any idea what this would cost to get someone to program

Discussion in 'Automated Trading' started by rodneywkr, Sep 1, 2010.

  1. if we buy "market at the opening" for $100 a share, when the stock hits $110... $110 is a trigger to activate a 5% trailing stop, therefore $104.50 would be the stop if the stop didnt go over $110
    And on the downside:when the stock hits $95(5% down) the is the stop loss, and then we go short. $85.50(10% down from short price) is a trigger to activate a 5% trailing stop, therefore $89.77 would be the stop if stock didnt go below $85.50. From the short price $95, 5% above is the new stop loss $100. In essence, 10% is at risk in any given position

    Looking for someone to write a program with these trading parameters, to make it fully automated(blackbox). And what would something cost.

    Thanks
     
  2. Any broker? Platform?
     
  3. I am willing to move to any broker in order to get this completed.. I am currently on DAS Trader Pro; however, my broker can also use Sterling......
     
  4. Why don't you pick up something like NinjaTrader and learn to do it yourself?

    I could probably code up the strategy you're talking about in under 3 days using that platform (not that I'd want to).
     
  5. Nothing. You can get an eager-beaver programmer to do it for free in exchange for "experience" on his resume'. :cool:
     
  6. topdeck

    topdeck

    this is a seriously bad idea. i've been coding for a very long time, and could tell you tons of horror stories about code produced by newbies. software is part art, part science, and part math. its a craft that requires 5 to 10 years to master.

    would you hire the cheapest doctor, lawyer, or plumber you could find? you get what you pay for. hire a pro, he'll have it done in 1/4 the time and it will be right the first time.
     
  7. Raul641

    Raul641

    Speaking as a professional programmer, I, too, have seen plenty of horror stories come out of that scenario. I agree 100%.

    Nobody opening a new upscale restaurant would say, "get me the cheapest ingredients that money can buy, and the least-experienced staff available, because they'll work for almost nothing" and then seriously expect to build a profitable restaurant business around that core. Why would anyone try to build an automated stock trading business with cheap/free programming at its core?

    I think because programming is intangible, and because most non-programmers know little or nothing about it, non-programmers have the idea that it can be magicked up in a few hours by anyone who is "good with computers" while the programmer simultaneously plays Flash games and chats on instant messenger in other windows.

    You might get lucky, it might work out well for a low price, but the odds are heavily against it.
     
  8. It would take 5 minutes to program something like this, especially with some of the user friendly programs available to most retail traders.

    This is very simple, OP, take a few days to learn a new piece of software and do it yourself. You could do this with no programming knowledge with a good platform and a little research.

    You will always be mercy to someone else otherwise.
     
  9. henry76

    henry76

    I agree with algo , his "programme" isn't much more than two or three conditonal orders.
     
  10. Raul641

    Raul641

    That's not the point. The point was about how anytime someone says, "how much would a programmer be," someone else says, "just get someone to do it for free to build their resume!"

    If you take trading seriously and think of it as a business, this makes no sense. In no other line of business would anyone adopt an attitude of "hey, I'm going to find the cheapest and least-experienced person available to build a core part of my business."
     
    #10     Sep 20, 2010