How to Use the Watchlist: Track Stocks Before You Buy (2026)

What the watchlist is for

The watchlist solves a common investor problem: you're researching a stock, you have a price in mind at which you'd buy, but you don't own it yet. Without a watchlist, you either forget about it, check the price manually every day, or add it to your portfolio at $0 cost — which distorts your P&L and looks cluttered.

With the PortfolioTrackr watchlist, you add the ticker, set an entry target (the price at which you'd buy), set a stop-loss (the level at which you'd give up on the thesis), and let alerts do the rest. When the price hits either level, you get notified instantly — on WhatsApp, Telegram, Email, push notification, or SMS — so you can act without watching the market all day.

What you can watch

The watchlist supports everything PortfolioTrackr tracks: US stocks (NYSE and NASDAQ), UK stocks (LSE), global ETFs, cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and thousands more), and commodities (Gold, Silver, Oil). If you can look it up in PortfolioTrackr, you can add it to your watchlist.

How to add a ticker to your watchlist

1. Navigate to the Watchlist tab in your dashboard — it sits alongside Dividends, P&L Chart, and News.
2. Type the ticker symbol or company name in the search field. Autocomplete shows matching results across all supported exchanges.
3. Select the ticker. It gets added with the current live price.
4. Click the target icon next to it to set your entry target, a second target, and a stop-loss level — identical to smart targets on portfolio positions.
5. Make sure your preferred alert channels are enabled in Settings → Notifications. Alerts fire to all your connected channels when the price hits a target.

Understanding watchlist alerts

Watchlist alerts follow the same rules as portfolio position alerts. The price is checked every 10 minutes during market hours. You receive one alert per target per day — if NVDA sits at your target price all day, you get one notification, not dozens. The alert tells you the ticker, the current price, and which target was hit, so you know exactly what action to consider.

All your connected channels work for watchlist tickers: WhatsApp, Telegram, Email, SMS (US and UK numbers), and browser push notifications. You don't configure anything separately — it uses the same channels you've already set up.

Watchlist vs portfolio — the key difference

Your portfolio tracks positions you own. It calculates P&L based on entry price vs. current price, tracks dividends you're entitled to, logs your buy and sell trades, and contributes to the P&L chart history. Every position needs shares and an entry price.

The watchlist tracks stocks you're monitoring. It shows live prices, your target levels, and fires alerts — but has no concept of shares owned, invested capital, or realised P&L. It keeps your portfolio clean while giving you full alert functionality on tickers you're not ready to buy yet.

How to use the watchlist effectively

The most useful pattern is to add a stock after you've done your research and identified the price at which you'd buy. Set your entry target at that level — for example, "I'd buy NVDA at $900" — and your stop-loss below the current support level. Then forget about it. PortfolioTrackr watches the price for you. When NVDA drops to $900, you get a WhatsApp message. You review the trade, decide whether the thesis still holds, and buy if it does.

The watchlist also works in the other direction. If a stock has been rising and you want to know if it pulls back to a good entry, set the target below the current price. You'll get an alert when it retraces to your level.

How many tickers can I watch?

The watchlist supports up to 50 tickers on Pro and Lifetime plans. That covers full cross-market, cross-sector coverage — US large caps, UK stocks, crypto, commodities, ETFs — without anything slipping through.

The watchlist is a Pro and Lifetime plan feature and is not included in the Free Trial or Starter plan.

Moving from watchlist to portfolio

When you decide to buy a stock on your watchlist, add the position to your portfolio using the normal add position flow, or use Smart & Easy Import to speak, type, or drop a broker screenshot. Once it's in your portfolio as an owned position, you can remove it from the watchlist to keep things clean. Both can coexist — you can own a stock in your portfolio and still have it on your watchlist for a second tranche.

Frequently asked questions