A service that allows you to monitor real-time market prices will come in very handy if you and your partner offload some of your stock once it hits a certain value. As soon as you're alerted to your savvy investment hitting the desired price, you can make arrangements to cash in and maximize your return before there's any danger of profit-takers moving in to push the price of your shares south.
Step 1
Sign up for services that offer real-time email and text-message alerts when your stock hits a certain price. Companies including Firstrade, eSignal and Zignals can hook you up with price updates. You can set these services to tip you off when your stock rises or falls by a certain amount. If you've always got your smartphone on you, there'll be no way you'll miss the price threshold you're waiting for.
Step 2
Check out websites such as Yahoo! Finance, Google Finance and MSN Money. Create an account if you need to and set up your own portfolio to monitor the stock you want to keep an eye on. The functionality of these sites can vary. Some offer charts that update automatically, while with others you'll need to refresh your webpage to update data.
Step 3
Download apps such as PortfolioLive, Google Finance or CNBC PRO to your smartphone or tablet computer. All these services will hit you with streaming real-time quotes. Always check out the reviews of any apps you download to any of your devices, not only to get a feel for the quality of the product you're buying, but also to make sure you're not infecting your mobile or tablet with a virus. Just because an app's made it onto an app store, doesn't automatically mean it's legit.
References
Writer Bio
Michael Roennevig has been a journalist since 2003. He has written on politics, the arts, travel and society for publications such as "The Big Issue" and "Which?" Roennevig holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the Surrey Institute and a postgraduate diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists at City College, Brighton.