I use brackets in both TS and TWS. In TWS, I use hotkeys. Couldn't be easier. Prices and size quickly adjusted with the curser in the appropriate row after order transmitted. At TS, I adjust my brackets in the matrix with the cursor. I use a one click setting at TS, so an accidental double click will cancel my target or stop. That has cost me a few on rare occasions. I prefer TWS brackets over TS, but both work for me.
"Any 5 year old playing video games would realize this " now the truth comes out. trading is a grown up video game.
If it weren't for the fact that you just blew up and admitted you can't trade, this rant may be taken seriously, but... http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=190983
Have you ever set up brackets in booktrader? TS Matrix is a snap, I don't find brackets in book trader so easy.
Setting up bracket orders from TWS or book trader is not simple. Setting up bracket orders from Matrix or Buton Trader is simple.
Of all the order entry platforms on the market TWS has to be to worst. I love the universal account, I love there low margin costs. I hate TWS.
I didn't make any mistake you idiot. This could have happened to you, and I wish it would. Actually I know it will, only a matter of time with all the updates. The point is not whether I should have known there would be a popup or not or whether I should have know the platform better . I am not a scalper, I do not plan ahead to make quick trades , I do know that I may need to get out any time in a split second, even if I get in the trade for several days The point is there was a popup and this type of process is not consistent with fast, professional execution. This spells DISASTER in the futures market. Even grandpa holding GLD for the long haul and making 50 Trades a year with TWS may need to get out in a split second, how can he know about all the idiosyncracies of TWS ? Is he supposed to spend his retirement dutifully studying every freaking new release of TWS to know whether this or that has changed ? Ib developers are irresponsible, arguably not providing a reliable platform is not very different than misselling of products or securities. I wish people would realize that.
I misunderstood you. I'm thinking of execution. I don't consider the difficulty of the setup so much as the operation of the bracket. I should also mention that I only trade one instrument, and only use brackets with one stop and one target. I always use the same configuration of my brackets and make adjustments before or after execution so I have no need to change my setups. When I click on my preferred price in the TS matrix, my bracket appears with my offsets. I then adjust those with my curser after transmitting. I don't use booktrader at TWS, so I'm not sure how the hotkey execution would work with it. When I wish to buy or sell at IB, I place the curser on my instrument in TWS, and use the hotkeys. I have keys set up for simple buy or sell, buy or sell with bracket and offsets, inc or dec price or size, and cancel. Once the bracket is in TWS, I can adjust both size and price, again with hotkeys, and I can have different sizes in the target and stop of the bracket before transmitting. Very fast...except when TWS is in the middle of a freeze...but that's a different story. I'm sure there are some pretty complex bracket setups which I don't use. Tradestation has come a long way in the last few years in that respect.
I do scalp with BookTrader many times every day. I have been doing it for more than a year. Some of my trades last only 2-3 seconds. It gives me lightning fast, immediate 1click execution, and no popups, ever. But I figured out how to configure it to serve my needs. And it needed some (not that much though) time to figure out. And I trade no futures, only forex. Don't believe though, that futures would be that different. Am I mistaken?