How or wWhat is Bracket Trading with TWS

Discussion in 'Trading Software' started by Hambone, Jan 22, 2003.

  1. Hambone

    Hambone

    I’m trying to find the best replacement for RealTick and Terra Nova. Currently I’m testing Ensign Windows with Esignal and J-Trader with the intent on probably using Advance Futures. Before I make a decision, I want to know more about TWS and IB. I know IB is slammed for their customer support, so I don’t need to hear more about that, (you pay for what you get, right?) What I do want to know more about is this ‘bracket trading’ capability of TWS. What exactly is this? I couldn’t find any mention of it in the online guide for TWS, so I’m not really sure what this actually is. I gather, from the posts on some of the threads here on ET that it somehow simplifies scalping?

    As far as the charting package, does anyone have other data feed/chart package combo’s they would recommend based on features and pricing? Has anyone used Erlanger Quote? The main things that I used a lot in RT that are missing from Ensign, is:

    1.The ability to have a tick chart open and snap the entire days activity into a single view window. (You could toggle between ‘snap view’ and ‘expanded view’ by hitting F7.)
    2.The ability to overlay dissimilar indicators in the same pane and display the axis labels on either the right or left of the pane. (That way you could put MACD and Stochastic indicators in the same pane.)

    I posted some of this in another thread, but haven’t got much input. I really need to decide which way to go, so I would appreciate any advice and input here. Thanks.
     
  2. Ditch

    Ditch

    You can overlay several indicators in the same window in Ensign, for information on bracket trading go to www.bracket-trader.com
     
  3. tws has it's own bracket trade option. You don't need to use a third party api.

    you enter at a limit with an auto stop and auto target, one click

    options are
    1. enter limit with auto stop
    2. enter limit with auto trailing stop
    3. Bracket trade, enter limit with auto stop and auto target
     
  4. Whamo

    Whamo

    Do you see any differences between this and the 3rd party API?
     
  5. I've only used one third party with real money.

    I use tws bracket trade everyday. No problem. The third party applications had some bugs.

    You set them up with hotkeys, so one click and you're in, and then it doesn't matter what happens. You can crash your system and go watch it on TV.
     
  6. white17

    white17

    Profitseer: If one is not using hotkeys, can you just set up the order and use Transmit Page?
     
  7. yes, I think so, there was a discussion on this site about that. I never transmit a page, but it should work.

    If you don't want to use hotkeys, you can set it up OCA. Then transmit your page.

    That's a whole nuther world man, I just trade es. That's all. You stock traders. That's for people that like to think.
     
  8. Have you figured out a way to enter a bracket order on an actual postion rather than on an order? You may not get the actual price you think you will get, in which case the bracket numbers will be off. Also, you can't place a TWS bracket order much in advance or one of the legs may get hit before the position you want (its an OCA order, but I don't think its a contingent order). For those that scalp like mad its a great system, but for people that put their orders in a few tics before the market gets to a certain point (how I trade), I don't think it works so well.

    IB customer support gets real confused on this subject, and I would love to hear if there is some way to hot key a bracket based on a position (i.e. highlight the position, then send a bracket based on it).

    Jay
     
  9. Ditch

    Ditch

    Bracket Trader enters the bracket on the basis of the actual fill. I've been using it for quite some time now. What i like most is the ease of use.
     
  10. Hambone

    Hambone

    Yes you can overlay the indicators, but as far as I can tell, the axis labels can only be displayed on the right side of the pane. In that case, you can't overlay a MACD and Stochastic indicator and have the MACD labels on the right and the Stochastic labels on the left. You get the labels only for the first indicator put up, (as far as I can tell). Do you know something different?
     
    #10     Jan 23, 2003