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Follow stocks and build a watchlist

Finance 4 min read Beginner Updated

Finance is not part of 4Steel. It runs on 4search.com and 4conservative.com. You can read this guide here, and use Finance on 4search.com.
On this page
  1. Follow something
  2. The first time
  3. See your list
  4. Where your list is kept
  5. Common questions

A watchlist is a page of the instruments you care about, each with its latest price, today's change and a small chart. You build it by following things, and it is kept in your browser.

#Follow something

You can follow anything that has its own page: stocks, funds, indexes, currencies and coins.

  1. Open its page, for example Apple, and select Follow at the top.
  2. The button changes to Following and a short message says Added to your watchlist.
  3. To stop, select Following again. The message says Removed from your watchlist.

You can also follow from the Popular to follow list on the Watchlist page: select the star beside a name. A filled star means you already follow it.

#The first time

Your list is kept in your browser, which needs the Saved preferences choice to be on. If it is not yet on, a box appears when you select Follow.

The dialog that appears when you select Follow before turning on Saved preferences: it explains that the list is kept in this browser, warns that clearing cookies clears it, and offers Enable cookies and follow, Not now and All privacy choices

The first time you follow something, Finance explains why it needs cookies and asks.

  1. 1Clearing cookies or site data clears the list
  2. 2Turns on Saved preferences and follows the stock
  3. 3Leave things as they are
  4. 4Open all privacy choices
  • Enable cookies and follow turns on Saved preferences and follows the stock in one step. It does not switch on anything else, such as AI answers or advertising.
  • Not now closes the box and leaves everything as it was. Nothing is saved.
  • All privacy choices opens the full privacy panel.

If you decided earlier not to allow Saved preferences, the watchlist card explains this and offers Enable cookies for my watchlist.

The Watchlist page before any privacy choice: the card explains that following needs cookies and offers an Enable cookies for my watchlist button, with a few popular symbols below to add

Without Saved preferences, the watchlist offers to turn it on. The popular symbols are quick ways to start.

  1. 1Why cookies are needed
  2. 2Turn on Saved preferences

#See your list

Open Watchlist in the Finance section bar, or use the Your watchlist card on the overview, which shows the same list with a Manage link.

The Watchlist page with five followed instruments: a box for adding a symbol or company, a table with a price, change, volume and range bars for each, a button to remove each one, and a Popular to follow list on the right

The Watchlist page. Newer additions are at the top, and any column heading sorts the list.

  1. 1Add a symbol or a company name
  2. 2Sort by any heading
  3. 3Select a name to open its page
  4. 4A filled star: already followed

The table shows each name, a small chart for today, the price, the change in points and percent, the volume and range bars. Select a name to open its page. Select a column heading to sort; see Sort tables and read the range columns. On a narrow screen, slide the table sideways.

To add a symbol without leaving the page, type into the Add a symbol or company box and pick a suggestion or press Enter.

To remove one, slide the table to its right-hand end and select the small cross at the end of its row.

The right-hand end of the watchlist table after sliding it sideways: the day and 52-week range columns and, at the end of each row, a small cross button that removes that stock from the list

The cross at the end of a row removes that item from the list.

  1. 1Remove this stock from the list

If a symbol on your list has no price, such as one that has stopped trading, a note under the table names it and gives it its own remove button.

#Where your list is kept

You can follow up to 50 items, and the newest go to the top. If you use the same browser in two tabs, a change in one shows up in the other.

For lists that cover other parts of 4Search, such as members of Congress or topics, see Following.

#Common questions

How many stocks can I follow?

Up to 50.

Will my watchlist follow me to my phone?

No. It lives in the browser where you made it. Follow the same things again on the other device.

I followed a stock and it disappeared. Why?

Most often the site's data was cleared, Saved preferences was turned off, or you opened Finance in another browser or a private window. See Saved preferences.

Does following a stock send me alerts?

No. A watchlist is a page you open. Finance does not send notifications or emails.

Can I enter how many shares I own?

No. The watchlist tracks prices only; it is not a portfolio with holdings, cost or gains.