Should I move to Tradestation ?

Discussion in 'Automated Trading' started by syswizard, Apr 5, 2016.

  1. toucan

    toucan

    I've used tradestation for more than 15 years now and was there during all the tough times.
    They have gotten better and I have used them for automated daytrading for about 9 years.

    The platform executes what I have automated without problems but I don't need quick transaction processing. I enter a trade and the trade management of enter/cancel/place new/exit transactions, etc is far enough apart that both the tradestation software and the exchange can process the transactions without something crossing and requiring manual intervention.

    If you are going to be entering/exiting/cancelling/reentering trades really quickly ( like within a few ticks), then often, either the tradestation software or the exchange software/response time will be to slow for automation without manual intervention. And yes, I could figure out all of those problems and solve them with additional programming, but I prefer to keep my software simple.

    my 2 cents
    toucan
     
    #21     Apr 9, 2016
    Ron Cernokus likes this.
  2. I like TS but the app will lockup after a few hours. Required to shutdown and restart the app. It's written in C, seems like programmers forgot to clean up garbage. Called in and complained, they fixed it for a few weeks and now the problem is back. It's been like this for years. Their trading matrix is very visual and works well when the app doesn't lockup.
     
    #22     Apr 10, 2016
  3. KeLo

    KeLo

    I called TS about an erroneous order that sticks out position size wise. I have never submitted an order that size.

    They said the usual. The computer says you did the order (tough luck).

    Any suggestions on protecting myself from TS server errors. How can I prove I did not do something?
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Very versatile platform with beautiful graphics.
    Watch their bookkeeping and 1099-Bs like a hawk. 4 or 5 years in a row of totally erroneous 1099-Bs.
    Mostly decent trade servers but I seem to get better fills with IB.
    Some time-stamps showed exits before entries from different TS trade servers on a couple trades.

    I am going to stop trading with them except as a back-up broker.
     
    #23     Apr 28, 2016
    viruscore1 likes this.
  4. toucan

    toucan

    i'm on 9.5, most current production version and have 2 computers that run tradestation and have experienced a "lockup" type of problem. not very often though and I can't replicate the problem.
     
    #24     Apr 28, 2016
  5. My workstation lockup occurs after running for about hour. I am running 4 workspaces and total of 7 charts. and maybe 8 other windows. Dual quad core processors, 20 gb ram. I reboot and the problem will reappear in about 1 hour. Tried just 1 workspace, same thing...
     
    #25     Apr 28, 2016
  6. toucan

    toucan

    some traders have said that the 9.5 version in beta testing is more stable than the production version of 9.5..... my other computer has 9.1 and it works without problems. on my 9.5 computer I run 5 desktops, 11 workspaces, 19 charts and 19 matrix windows. I think its the software and not the amount of work we are doing. My problem is random and doesn't happen very often so I can live with it until the next version.

    toucan
     
    #26     Apr 29, 2016
  7. I just had to restart my system while tradestation was still running, couldn't shutdown tradestation properly because of no response. Although the radarscreen was still updating. I also notice extremely high CPU usage at 80-99%, on 2 xeon quad processors. I am about to drop TS. The pattern starts right after the bell. Sometimes it works after the ball and sometimes it just bogs down like this morning. I called in and tech took some files on wed but haven't heard back yet...
     
    #27     Apr 29, 2016
  8. toucan

    toucan

    in the short term you might do what I do... I keep the task manager up and if tradestation freezes, I locate the tradestation tasks in the task manager and delete them... it saves the time to reboot your computer, but you have to know all the tradestation tasks... if you miss one then tradestation will not load again.
     
    #28     Apr 29, 2016
    viruscore1 likes this.
  9. Collagen

    Collagen

    How can a VPS in Chicago helps with the fills at TS when its data provider (and broker) is located in NJ ?
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2016
    #29     May 29, 2016
  10. KeLo

    KeLo

    Hi toucan:
    Just use "TSKill.exe" from TS forums. Run as Admin and it will kill all TS processes with one click. It is much faster and easier than the Task Manager.
    ------------------------------------------------
    Lylec305:

    Your CPU usage is way too high. Something is wrong. Too much data crunching?
     
    #30     May 31, 2016