How to Set Up a TradingView Watchlist for Day Trading
Short answer: open the watchlist panel on the right of your TradingView chart, split one list into sections (Market, Core, In play today and Strongest), show the Chg% column, and keep it short. On the free Basic plan you get one watchlist with up to 30 symbols, which is plenty.
Step 1: open the watchlist
Open a chart in TradingView (affiliate link). The watchlist lives in the panel on the right side of the screen. If it's hidden, click the watchlist icon at the top of that right-hand toolbar. Click + to add a symbol.
Step 2: add four sections
Use the watchlist menu to add sections, so one list works like several:
- Market: SPY, QQQ and IWM. Add NQ1! or ES1! if you trade futures. This is your yardstick.
- Core: five to ten big, liquid stocks you get to know well. Think the largest tech names that trade millions of shares a day.
- In play today: three to five stocks moving more than usual this morning, usually on news. Clear and refill it every day from the screener.
- Strongest / weakest: names beating or lagging the market today. That's relative strength.
Step 3: show the right columns
Make sure Chg% is visible. With SPY and QQQ at the top of the list, you can see at a glance which stocks are beating the market.
What to check on each name before the open
- Why is it moving? Earnings, news, an upgrade.
- How far did it gap from yesterday's close?
- Is volume heavier than normal?
- Where are yesterday's high and low, and the pre-market high and low? Draw them with the horizontal line tool.
Free plan limits
- One watchlist, 30 symbols on Basic. Paid plans raise it to 1,000 symbols per list.
- Three active price alerts on Basic. Save them for the levels that matter. See how to set alerts on TradingView.
- Plan details change; TradingView's pricing page has the current numbers.
Keep it clean
A watchlist that keeps growing stops being a shortlist. Clear In play every morning, swap out core names that have gone quiet for weeks, and never keep a stock just because you're hoping it comes back.
Want to practice the whole routine without risking money? the Paper Route is my free course: build the watchlist, run the screener, then trade 30 sessions on paper.
Education only, not investment advice. The stocks named here are examples, not recommendations. Most people who day trade lose money.
Indy Karveli — husband, dad of seven, day trader. Nasdaq futures, plain price, no indicators. Learned on paper first. More »
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