Toe, Thanks for your input. This may very well be the best Idea to go with. Should be pretty safe from being sued if the product only works on simulation accounts, and if the demand is great enough in the future and I feel safe from excessive liabilities I could always open it up for real money trading. Thanks for the idea
Hey Frost, Best of luck to your endeavor. Glad we had this dialogue about it so we could iron out a few details. I know it's hard to believe, but while it might not pay in terms of people's reactions to your endeavors, what matters is what you get out of the experience. Just make sure you get what you need from the experience ... Best, JJ
The decision I made concerning the scripting language is that I will support several of them including: BeanShell-which is essentially java Jython-which is python I am also looking at a few very "basic" scripting language... No matter which scripting langauge you decide to write your indicators and automated strategies in, they all will have SUBSTANTIAL power, as far as what sort of internal things they are capable of manipulating..... Even things such as the actual trade management and handling, I will make it so that it can be overwritten by a script....... there will basically be NO piece of the trading system you cannot take over and modify via scripting.... Even things such as the charts, how the charts are created can all be changed through scripts..... new gui windows can also be created... through the scripts you will be able to do basically anythign capable through normal java applications...... Allowing for COMPLETE customization..... this is only for power users of course..... normal users who just want to implement their strategies will be able to do so in MUCH easier fashion....
Yes, bingo! Good title too "ATS Papertrader. And good business model; could become standard fare for newb IB-ers, like Quotetracker is. Ursa..
Here is an example of a very simple system, buys/sells on moving average crossovers..... This example is done using the beanshell scripting language which is probablly the most dificult of the scripting language for non programmers.. but even so, looking at this script I dont think its anymore dificult than any of the other scripting langauges used in auto traders out there....... thoughts? Is this too dificult, if so I can move quicker to get some of the easier scripting langauges in to show how the code woudl look in say basic.. or something...
You will notice in the code the following: trade.Buy(price); trade.Sell(price); this trade, is what I call the trade manager... it handles all of the trading information, such as setting stop losses, covering shorts, taking profits, keeping track of active postions etc.... you can either use trade, which is the hard coded in java version, or i provide a script called trademanager, which is IDENTICAL to the hard coded version, except it is a script that can be edited.... this way you can read through the java see what is going on.. and tweak it if you dont like a default behavior....... this is an example of the full control I plan to provide..... will do the same thing with MANY of the important aspects of the system.....
The code is looking very good and the scripting engine is integrating very nicely. I know many of you wanted this project to turn into an open source project... the more controll I am giving the scripts over the system, and by basically duplicating a lot of the core componets as scripts... its begining to take the form of an open source project. The project will never be fully open source, but anyone who knows any java can EASILY add any componet they could to any normal java aplication through the scripts, or anyone who knows any python.... Its my hope that once the intial betas are released that the community will help add on features, such as ANY indiator you can dream up, you can implmenet....... any trade management scheme.. any strategy... if it can be coded in a programming langague, you CAN implement it in this tool.... Its sort of a framework, that by itself is simple to implement stratgies, backtest them, play back tick by tick charts, and then automate them... but for those who like to get dirty, its a framework that can be a start for a completly different type of system..... nothing this system does is set in stone, you have full controll to change any default behavior that matters to your system.
Yes, I agree, it seems to become something akin to OpenSource, mainly in the fact that it will be so adaptable and interchangeable, thus also enforcing some standard that is verifiable for others and becomes 'public property'. I think you are on the right track here and I aplaud you for it. One other aspect of OpenSource projects is that they developed a modus-operandi in which projects can become enormous without becoming unmanageable. (I think that is the true soul and heart and will determine the eventual victory of OpenSource over proprietary bloatware.) By opening up part of the machinery through the scripting language, you in effect placed a large part of what the actual machine will do in the public domain. It will be your task to decide on a standard, default setup and also manage the input from others, to prevent this from becoming chaos. Some kind of official repository will do. But, first things first, I'm looking forward to this and I think many with me, Ursa..
Hi Frost, I am really interested in the outcome of your project as I am a long time trader but clueless ATS newbie. On the subject of personal liability, you might want to consider a computer consultants E&O policy. They typically start at a minimum premium of around $2500 per year for $1mill of coverage. My other business is commercial insurance brokerage and would be happy to answer any questions if you wanted to PM me. TP