime. Found a setup that looks promising? Run it in the simulator for a week. Most of my “brilliant” trading strategies looked terrible once I actually tested them. The paper trading feature saved me thousands in real losses.

Who Actually Benefits from Trade Ideas?

Let me be straight with you. Trade Ideas isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay.

Day Traders and Scalpers

If you’re day trading actively, this is probably the tool you need. The real time data hits your screen before most other platforms even process it. I’ve caught moves in the pre market that my buddy using a free scanner didn’t see until 20 minutes later. By then, the opportunity was gone.

Scalpers especially love the instant alerts. When you’re trying to grab quick profits on small moves, every second counts. The AI trading signals pop up the moment the setup forms, not after you’ve already missed the entry.

Swing Traders

Swing traders get value too, though maybe not as much as day traders. The HOLLY AI can track longer-term setups, and the backtesting works great for validating those multi-day strategies for up to 60 days. But let’s be honest, if you’re only taking a few trades per week, the monthly subscription cost stings more.

That said, the annual subscription makes more sense for swing traders. Spread that cost over 12 months and it’s easier to justify.

Professional Traders

If you’re trading for a living or managing other people’s money, you need professional-grade trading tools. Trade Ideas is that. The broker integration with Interactive Brokers means you can automate execution and focus on strategy instead of clicking buttons all day.

I know several full-time traders who run Trade Ideas on multiple monitors, each showing different market conditions and trading opportunities. It’s become part of their daily workflow like coffee and a trading journal.

New Traders: A Word of Caution

Here’s where I’ll disagree with some Trade Ideas reviews. If you’re brand new to trading, start with the free version or don’t start at all. The platform won’t teach you basic market mechanics. You need that foundation first.

Once you’ve been paper trading consistently for a few months and understand concepts like support, resistance, and volume, then Trade Ideas becomes incredibly valuable. But jumping straight into paid plans as a beginner? That’s just expensive confusion.

The platform is powerful, which means you can lose money faster if you don’t know what you’re doing. Master the basics elsewhere first.

How Trade Ideas Stacks Up Against the Competition

I’ve used most major scanning platforms over the years. Here’s what I actually think about how they trade ideas compare.

Trade Ideas vs. TradingView

TradingView is beautiful. The charts look incredible, the social features are fun, and Pine Script lets you code custom indicators. I still use it for charting sometimes.

But here’s the thing: TradingView doesn’t have anything like the HOLLY AI or Money Machine. Not even close. Those AI trading tools are what make Trade Ideas special. TradingView excels at analysis. Trade Ideas excels at finding opportunities you didn’t know existed.

The live trading room experiences are totally different too. TradingView’s chat is mostly people arguing about whether Bitcoin is going to $100k or $10k. The Trade Ideas chat room focuses on actual setups happening right now with specific entry and exit points.

Price-wise? TradingView is cheaper for basic use. But you’re comparing a Ferrari to a Honda Civic. Both get you places, but they’re built for different purposes.

Trade Ideas vs. TrendSpider

TrendSpider does some clever stuff with automated technical analysis. The multi-timeframe analysis is slick, and I like how it identifies patterns automatically.

Where Trade Ideas wins is breadth. The channel bar gives you dozens of preset market views that would take hours to configure in TrendSpider. The OddsMaker backtesting is also more intuitive. TrendSpider’s backtesting works, but it feels more manual.

For strategy development, I found Trade Ideas easier to iterate quickly. Change a parameter, retest, compare results. TrendSpider requires more clicking and waiting.

The Trade Ideas technology for automated trading is ahead too. TrendSpider has basic alerts to brokers, but the integration isn’t as seamless as what Trade Ideas offers with Interactive Brokers.

Trade Ideas vs. Finviz

Okay, this comparison isn’t entirely fair. Finviz Elite costs $40/month. Trade Ideas premium is over $200/month. They serve different markets.

Finviz works great if you’re screening for swing trades once or twice a day and doing your own fundamental analysis. The heat maps are excellent. The free version gets most casual traders what they need.

But for day trading? Finviz isn’t built for that. The data updates too slowly. There’s no AI generating trading signals. No live trading room. No automated execution.

I tell people who ask: If you’re trading a few times per week and have a day job, Finviz is probably enough. If you’re sitting in front of screens trying to make money every trading day, you need Trade Ideas.

What Actually Sets Trade Ideas Apart

After using various trading tools for years, a few things make Trade Ideas different:

The Money Machine and HOLLY AI have no real competition. Other platforms claim to have AI features, but they’re mostly just algorithms with fancy names. The Trade Ideas AI adapts to market conditions in ways I haven’t seen elsewhere.

The real time data processing is genuinely fast. I can scan over 8,000 stocks with complex filters, and results populate instantly. My old scanner used to lag when scanning more than 500 stocks.

The broker integration for auto trading actually works reliably. I’ve tried other platforms where the API connection would drop randomly or orders wouldn’t execute. The Trade Ideas setup with Interactive Brokers has been rock solid for me.

The community is different. Most trading forums are filled with beginners asking basic questions. Trade Ideas subscribers tend to be more experienced, so the chat room discussions are more useful. You’re learning from people who actually trade, not people who watch YouTube videos about trading.

The Real Cost of Trade Ideas (And Whether It’s Worth It)

Let’s talk money. Trade Ideas pricing isn’t cheap, and anyone telling you otherwise is lying or selling something.

Breaking Down What You Actually Pay

The monthly plans are expensive. $127 for Basic, $254 for Premium. That’s real money every month.

The annual subscription cuts the per-month cost significantly. Premium drops to about $178/month, Basic to $89/month. Still not cheap, but easier to swallow if you’re trading actively enough to justify it. And with out discount code DAYTRADEZ, you’ll save 15% more.

Here’s my take: If you can’t commit to the annual plan, you probably shouldn’t subscribe at all. The monthly option exists, but it’s pricing designed to push you toward the yearly commitment.

The Math on ROI

Is trade ideas worth $2,136 per year? That depends entirely on what you’re doing with it.

If you’re making one or two trades per week and generating $500-1,000 per month in profits, the subscription eats a big chunk of your returns. Maybe not worth it.

If you’re day trading actively and pulling $5k-10k per month, then $178/month is noise. The platform probably helps you find that extra trade or two that pays for itself.

I’ll be honest: I struggled with the cost for the first six months. It felt expensive. Then I tracked how many trades I found using Trade Ideas that I wouldn’t have spotted otherwise. The number was higher than I expected. The platform started feeling like a bargain after that.

What the Premium Plan Actually Gets You

The difference between Basic and Premium is basically the AI features. That’s it. Everything else is pretty similar.

So the question becomes: Are the HOLLY AI and Money Machine worth an extra $89-127 per month?

For day traders doing this full time, yes. The AI trading signals generate enough ideas that you’ll use them daily. The backtesting alone saves hours of manual work.

For part-timers or swing traders, it’s a tougher call. The Basic plan might serve you fine. You can always upgrade later if you feel limited.

The paper trading feature in both paid plans is actually more valuable than people realize. I lost probably $3,000-4,000 learning lessons the hard way before I started using Trade Ideas. The simulator would have saved me that entire amount. Consider it tuition money you’re not paying to the market.

The Free Version Reality Check

The free version exists, but it’s basically a teaser. Delayed quotes make it useless for day trading. You can poke around the interface and see if you like the layout, but that’s about it.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking the free version is a real alternative to the paid plans. It’s like test-driving a car with a speed limit of 25 mph. You’ll get the general idea, but you’re not experiencing what the car actually does.

Calculating Your Personal ROI

Here’s how I’d think about trade ideas worth for your situation:

Count how many trades you take per month. Multiply by your average profit per trade. That’s your monthly trading income.

If the Trade Ideas subscription is more than 10% of that number, you’re probably paying too much relative to your trading activity. Consider whether you’re ready for professional-grade trading tools or if you should build your account size first.

If it’s less than 5% of your monthly trading profits, it’s probably a good investment as long as the platform helps you find even one additional winning trade per month.

Between 5-10%? Gray area. Depends on how much you value the educational resources, live trading room, and time saved by automated scanning.

Getting the Most from Your Trade Ideas Subscription

You paid for it, now use it properly. Here’s what I learned the hard way so you don’t have to.

Set Up Your Workspace Right

Forget the default layouts. They’re fine for learning, but you need to customize the channel bar for your actual trading style.

I spent my first month clicking through every preset channel trying to find the “best” one. Waste of time. Build your own. Start with one focus area, maybe momentum stocks or gap-ups, and create a scanner specifically for that. Add more as you figure out what you actually trade.

Use multiple windows, but don’t go crazy. I see new traders open 10 windows at once and then complain about information overload. Start with 2-3 max. One for your main scanner, one for your watchlist, maybe one for the charts. Add more only when you actually need them.

The picture-in-picture Trade Ideas charts are useful once you understand what you’re looking at. Put the daily chart in the corner of your 1-minute chart. It helps you avoid fighting the bigger trend. But if you’re brand new, this might just be confusing at first. Learn the basics before getting fancy.

Using the AI Without Getting Wrecked

The HOLLY AI and Money Machine will generate more trading signals than you can possibly take. This is good and bad.

Good because you have options. Bad because new traders try to take every signal and end up overtrading themselves into losses.

My rule: Pick 5 signals maximum per trading day from the AI. Watch how they play out. Take the ones that match your strategy and ignore the rest. The AI is showing you possibilities, not orders.

Pay attention to how market conditions affect signal quality. When the market is choppy and directionless, even the best AI trading tools produce worse results. That’s not a failure of the system, that’s just reality. The AI adapts, but it can’t create opportunities that don’t exist.

Configure your AI parameters based on your actual risk tolerance, not what sounds impressive. I started with aggressive settings because I wanted big wins. Lost money consistently. Dialed it back to conservative settings. Started making money. Learn from my mistake.

The Trading Room (How to Use It Without Getting Distracted)

The live trading room runs all day. This is both a blessing and a curse.

Don’t sit there all day watching every comment. You’ll never focus on your own trading. I check in at market open to see what the pros are watching, then check back around 11am and 2pm. That’s it.

Listen to how experienced traders explain their thought process, not just what stocks they’re trading. The “why” matters way more than the “what.” You’re learning pattern recognition, not copying trades.

Some days the chat room is packed with great setups. Other days it’s quiet. This tells you something about market conditions. When even the pros aren’t finding much, maybe sit on your hands.

Don’t feel bad about passing on trades others are taking. Your account, your rules. The trading room is for education and ideas, not peer pressure.

Backtesting the Right Way

The OddsMaker backtesting is powerful, but most people use it wrong.

Test strategies over different time periods, especially including bad market conditions. A strategy that worked great in 2025 might fail miserably in 2026 if market conditions changed. Test both.

Don’t cherry-pick results. I’ve seen traders test 50 variations of a strategy and only talk about the one that worked. That’s curve-fitting, not strategy development. Be honest with yourself about what the data shows.

Start with simple strategies and test those first. Everyone wants to build the perfect 10-indicator system. Start with one or two indicators. Get that working. Add complexity only if it actually improves results.

Run backtests, then paper trade the strategy for at least a week. Backtesting shows what happened. Paper trading shows whether you can actually execute it in real time. These are different skills.

Mistakes I Made (So You Don’t Have To)

Let me share some dumb stuff I did when I first got Trade Ideas. Maybe you’ll avoid these same mistakes.

Chasing Every AI Signal Like a Maniac

This was my biggest error. The Money Machine started spitting out signals, and I took them all. Every. Single. One.

Within two weeks I was overtraded, exhausted, and down money despite several winners. The problem wasn’t the AI trading signals. The problem was me trying to trade 20 times a day when I should have been taking 5 quality setups.

The AI shows you opportunities. You still need to filter them based on your strategy, your capital, and your energy level. Taking a signal just because the AI suggested it is not a strategy.

I know a trader who uses the AI strictly for idea generation. He watches the signals, sees which setups keep repeating, then manually reviews the best ones. He takes maybe 1-2 trades per day. He’s consistently profitable. Learn from him, not from early me.

Ignoring What the Market Was Actually Doing

I’d get fixated on an individual stock setup while the entire market was collapsing. The Trade Ideas platform would show me a technically perfect bullish setup, and I’d buy it while the SPY was drilling.

Guess what happened? I’d be right about the stock… eventually. But I’d sit through a painful drawdown first because I ignored market direction.

Now I check the overall market conditions before taking any signal. If the market is weak, I’m more selective with longs. If it’s strong, I’m careful with shorts. This sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to miss when you’re focused on individual setups.

Use that picture-in-picture feature. Keep a chart of SPY or QQQ in the corner. Stay aware of the macro environment.

Not Setting Proper Stop Losses (And Paying for It)

Trade Ideas helps you find opportunities. It doesn’t manage risk for you.

I took a trade based on a HOLLY AI signal, didn’t set a stop loss because “the AI wouldn’t give me a bad signal,” and watched it drop 8% while I convinced myself it would come back. It didn’t.

The trading signals tell you where to enter. You decide where to exit if you’re wrong. Figure that out before you take the trade, not while you’re watching your account bleed.

If you’re using the auto trading feature, configure those stop losses in your automation rules. Seriously. Do it now. Future you will thank present you.

Jumping Around Between Strategies Like a Grasshopper

This platform has hundreds of pre-configured scanners. I tried a different one every day for my first month.

Momentum stocks on Monday. Mean reversion on Tuesday. Low float stocks on Wednesday. Gap-and-go on Thursday.

You know what I got good at? Nothing. I was okay at everything and great at nothing.

Pick one or two trading strategies that match your personality and schedule. Master those. The platform gives you options, but that doesn’t mean you need to use all of them.

I now trade exactly two setups: gap-ups with volume confirmation, and breakouts above previous day high. That’s it. Been doing this for a year. I’m actually good at spotting these now. My win rate improved dramatically once I stopped being a strategy tourist.

Treating the Trading Room Like Gospel

The live trading room has smart people in it. They’re not infallible.

I watched a well-known trader call out a long setup. I jumped in. The trade immediately went against me. He stopped out small. I held, convinced he must be right eventually. He wasn’t.

The trading room is for learning, not for copying. Extract principles and decision-making frameworks. Don’t blindly follow other people’s trades into your account.

Plus, other traders might have different account sizes, risk tolerances, and timeframes than you. A trade that makes sense for someone with a $500k account might be terrible for someone with $5k.

Skipping the Learning Phase

I thought I could figure it out as I went. Wrong.

I wasted the first three weeks clicking random buttons and wondering why nothing made sense. Finally watched the tutorial videos. Everything clicked.

Seriously, watch the YouTube tutorials from the Trade Ideas team. Start with the basics. Don’t try to be clever and skip ahead. The “Getting Started” playlist exists for a reason.

The platform is powerful, which means it’s also complex. Give yourself permission to learn before you earn.

Advanced Features (When You’re Ready for Them)

Don’t jump into these right away. Learn the basics first. But when you’re ready, these features separate Trade Ideas from everything else.

Building Your Own Custom Scanners

The pre-configured scanners are great starting points. But the real power comes when you start building your own.

Here’s an example: I wanted to find stocks making new 20-day highs on volume at least 3x normal, but only in the first 30 minutes of the trading day. None of the preset scanners did exactly that. So I built it using the drag-and-drop interface.

No coding needed. Just select your filters, set your parameters, test it, adjust it (no code writing needed, just point and click). Takes maybe 10 minutes once you understand the system.

Now I have a library of scanners for specific situations. One for pre market gappers. One for afternoon breakouts. One for stocks pulling back to VWAP on the 5-minute chart. Each one targets exactly what I want to see, nothing else.

The only strategies that work are the ones you actually trade. Build scanners for those, not for setups that sound cool but don’t match your trading style.

Multi-Strategy Windows (Actually Useful)

The premium plan lets you run multiple strategies side-by-side. This sounds like a gimmick until you actually use it.

I run a momentum scanner next to a mean-reversion scanner. When momentum signals dominate, I know the market is trending. When mean-reversion signals take over, the market is chopping. This tells me which trading strategies to focus on for the day.

It’s like having a market regime filter built into your workspace. You can adapt your approach in real time instead of stubbornly trying the same strategy regardless of market conditions.

Mixing Technical and Fundamental Filters

Most traders treat technical analysis and fundamental analysis as separate worlds. Trade Ideas lets you combine them.

Want to scan for technically strong breakouts, but only in stocks with positive earnings growth and low debt? You can do that. The fundamental data updates regularly, so you’re not working with stale information.

I’ve found this particularly useful for swing trading. Day trades are mostly technical. But when I’m holding something for a few days or weeks, I want to know the company isn’t a dumpster fire. The fundamental filters help screen out junk.

Chart Customization (Beyond the Basics)

The Trade Ideas charts are solid for real time data visualization. You can add indicators, draw trendlines, save templates for different trading scenarios.

Here’s what I actually use: I have three chart templates. One for momentum stocks (volume, VWAP, high of day line). One for breakouts (key support/resistance levels, volume). One for earnings plays (pre-earnings price action, volume comparison).

I click a button, the appropriate template loads with the right indicators already set up. Saves time and keeps my analysis consistent.

The charts update fast enough for scalping, which matters if you’re trying to catch quick moves. Some platforms lag for seconds during high volume. Trade Ideas has been solid for me in that regard.

Integration with Real Fundamental Analysis

This deserves its own section. Trade Ideas includes fundamental data, but it’s not trying to be a fundamental analysis platform.

Use it to screen out garbage, not to make fundamental decisions. Filter for positive earnings, reasonable PE ratios, whatever metrics matter to you. Then apply your technical analysis to that filtered list.

This gives you technically strong setups in fundamentally decent companies. Not a guarantee of success, but it stacks probabilities in your favor.

Support and Community (The Good and the Frustrating)

Customer support matters when you’re paying $2k+ per year. Here’s the real story.

Getting Help When You Need It

Email support usually gets back to you within a day. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower depending on how complex your question is. I once had a technical issue with the broker API connection. They responded in about 4 hours with step-by-step troubleshooting. Problem solved.

But here’s the thing: Don’t expect instant responses. This isn’t Amazon. If your trading depends on getting immediate tech support, you’re going to have a bad time. Most issues can wait, but plan accordingly.

The knowledge base covers most common problems. Things like “How do I reset my password?” or “Why isn’t my scanner updating?” Usually you can figure it out yourself with 5 minutes of reading.

The video tutorials answer probably 80% of questions. Before emailing support, check if there’s a video about your issue. You’ll get your answer faster, and support can focus on actual technical problems.

The Live Trading Room (Double Duty)

The chat room moderators and experienced Trade Ideas subscribers often answer questions in real time. Not “official” support, but sometimes more helpful because they’ve dealt with the same issues.

I’ve learned more from other traders explaining their Trade Ideas setups than from official documentation. “Hey, how did you configure that scanner?” gets answered within minutes usually.

Just be respectful of people’s time. The trading room is primarily for trading, not tech support. Quick questions are fine. Asking someone to walk you through your entire setup is not.

The Portfolio Master Challenge

This competition gets mentioned a lot. Basically, you trade a simulated account and try to generate the best returns. Winners get prize money and bragging rights.

I’ll be honest: I’ve never participated seriously. It’s fun if you’re competitive and want to test your skills against other active traders. But it doesn’t make or break the platform value.

Some people love it. Others ignore it completely. Do what makes sense for you.

Community Vibe

The Trade Ideas team has built a community of fairly serious traders. You won’t see much “to the moon” or “diamond hands” nonsense. People are here to make money, not to become memes.

This is refreshing if you’re tired of typical trading forums. It’s also a bit intimidating if you’re new. The skill level tends toward intermediate and advanced rather than beginners asking how to place a market order.

The chat room can get quiet during choppy markets. When there’s nothing good to trade, there’s not much to discuss. This is actually healthy. Better than forcing trades just to have something to talk about.

Forums exist, but they’re not super active compared to the live trading room. Most serious discussion happens in real time during trading hours rather than in forum posts.

My Honest Take: Is Trade Ideas Worth It?

After using Trade Ideas for over a year, here’s what I actually think. No affiliate BS, just reality.

For Different Types of Traders

Complete Beginners: No. Not yet. Learn the basics somewhere else first. Trade Ideas won’t teach you what a candlestick is or how support and resistance work. Get that foundation somewhere cheaper or free, then come back when you’re ready.

The free version might be okay for poking around, but you’re not really experiencing the platform with 15-minute delayed data.

Part-Time Day Traders: Maybe. If you’re trading a few times per week, the Basic plan might work. But honestly, at $1,068/year, ask yourself if you’re active enough to justify it. If you’re only trading 2-3 days per week, probably not.

The annual subscription for premium at $2,136 is a lot for someone who isn’t trading full-time. Your profits would need to justify that expense. Be honest with yourself about your trading frequency before committing.

Full-Time Day Traders: Yes, probably. If you’re in front of screens every day trying to make a living from trading, Trade Ideas premium makes sense. The AI trading signals, real time data across thousands of stocks, and time saved on scanning justify the cost.

I’m in this category. The platform pays for itself through trades I find that I wouldn’t have spotted otherwise. Is it essential? No. But it gives me an edge, and edges matter when you’re competing against everyone else looking at the same markets.

Professional Traders: Definitely. If you’re managing money or trading with serious capital, the $2k/year subscription is noise. The broker integration with Interactive Brokers alone saves enough time to justify it. The backtesting and strategy development tools are professional-grade.

What Trade Ideas Actually Does Well

The AI is legitimately good. Not perfect, but genuinely useful. The HOLLY AI and Money Machine aren’t just marketing hype. They find setups I would miss.

The scanning speed is excellent. Watching over 8,000 stocks in real time with complex filters is something most platforms can’t handle.

The live trading room provides real value for education. You’re learning from professional traders who actually trade, not YouTubers who make money selling courses.

The backtesting works and doesn’t require coding. This is huge. Testing strategy variations used to take hours or days. Now it takes minutes.

What Could Be Better

The price is high. I get it. They know their target market is serious traders who can afford it, but it does limit who can access the platform.

The learning curve is steeper than they let on. The tutorials help, but you’re still looking at a couple weeks before you’re comfortable with everything. Budget time for this.

The free version is basically useless for actual trading. It’s a demo, not a real alternative. Don’t expect to get value from it beyond seeing the interface.

Some features feel underutilized by most users. The platform does a ton of stuff, but most active day traders use maybe 20% of the features regularly. That’s not necessarily a problem, but it means you’re paying for a lot you might not use.

The Math Question

Here’s how I think about trade ideas worth:

If you’re making $5k-10k per month from trading, and the platform helps you find just one extra winning trade per month worth $500-1000, it pays for itself. That’s the calculation.

If you’re making $1k-2k per month, the subscription eats a significant chunk of your profits. Unless you’re certain the platform will help you scale up, it might be premature.

If you’re making $20k+ per month, just buy it. The time saved and opportunities found are worth way more than the subscription cost.

My Personal Experience

I fought with the price for months before subscribing. Felt expensive. Debated whether I “needed” it. Finally pulled the trigger on the annual subscription for premium.

First month was rough. Learning curve, adjustment period, questioning my decision. Second month started clicking. Third month I found my first trade that I definitely wouldn’t have seen without Trade Ideas. Made $1,200. Subscription essentially paid for.

Now it’s part of my daily routine. I open Trade Ideas before I check the news. The AI has gotten better at understanding what I actually want to see. My custom scanners are dialed in. The platform feels like it fits my trading style.

Would I recommend it? Depends on where you are in your trading journey. Ready to commit to active trading as a serious pursuit? Probably yes. Still figuring out if trading is for you? Probably no.

The Real Bottom Line

Trade Ideas is excellent at what it does. It won’t make you a profitable trader if you don’t have the skills. It will amplify those skills if you do.

The AI trading tools, comprehensive scanning, real time market data, educational resources, and broker integration combine to create something genuinely useful for active traders.

Is it worth $2,136/year for premium? For full-time day traders and professional traders, yes. For part-timers and beginners, probably not yet.

The platform keeps evolving. The Trade Ideas team adds features regularly. Your subscription today gets you access to future improvements without extra cost.

If you’re on the fence, I’d suggest this: Calculate how much you made trading last month. If the annual subscription is less than 10% of your monthly trading profits, you can probably afford it. If it’s more than 20%, you should probably wait.

For serious traders committed to improvement, Trade Ideas is one of the better investments you can make in your trading infrastructure. Just go in with realistic expectations. It’s a tool, not a money printer. Your skill determines results. The platform just gives you better information to work with.

And yes, use the promo codes (DAYTRADEZ (works anytime), DAYTRADEZ25, DAYTRADEZ28 and DAYTRADEZ30 (during promo times). No reason to pay full price when discounts exist.