🌟 Start Here: Welcome to TradeStops by TradeSmith
Published: January 7, 2025.
Last Updated: May 21, 2026.
We’re thrilled to have you on board, and we truly appreciate your trust. You’re about to unlock powerful tools and insights designed to help you invest with greater confidence and clarity.
Getting Started: What to Expect
To support your journey, our education team has created a ”Getting Started” checklist, including guides and quick-start training videos.
You will also have access to continued educational resources:
- Live TradeSmith Walkthrough webinars
- Advanced training, expert editorials, and the Education Center
These resources are available regardless of which TradeSmith product you subscribe to.
About TradeSmith
Founded in 2005, TradeSmith began as a simple way to track positions with trailing stops. Today, it has evolved into a comprehensive suite of market analysis and risk-management tools—all designed to help individual investors make more informed, unbiased decisions.
What is TradeStops?
TradeStops gives you access to the TradeStops suite of tools and insights you need to track and manage your investments confidently. At the core of the platform is our proprietary risk indicator—the Volatility Quotient (VQ)—which delivers dynamic, customized trailing stops tailored to each of your holdings. With the VQ, you can size your positions based on risk—not guesswork—ensuring balanced exposure across your portfolio.
But we don’t stop at risk management. We amplify the power of the VQ with our intuitive Health Indicator—a momentum-based system that uses simple green, yellow, and red signals to tell you when to buy, hold, or sell. No more second-guessing. Just clear guidance.
Note: The Health Indicator is available to TradeStops Plus, Premium, Pro & Elite subscriptions.
TradeStops also helps you sidestep one of the biggest threats to portfolio performance: overexposure to speculative stocks. By identifying high-risk positions and showing you how much to invest in each, you can make smarter decisions and protect your capital.
You’ll discover how to use these powerful indicators—and more—in your Getting Started series. Get ready to invest with precision and confidence.
Key Features of TradeStops
📂 Portfolio Setup Made Simple (Available to TradeStops Basic, Plus, Premium, Pro & Elite).
Easily create new portfolios or import your existing ones for seamless integration and tracking.
To learn how to set up sync for the first time, click here.
🧺Baskets (Available to TradeStops Basic, Plus, Premium, Pro & Elite).
Create and track groups of stocks in a watchlist to monitor trends, compare ideas, and spot opportunities.
📊 Portfolio Analysis & Management (Available to TradeStops Basic, Plus, Premium, Pro & Elite).
Take control with tools that help you analyze risk, track performance, and manage positions with confidence.
⚡ Volatility Quotient (VQ) (Available to TradeStops Basic, Plus, Premium, Pro & Elite).
Our signature risk metric enables you to set customized trailing stops based on a stock’s typical price movement.
🚦 Health Indicator (Available to TradeStops Plus, Premium, Pro & Elite).
Combines momentum with risk to deliver a simple green-yellow-red signal that tells you exactly when to buy, hold, or sell—making your investment decisions clearer and more confident.
🚨 Smart Alerts (Available to TradeStops Basic, Plus, Premium, Pro & Elite).
Stay informed with customizable alerts, including:
- Price movements
- Trailing stops
- Time-based triggers
- Volume and moving average changes
- Fundamental data shifts
- Easy-to-use alert templates for faster setup
🔍 Stock Research Hub (Available to TradeStops Basic, Plus, Premium, Pro & Elite).
Search any ticker and access price charts, financials, key stats, and news.
📏 Position Size Tool (Available to TradeStops Basic, Plus, Premium, Pro & Elite; however, certain Basic and Plus have limited access to the tool).
Optimize your risk with position-sizing guidance tailored to your portfolio and VQ levels.
⚖️ Risk Rebalancer Tool (Available to TradeStops Premium, Pro, and Elite).
Instantly optimize your entire portfolio by aligning each position based on its risk, helping you achieve smarter, more balanced investing.
🧠 Pure Quant Tool (Available to TradeStops Pro and Elite).
Build a fully optimized, risk-balanced portfolio from the ground up—or re-optimize your existing holdings to stay diversified, aligned, and strategically positioned for long-term growth.
💼 Billionaires Club (Available to TradeStops Pro and Elite).
Follow elite hedge funds and top billionaires, analyze their portfolio performance, and dive into their latest 13F filings—all from your personalized Billionaires Club hub.
🗓️ Market Calendar (Available to TradeStops Basic, Plus, Premium, Pro & Elite).
Stay on top of earnings, dividends, and key corporate events.
📰 My Services (Available to TradeStops Basic, Plus, Premium, Pro & Elite).
Link directly to your newsletters and publications for a centralized investing experience.
🎓 Your Education Hub
Need help or want to go deeper?
Use the Support menu (top right of your screen) to:
- Call our Customer Success Team
- Schedule your complimentary 30-minute concierge call
- Access the mobile app install guide, contacts, and more
Join our TradeSmith Walkthroughs and Inside TradeSmith webinars, including sessions with Senior Analyst Mike Burnick and our Education Team.
- Check the Product Updates tab (📣) for the latest improvements.
- Explore the Education Center (📖) for articles, tutorials, and a helpful glossary.
✅ Tips for Success
- Don’t worry if it feels like a lot—many new members feel that way at first.
- Rewatch the “Getting Started” checklist anytime.
- Take advantage of your concierge call—we’re here to help.
- Once you’ve settled in, join our TradeSmith Walkthrough webinars—and don’t be surprised if we chat about food and investing along the way! 😄
Thanks for being part of the journey. You’ve just taken the first step toward investing like a true TradeSmith.
We’re here to educate, support, and cheer you on every step of the way.