Local-First · Zero API Fees · Self-Hosted Software

Not financial advice · Trade decisions are yours alone

FirstBell™

Know Before The Bell*

You wake up at 8:30 AM. Your setup list is already built. Your rules are already enforced. Your position size is already calculated. You walk into the market prepared — not reacting.

FirstBell is a local AI-powered decision-structure system that runs every morning before the bell — scanning 500+ stocks, scoring every setup against your defined rules, and enforcing your discipline so you don’t have to.

Get FirstBell — from $49/mo → ▶  See Your Morning

Runs locally · Your data stays yours · No chart subscription required · Cancel anytime

The big firms have billion-dollar systems. You have FirstBell.

🟢 FINRA removed the Pattern Day Trader minimum equity requirement, effective June 4, 2026 — trade with any account size, no $25K minimum  [FINRA Notice 26-10] ($2K minimum remains for margin accounts)

500+
Stocks scanned every morning
(Swing mode: S&P 500 · Day mode: focused pre-market universe)
7
Gates your setup must
clear before you proceed
100%
Local AI — your strategy
and trade data stay yours
$0
AI API fees — runs
on your GPU, free
What FirstBell Actually Is

FirstBell is not a signal service of any kind.
It is not an auto-trading bot.
It is not a “hot picks” or “trade alerts” product.

FirstBell is a trading operating system built to help discretionary traders arrive prepared, enforce their own rules, and build repeatable process discipline — morning after morning.

  • ✓ Arrive prepared before the bell
  • ✓ Enforce your own rules — not someone else's signals
  • ✓ Validate setups statistically before risking capital
  • ✓ Track live edge drift over time
  • ✓ Reduce emotional decision-making
  • ✓ Build repeatable process discipline
  • ✓ Operate in both bull and bear markets — short momentum signals activate automatically in bear regimes
  • ✓ Two trading modes: Swing (pre-market scan) and Day Trading (intraday VWAP momentum)
  • ✓ Explains why no trades qualified and highlights Developing Opportunities — instead of simply reporting “0 results”

The same scoring engine used in live scans is continuously compared against historical expectancy and live outcome tracking inside the platform — so the system validates itself, not just your trades.

Portfolio-Aware Intelligence

FirstBell understands
more than the market.

Most trading tools only see charts. FirstBell sees your entire workflow — including what you already hold.

  • →
    Your morning scan resultsRanked setup list — scored before the bell
  • →
    Your defined risk rulesSet by you — enforced automatically every session
  • →
    Your open positions and exposureLive from your broker — sector concentration and unrealized P&L in context
  • →
    Your active trade thesisAI conviction audit runs with full portfolio context

“The problem isn’t lack of information. It’s making decisions across six disconnected systems.” FirstBell integrates the layers that matter into one environment.

What This Means In Practice
Connects to your broker
Live open positions from Schwab, Alpaca, IBKR, Tradier, Public, or your paper account. Sector exposure, position concentration, and unrealized P&L visible before every decision.
Context — not signals
FirstBell surfaces your portfolio exposure so your conviction audit and trade gate operate with the full picture of your current positions. It does not interpret positions as buy or sell signals.
Stays on your machine
Position data is read locally and never transmitted to external AI services or third-party servers. Your broker credentials and portfolio information never leave your device.

Position data provides context for decision-support purposes only. FirstBell does not interpret positions as trading signals or recommendations. All trade decisions remain solely yours.

Trade DNA

Most software remembers
the market. FirstBell
remembers you.

Every setup you evaluate is compared against your own historical decisions — silently, before you commit. Not market data. Your data.

Trade DNA Analysis ● Active
Setup Type Trend Pullback
Historical Matches 0
Win Distribution 0
Avg Hold Time 4.1 days
Key Differentiator Relative Volume
↓ Below avg in 71% of historical losses
No advice.  Your evidence.
What Trade DNA Does
  • →Compares today's setup against every similar setup in your journal
  • →Surfaces the factor that most consistently separates your wins from your losses
  • →Shows you what your winners actually looked like — not market theory, your history
  • →Gets more accurate as you log more trades — the system improves with you

"Before Trade DNA, every setup felt like a new decision. Now I can see whether I've been here before — and what actually happened."

Simulation Notice

The stats shown above (58% win distribution, 32 matches, 4.1-day hold) are simulated examples of what Trade DNA surfaces from your own journal — not guaranteed outcomes. Your actual results will reflect your own trade history. Past patterns do not predict future performance. All decisions remain solely yours.

Why FirstBell Exists

You already know the rules.
You just need something
that holds you to them.

The opening bell rings at 9:30 AM. Hedge funds arrive with proprietary scanners, risk algorithms, and systems built by teams of PhDs. Retail traders arrive with hope, a charting app, and rules they promised themselves they'd follow this time.

Knowledge was never the problem. Discipline was — along with having a statistically-validated edge to execute with confidence.

FirstBell closes both gaps: a scoring engine validated across 3 years and 4,634 swing setups, running inside a decision workflow that enforces your rules and keeps emotion out of execution. Edge without discipline fails. Discipline without edge is theater.

FirstBell was built to close that gap — not by telling you what to trade, but by enforcing the structure you already know you need. The Φ symbol on the bell represents the golden ratio — the mathematical principle behind Fibonacci retracements, natural balance, and perfect proportion. It's a reminder that this system isn't random. It's architecturally sound. Designed to bring order to chaos, structure to emotion, and discipline to the one thing most traders can't enforce on themselves: their own rules.

FirstBell isn't for everyone. It's a professional-grade decision-structure system that runs on your machine, respects your privacy, and never sells your data. If you're a serious trader who values structure over signals and discipline over hype — this is your system.

And now it sees more than the market. Your open positions, sector exposure, and unrealized P&L are visible alongside every scan and conviction decision — so your next trade is always made with the full picture of where you already stand.

Read the full story behind FirstBell →
Backtest Results

Not claims. Historical backtest analysis.

The scoring algorithm powering FirstBell was validated across 3 years of historical market data — 6,939 setups evaluated across 32 tickers (swing + intraday combined), walk-forward methodology, no lookahead bias. Confirmed +0.868% measured edge (swing trading setups). Intraday VWAP Reclaim: +0.259% measured edge on Gap Up and High Volatility days — FirstBell identifies which days show historically favorable conditions every morning.

+0.87%
Avg expectancy per setup
Swing mode · 6,939 signals · 3-year backtest
+1.46%
Breakout setup expectancy
Best-performing setup type · 465 signals
6,939
Setups evaluated · 32 tickers
3-year walk-forward · No lookahead bias

Simulated backtest results on 2023–2026 historical data. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The identical scoring algorithm runs live inside your FirstBell subscription — run the Backtest Validator page to reproduce these numbers yourself. FirstBell also flags tickers with historically negative expectancy (e.g. SMCI, COIN) so you can identify the strongest historical setups and which to approach with caution — based on data, not opinion.

CFTC Rule 4.41 — Required Disclosure: HYPOTHETICAL OR SIMULATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE CERTAIN INHERENT LIMITATIONS. UNLIKE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD, SIMULATED RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING. ALSO, SINCE THE TRADES HAVE NOT BEEN EXECUTED, THE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER- OR OVER-COMPENSATED FOR THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS LACK OF LIQUIDITY. SIMULATED TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFIT OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.

How It Works

Your morning system,
built to run before the bell.

Each morning FirstBell runs a five-stage pipeline before the bell rings.

1
SCAN — Identify setups that meet defined criteria
Screens 500+ stocks for breakouts, pullbacks, and momentum setups before 9:30 AM. Every result is scored by a multi-factor rule-alignment score. You wake up with a scored watchlist — not a blank chart. Setups are ordered by your defined scoring criteria — not recommendations.
2
AI AUDIT — Validate your thesis
Before you enter any trade, type your reason. The local AI reads it and returns THESIS ALIGNS WITH RULES or THESIS DEVIATES FROM RULES — with a rule-alignment score and a specific critique. It evaluates your logic against your defined rules, not the trade itself.
3
TRADE GATE — 7-gate checklist
Reward-to-risk ratio, position size cap, daily kill switch, max trades per day, sector concentration, pre-flight clearance, and AI conviction score. All seven gates must pass before the trade moves forward. Execution decisions remain entirely yours — the system enforces your own rules, not its own.
4
RISK ENGINE — Size and protect
Automatic position sizing from your account size and max risk. Daily loss limit, kill switch at 75%, and a 3-consecutive-loss behavioral lockout. You set the rules. The system holds them.
5
JOURNAL & COACH — Learn from yourself
Every trade logged with your reasoning, emotional state, and outcome. Weekly AI coaching reviews your patterns — catching FOMO, overconfidence, and discipline gaps before they compound into account damage.
Your Morning With FirstBell

Stop reacting.
Start arriving ready.

Most traders open their charts at 9:29 AM and improvise. Here’s what the same morning looks like with FirstBell.

8:30 AM
Scanner finishes. Your list is ready.
500+ stocks screened overnight. Setups scored against your criteria — breakout, pullback, momentum. You open the dashboard and your morning work is already done. You review, you don’t scramble.
8:45 AM
You write your reason. The AI reads it.
Before you touch a position, you type your thesis. The local AI — running on your own machine, not a cloud server — reads it and tells you whether your reasoning aligns with your defined rules or deviates from them. It catches FOMO before your broker does.
9:00 AM
7 gates. Your rules. Enforced automatically.
R:R ratio, position cap, daily kill switch, max trades per day, sector concentration, pre-flight clearance, and AI conviction score — all checked against the rules you set on Sunday. If your setup fails any gate, FirstBell shows you exactly which condition failed and why. Your position size is calculated. You know your max loss before you place a single order.
9:30 AM
The bell rings. You’re already prepared.
While other traders are still deciding what to watch, you already know what you’re looking at, where your entry is, where your stop is, and how many shares to take. The market opens. You execute your plan — or you wait. Either way, it’s your decision, fully informed.

FirstBell enforces YOUR rules — not its own.

Every rule in the system was defined by you. FirstBell is the enforcement layer — the part of you that doesn’t feel the rush, doesn’t get excited, and doesn’t break the plan.

Simulated Demo

Watch FirstBell scan the market.

8:45 AM. Before the open. Here's what your morning looks like inside FirstBell. (Simulated for display — actual scanner output mirrors this format.)

FirstBell™ — Pre-Market Scanner · 08:45:02 AM EST
# ── FirstBell Pre-Market Scanner v1.4.5 ─────────────────────
→ Initializing scan engine... universe: 514 symbols
Fetching pre-market quotes + relative volume data...
Calculating EMAs, VWAP, ATR, key levels...
→ Filter pass: min_avg_volume=1,000,000 min_rvol=1.5×
Scoring setups: Breakout / Trend Pullback / Momentum...
→ Gabby AI companion ready (local model · no API fees · GPU accelerated)...
✓ Scan complete — 23 setups scored · top 5 below
 
SCORE TICKER TYPE SCORE RVOL NOTE
──── ────── ──────────── ───── ───── ──────────────────────────
1 NVDA Breakout 94.2 3.1× Above key resistance $876
2 AAPL Trend Pull 88.7 2.4× 8EMA reclaim, sector bid
3 META Momentum 82.3 1.9× Earnings gap hold + VWAP
4 MSFT Breakout 79.1 1.7× Flag break pre-market
5 AMD Trend Pull 74.8 1.6× Daily 21EMA support hold
Setups ordered by defined scoring criteria — not recommendations
 
→ Opening dashboard → http://localhost:8501

Simulated demo — actual FirstBell output mirrors this format every trading morning at 8:30 AM

Watch It Work

See FirstBell In Action

Full walkthrough — from pre-market scan to trade gate to journal. The complete morning routine.

Illustrative examples only · Not actual results · FirstBell provides information, not investment advice

Full Walkthrough

Complete morning session — pre-market scan through trade gate, Gabby AI, and journal. 7 min 53 sec.

Illustrative examples only · Not actual results · FirstBell provides information, not investment advice

AI Trading Companion

Meet Gabby.

Your AI companion lives inside every FirstBell session — with full access to your morning brief, trade gate status, journal history, and current market regime.

Ask her about any setup. Challenge her on any conviction score. She challenges back. Gabby runs 100% on your machine — no API fees, no data sharing, no cloud dependency.

Meet Gabby →
What you can ask Gabby
“Why didn’t NVDA qualify today?”
“What’s the expected profit from this trade at 2:1?”
“Are we in a bear market right now?”
“What version is running and which AI model?”

Gabby’s responses are informational only. All trade decisions remain solely yours.

Who This Is For

Built for serious traders.
Not for everyone.

FirstBell requires your judgment. It amplifies it — not replaces it.

This is for you if…
  • You want a structured pre-market routine you can repeat every single morning
  • You've had the discipline to make a plan — and the weakness to break it
  • You want AI that challenges your thinking instead of just agreeing with you
  • You're tired of paying $200–$300/mo for tools that don't enforce your rules
  • You value privacy — your broker keys and trades stay on your machine, always
  • New regulatory freedom: FINRA removed the Pattern Day Trader minimum equity requirement, effective June 4, 2026 — FirstBell works with any account size, including accounts under $25K. [FINRA Notice 26-10] ($2K min remains for margin accounts)
This is NOT for you if…
  • You want "hot picks" or someone to tell you what to trade
  • You want fully automated execution — FirstBell requires your approval
  • You're a complete beginner with no trading knowledge
  • You want a cloud-based SaaS with a phone app
What serious traders actually want
🏛️
Structure
Not impulse trades driven by news and emotion
✅
Validation
Not hype, hot takes, or trade alert calls
📋
Process
Not predictions — repeatable decision discipline
🛡️
Risk Control
Before execution — not as an afterthought
📊
Statistical Feedback
Live edge tracking instead of random outcomes
🎯
Behavioral Lockout
System-enforced rules — not willpower

If you are looking for hot picks, auto-trading, or guaranteed profits — FirstBell is not the right product.

System Intelligence

How FirstBell Thinks

Most tools show you data. FirstBell runs a continuous decision pipeline — from raw scan to live edge validation — every single morning.

🔍
Market
Scan
500+ stocks
screened daily
→
★
Technical
Score
Multi-factor
ranking
→
🚧
Risk
Gate
7-gate analysis
before entry
→
🤖
AI Thesis
Audit
Rule-alignment
check
→
📈
Live
Tracking
Outcome
logged
→
⚠️
Drift
Detection
Edge monitored
over time
→
🔭
Research
Expansion
Discovery signals
graduate in

This pipeline runs locally on your machine — private, fast, and continuously self-validating. No external AI servers process your strategy.

What Traders Say

Used by traders who want structure,
not signals.

Testimonials reflect user experiences with workflow and decision structure — not financial outcomes. Individual results vary. FirstBell does not influence trade outcomes.

★★★★★

"I used to walk into every session reacting. Now I walk in with a scored list, a plan, and rules I actually keep."

— Beta Tester · Retail Day Trader, Atlanta · Individual results vary
★★★★★

"The AI conviction audit helped me recognize three times in the first week that I was reacting to FOMO, not a structured setup."

— Beta Tester · Swing Trader, 6 yrs experience · Individual results vary
★★★★★

"Nothing I've seen at this price level comes close to the structure FirstBell gives you. This is how institutional desks think."

— Beta Tester · Options Trader, Chicago · Individual results vary
From The Builder

FirstBell was built by a trader who was tired of expensive subscriptions that gave signals with no context, no risk control, and no accountability.

Every feature in this system was built to answer one question: What would a professional trader actually use? The result is a system that enforces discipline — not just displays data.

Know Before The Bell*

— T. Hodges Co., LLC™ 2026 · firstbell.trade

Built For
  • ✓ Discretionary traders
  • ✓ Swing traders
  • ✓ Structured day traders
  • ✓ Rule-based operators
Runs On
  • ✓ Windows (primary)
  • ✓ Mac (Docker)
  • ✓ Linux
  • ✓ 8GB RAM minimum
Works With
  • ✓ Schwab / thinkorswim
  • ✓ Alpaca
  • ✓ IBKR
  • ✓ Paper trading accounts
Pricing

Choose your plan.
Everything included.

Digital software subscription · ZIP archive + license key by email · Cancel anytime

Less than most traders lose from a single undisciplined trade.

✓ 7-Day Free Trial on Every Plan No charge until day 8. Cancel anytime before then and pay nothing.
Limited · 25 Spots
Founders 25
$39
7-day free trial · then $39/mo · locked in forever
Claim Founders Rate →
Monthly
$49
7-day free trial · then $49/mo
Start Free Trial →
Annual
$490
7-day free trial · save $98
Start Free Trial →

View full plan details and feature list →

Secure checkout · Digital product: ZIP archive + license key by email · T. Hodges Co., LLC — Mississippi · Support

Have questions before you buy?

Browse the FAQ →
What Happens After You Buy

You are scanning real markets in under 20 minutes.

1
Buy
License key + download link delivered to your inbox immediately.
2
Install
Run the included setup script. Docker Desktop handles the rest automatically.
3
Connect
Select your broker or start with Paper Trading — no API keys required to begin.
4
Trade
Run your first pre-market scan. Your morning routine starts today.
Before You Buy — Know This
Setup time
~20 minutes on Windows with Docker Desktop already installed. First-time Docker install adds ~10 minutes.
AI response speed
With an NVIDIA GPU (8GB+ VRAM): near-instant. CPU-only: 15–40 seconds per audit. Both work — GPU is faster.
Schwab connection
Requires a free Schwab developer app (OAuth). The INSTALL guide walks you through every click. ~5 minutes extra.
If something breaks
Re-run setup.bat — resolves 95% of issues automatically. Full support guide →
Compatible Brokers
  • ✓ Schwab (live trading, OAuth)
  • ✓ Alpaca (live and paper trading)
  • ✓ Public.com (live trading, REST API)
  • ✓ IBKR Client Portal (beta)
  • ✓ Tradier (live trading)
  • ✓ TradeStation (preview)
  • ✓ Paper Trading (built-in — no keys needed)
  • ✓ Manual Mode (works with ThinkorSwim)
System Requirements
  • ✓ Windows, Mac, or Linux
  • ✓ Docker Desktop (free — installer included)
  • ✓ 8GB RAM minimum (16GB recommended)
  • ✓ Internet connection for market data
  • ✓ Optional: NVIDIA GPU for faster AI (8GB VRAM)

No coding required. No terminal commands. The setup wizard handles everything.