Hi, this is my first post on ET, but I have monitored it for awhile. I have also searched the site numerous times and have not seen a exact breakdown of information. I know I will probably get ripped on people using PC's, but I wanted a different perspective. I have been a trader at a money management company for a couple years, and am thinking about breaking off onto my own. We use Dell's entirely, but before I make a decision on my setup I thought I would test the water with Apple, seeing they are very reliable. Someone who trades exclusively with an Apple, and no Virtual PC, what is your setup? Also, what software do you use for trading, data feed, and analysis? Thanks everyone!
I don't think there is much software to choose from for an Apple. I could be wrong and outdated, but when I checked charting software was pretty much non-existent for Apple. This has been discussed before on this site though. I would suggest using the Search function. Best, LB
With the latest Macs, those using the Intel Core Duo chip, you can run Windows alongside the Mac OS. Look here http://www.parallels.com/ and, for a review, here http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20060615.html for starters. JB
Really depends on what kind of data feed and platform you want to run. Alot of them don't support mac obviously. I trade only equities and options, on a windows box these days because I like to have two machines and since this one is only for trading it was cheap to get a stripped down Dell. I used a mac power-book for everything else. But when I was starting, I used a plain jane Mac i-book running scottrade's std platform and doing the bulk of my non-intraday charting through a sub to stockcharts.com Worked great. In fact, I may return to that set up since I still use mac laptops for my std personal machine and I am not flipping 30 roundtrips per day...more like 5-20 trades per week. It allows me to trade from the coffeeshop too, which is nice for a change of scenery. I've gone from bare bones simple, to multi-monitor crazy complicated, and am trending back to simplicity. Macs are great machines, no worries on viruses and all the windows security holes. Not alot of support for small proprietary software, but really...what do you use 99% of the time...a web browser (safari kicks ass over anything microsuck or netscape has ever made), word processor/spreadsheet (I have MS office for Mac), and maybe some imaging stuff (mac tends to do graphic stuff better anyway, I have Photoshop for mac). I don't play video games on my machines (sit on my ass enough while trading, I'd rather go exercise). Re-learning commonly used hotkeys is a pain, but fast enough.
is Apple getting into commuter set-ups? I knew they were good in certain area's... but transportation? But seriously, why fight the resources?...PC's for trading and Apples for media, publishing and Art.... Apple comuter Trading Setup Welcome to ET rkingery, I think Baron (the administrator of this site) uses a MAC...but do not quote me.
macs rocks windows sucks..g5 is supersolid superfast...only prob is lack of third party applets, usuelss anyways if u know how to trade. i clear trough ib and made my decisions based on L1, i peek at charts just to know were mkt stands, no need for fancy stuff. kiss.
Haha, yeah I saw the 'comuter' typo. I think I'm going to try the G5 with 2 20' displays. I will let everyone know how it goes. Thanks for the replies.
You should wait for the "Mac Pro" to come out later this month, then you can run Parallels and have the best of both worlds.
Here is a similar thread that may help. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=71598&highlight=PC+or+Mac
If you are looking for a fully integrated application that includes real-time data, charts, news and anlaytics on the Mac, look no further than QST - Quick Scren Trading. No Parallels or other Windows virtualization, so it really performs. Thanks to Apple's superior font rendering technology, it is a pleasure to stare at all day (or night) long. You can sign up for a free 2-week trial here: http://www.quickscreentrading.com You can download the Mac version directly at: http://quotes.computervoice.com/webstart/QST/qst.jnlp Give it a try. You will not regret it.