In this column, in the past 5 issues, you've been hearing a "litany" of tools that make for a first-rate, top-of-the-line trading system. Here's a little refresher on what those most-needed features are.

Fast, Reliable, Streaming, Real-Time Quotes
Even in today's market -- especially in today's market -- you can trade successfully -- but not with "catch as catch can" "snapshot" quotes and burst-y, unreliable data. You need the best data the marketplace has to offer delivered to you in real time directly from the exchanges by a delivery system you can count on -- no middleman to slow things down or compromise the integrity of the data.

Easy-to-Use Charting and a Comprehensive Analytics Package
The business of trading demands immediate, informed buy / sell decisions. So, in addition to sound data, you must have technical analysis tools -- an unlimited number of charts to which you can apply your own custom studies and then build into your trading layouts.

To get the kind of inter / intraday detail you need to determine the direction a stock might be going, you should have 10 days of tick data and 60 of interval data. And, lots of the most in-demand technical studies -- such as ADX / DMI for directional movement; CCI, the commodity channel index; and Bollinger Bands, the MACD and MACD Histogram for calculating moving averages.

The Best News and Research Available
A trader needs to see news integrated with and driven by the symbols first and the source secondarily. You must readily see headlines, full stories and the source associated with the news related to the symbols you're watching. A headline count, coupled with news alerts across multiple windows, would help you take the measure of the market, so you can make better decisions influenced by the most up-to-the-minute information available from some of the most trusted sources in the industry. PR NewsWire, BusinessWire, MarketWatch and Dow Jones to name just a few.

A comprehensive, built-in Research menu feature would give you access to reports from well-known sources, as well as fundamental data for checking out an issue's P / E ratio or dividend.

Advanced Alerts with Automatic Re-Arm
Alerts don't do you much good unless they're easily programmable with your limit and other criteria, available to you across multiple windows on your trading system, automatically re-set at each new level and accessible to you via pager, email or cell phone. Taking advantage of trading opportunities means knowing they're out there!

A Market Scanner That Captures Every Important
Move of the Day
A suite of scanners would give you the edge throughout the trading day by sifting through market moves and providing you, in real time, with the best opportunities. Before the trading day begins, by setting you up with your picks for the day gleaned from overnight market movement. During those all-important peak periods (just after the open, before noon and near the close), by identifying upward and downward trends as they happen. Any time, by pinpointing hot industries and hot companies within those industries.

So, What's a Trader to Choose?
Some, if not all, of the tools described in this column are available in a variety of trading systems available today. We at eSignal believe that the words, "informed buy decision" apply as much to the choice of trading system and charting package as to the business of trading itself. So, we want you to discover for yourself the fastest, most reliable, most affordable trading system. In fact, eSignal features a whole line of products and services we're proud to present to you in "The eSignal Product Suite, Something for Traders of Every Stripe", so you can read at your leisure and make up your own mind.