Use thinkorswim to analyze exchange-traded funds, find stocks that are trading above a 200-, 100-, or 50-day simple moving average, and look up stock symbols quickly.
Find out the top holdings in exchange-traded funds
From exchange-traded funds, to checking on an index, to a quick symbol lookup, the thinkorswim® platform from TD Ameritrade has many useful nuggets to help you analyze the markets.
With so many exchange-traded funds (ETFs) out there, the trick is to find some that may meet your goals. One way to get started is to find out which stocks make up an ETF using this feature available on thinkorswim:
Below the Overview section is the Industries overview, which lists the different sectors the fund includes and the percentage allocation of each of those sectors (see figure1). Next to that are the Top 20 Holdings in Industry. So if you select a sector, such as Consumer Discretionary, the holdings in that specific industry will be listed on the right. You’ll find data such as weighting percentage, number of shares, average cost, net liquidity, and other info.
FIGURE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS. On the thinkorswim platform, from the Analyze tab, select Fundamentals, then Exchange-Traded Funds. Select any of the listed State Street Global Advisors funds to get an idea of what’s under the hood. Chart Source: the thinkorswim platform from TD Ameritrade. For illustrative purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
The S&P 500 Index (SPX) may be up or down, but that doesn’t really tell you what the stocks that make up the index are doing. You could check how many stocks are trading above their 50-, 100-, or 200-day simple moving average (SMA). Here’s how.
On the thinkorswim platform, select the Charts tab and put in any of these symbols (see figure 2).
FIGURE 2: S&P 500 MARKET INTERNALS. To find out how many S&P 500 stocks are trading above their 50-day, 100-day, or 200-day simple moving average, enter the appropriate symbol in the symbol box of the Charts window on thinkorswim. Chart Source: the thinkorswim platform from TD Ameritrade. For illustrative purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
It’s impossible to remember every single symbol for equities, mutual funds, ETFs, or futures. There’s a quick and easy way to look them up on thinkorswim (see figure 3).
FIGURE 3: SYMBOL LOOKUP SHORTCUT. On the thinkorswim platform from TD Ameritrade, from any symbol box, type in “?” and hit Enter. The symbol lookup box will open, and from there you can look up a company, fund, fund family, and so on. Chart Source: the thinkorswim platform from TD Ameritrade. For illustrative purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
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