It seems to me that out of all the software packages in the market, whether they be for analysis or execution, are deficient in one way or another. Now I know....traders' opinions on software will vary as no two traders trade alike and they need different tools etc. But I propose this.... Software that is available today dictates how you trade and, IF you had software that was tailored, you would trade differently. Software companies write applications that are marketable to a large enough group to make it worth their time/effort. Software is not suppose to drive an industry BUT facilitate its growth. However, I believe in this case, they are driving the industry by reproducing the same garbage that other software companies produce. (at least for the individual trader) If the traders on this board only knew of some of the software that institutions are using to beat you to profits, you would have a fit (i speak from experience). I say be more demanding of these software companies. Tell them what you want! I would like to hear from you as to where your software fails you.
A huge weakness of TradeStation is the inability to access data across charts without writing a DLL (i.e., the EasyLanguage code one is writing must use data from the same window). I'd be interested in knowing about any products that compete with TS's EasyLanguage that do not have this limitation.
Hi mca98, Right, there's a bunch of info about TS DLLs out there if one does a bit of searching, and had run into this PushPop link before. It's interesting that TS doesn't just provide a standard global variable DLL to at least address the simplest issues. Was sort of fishing above for more info about any trading software that competes with TS before getting any more committed than I already am to custom DLL writing. (Am also nervous about the way they've chosen to make a buck via brokerage fees alone.) Thanks.
Well, concerning software I started with Qcharts, then moved to Ravenquote, now I've moved to Tradestation2000. I'm not really sure what else is out there(I'm happy TS). I've heard about Neoticker and ensign. You might want to try those. That pushpop dll is already written for you by the way. I also heard that tradestation6/pro only has limited data to test. they must be pushing for their clients to jump from losing system to losing system, generating unneccesary commissions for the trader.(that seems kind of fishy!), watch your back with these guys.
"If the traders on this board only knew of some of the software that institutions are using to beat you to profits, you would have a fit (i speak from experience)." Please tell us what we are missing?
Why would a company or person want to sell "good" software. They could make significantly more money by using it.
hi guys, For a moment, think of trading software like clothes. You may wear a L or XL, but the only size available is one size fits all unisex. Do you know where I'm going here? The was another post that asked what the institutions possess that we don't.....this is an old example grant you but a good one. About four or five years ago one of the "pro" trading firms (mentioned here frequently) started bringing in NASDAQ traders to trade for them using SLK's latest and greatest RediPlus. At that time, there was no market orders built into the software. So I frequently watched traders struggle and get pinched as they entered and exited positions. Down the hall, there was an institutional desk who had market orders with "smart" order routing technology....more examples to come. I would like to hear more from people about what platform they use and why. I would like to get some stats about reliability. How often does your data,software, etc go down? BTW, the earlier posts about TS were very interesting.
I use First Alert (see thread here). Their software is great for searching the universe of stocks for that "perfect stock" (if such a thing exists) to trade. They have a number of dialogue boxes that allow you to customize which stocks to search for, and in real time, will notify you when a stock meets your criteria. Over all, I find this more helpful than TS, being as TS can only monitor a select number of stocks at a time. On the other hand, almost everything else about First Alert is second rate, IMHO. The software is extremely computer intensive: memory, hard drive space, cpu, etc. Their charts leave quite a bit to be desired. The included datastream is flaky. So, if someone could combine their stock scanning capabilities with another platform, I would be sold. Just my (limited, grant you) opinion. Cheers.
Right. I want to hear more substance from xicaju before spending any more time revealing what all the flaws are in TradeStation and other programs I've tried. He should at least outline the types of software he is talking about, and provide some examples, even if he can't go into details.