Hi Pairsguy123, I am using Pair Trade finder and it seems to do the job but I am not all that confident about the back testing algorithm, it doesn't seem to take into account multiple layers during the back testing. I may be wrong though but my test results don't seem to change when I add additional layers even though the additional layers would have been hit. I have just looked at the introductory video for the Iris platform and it certainly does look good. Do you have any idea of the cost? John
Hi John, I agree with pair trade finder. i played around with the backtester and it basically shows making money in nearly every combination of settings...it's not accurate. I got a free trial for Iris and spoke to one of their sales people who was extremely helpful in explaining how the system works. i haven't gone fully automated yet but the option is there, and the charts are really impressive (they plot all your entry/exit points and you trade directly from them). As far as the cost, I was told it depends on what firm I'm at trading with. They list all the available firms on the site, and I see interactive brokers is one (which i have an account at). i'm most likely going to move forward with a live account and give it a try. Mike
Good luck on AVB ESS. You're welcome on the charts. I hope it helps others in watching the pair and trading. What trading platform are you using that allows for stops on pairs ?...for instance as you explained percentage of equity or percentage of time ? Is it independent of a brokerage or proprietary to a brokerage ? If you were to have a difference for capital applied to each leg, intuitively I could possibly see where it can be sometime helpful based on market direction and sometime hurtful. For instance, if you are long a leg that has a beta twice as much as your short leg, and both are driven up with an upward market, that would be good. But if the market declined badly, your long leg would suffer much worse than your short leg. So aren't you betting on market direction ? A 2% gain per month is 24% per year. It sure beats the investor hunting with difficulty a 5% or 6% per annum yield.
It has a chat room. If you could get in there you could ask your questions about it. But then you have to be a subscriber. It would be nice to get a week free-be. I wonder how robust its pairs finder is ? Question: The platform allows you to pull SD and other analytics from the charts. Not to be flip, but seriously, so what ? What the charts do in graphics, my prophet charts do also with respect to chart plots. I can also magnify any time term within a selected month chart or days charts. So for me, the platform is as good as the input: GIGO....garbage in, garbage out. The platform is dependent on the subscription to its pairs finder software. There are plenty of those around anyway. BTW, in its overview, it gives lists of different sectors and states (and I infer / paraphrase) ain't it nice to be able to spread your trades over different sectors....... be diversified ? Funny. Just as it pumps (rightfully) the innate nature of pair trading to be market neutral, so are pairs to sectors. I don't care if my pair dives or rips up with or contrary to the market, and I don't care if all 50 of my trade pairs are simultaniously in the same sector for that same reason. I'm just being picky ! My statement is not a knock on their platform.
Sorry PairsGuy........ You posted a few minutes before me, and I didn't see it while I was composing my last post. Good luck, with the platform and keep us apprised of your liking for it...pros and cons.
This is good. Quote above is from my post on this thread Nov 15, but see posts on Charts of Note by clicking this link for an update (be sure to click the link on that post, too): http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3694430#post3694430
ok..i asked if anyone had used this software the other day but didn't get any responses from those that have. I've now moved to a live account with interactive brokers using Iris and all i have to say is WOW. I have not seen scalping/ day trading signals made so clear since the early 2000s than off these Iris charts. Plus they show the entries and exits plotted right on them (up to 20 layers/levels mind you!). all the info can be exported to excel for easy analysis...and every detail of each trade and every level is available. why hasn't anyone on here mentioned this software before??! good luck to all you pairs guys that are making money currently...but i highly suggest you check this software out. Mike
What is the pricing structure you got for Iris platform? When I checked with them a little while back, it was too much for a guy like me that is swing trading pairs while holding down a full time job.
mweather, I pay only $300 a month. considering market data is ~$150 per month on any system another $150 is totally acceptable to me for a platform as advanced as Iris. even that terrible sterling platform is like $200 a month...plus you have to pay the additional market data fees. Mike
Hey Mike, since it is so amazing why not post some trades for all of us to behold! If I sound a little skeptical, well - I am. On a more serious note, I'm always interested in something new if it actually provides value and is not just another Sales Pitch. I personally beat intra-day Pair Trading to death with some serious analysis tools for over a year. I basically determined that unless I wanted to go the HFT route that it wasn't a profitable strategy. Of course, I actually took into account things like slippage, commissions and the ability to borrow the stocks or ETFs.