Hello, I have 25 years trading experience, the past 8 years quite active. I trade EOD, 2 - 10 days, Nasdaq stocks, primarily tech's-semi's. The past 2 years I have been using mechanical trading systems (my own) with good results. I get frustrated swing trading in a range as we are experiencing with the Nasdaq recently, and as such have resorted to intraday trading. I have been quite successful using support and resistance as well as trendlines (all intraday on 3 min charts). This (although lucrative) method is far too eyebuldging intensive! My setup is not condusive to intraday trading. I currently use IB feed into Quotetracker, standalone Amibroker EOD version for backtesting formula's. I could upgrade to Amibroker Real Time, add a "real" data vendor and continue to run IB-Quotetracker-Amibroker but I still would not have the possibility of the auto trade feature. And the cost would be about 60-100 bucks/month I need a better platform for intraday trading as well as the possibility to test and possibly automate my mechanical systems (on intraday data) and was thinking of going with the new Tradestation 7.2 platform. (cost about the same $100/m) I would appreciate any comments on the Tradestation 7.2 platform`(especially from traders who use auto trade function) Has TS 7.2 provided timely data (minimal lag?) with no spikes? How is the ease of manual order entry compared to IB. How does the backtester compare with Amibroker or Metastock. Are the TS 7.2 Charts good for intraday trading? I am very reluctant to switch my current setup as I really like IB amd Amibroker, however my needs have changed. Comments from EXPERIENCED successful traders (intraday and auto-trade) who have used IB and TS 7.2 would be appreciated. No newbies please. (no offence) Thanks
Since you have IB why not get sierra charts or ensign which use IB feed in real time and are cheap and easy to use.
Like Cathy, I'm a satisfied TS user. I trade EOD so I can't help you too much with your questions, but one thing you should confirm before you buy is the extent to which you can control automated order execution. For example, you might be able to say "buy 100 spy at lower band limit" but I don't think you can say "buy 100 SPY at bid." I don't know how these kind of limitations will affect your system, so I thought I'd mention it before you ordered and got a surprise.
I don't believe I can auto trade with those programs, and would not have the ability to backfill intraday charts, when I have been away for a couple of days. It would basically be the same as I have now with IB fed into Quotetracker. Thanks, but please NO Newbies! Experienced traders know what I am talking about.
I thought I did, but I tend to be concise. It is great for back testing. The data has no lags. I use it to scalp, so it is very accurate. I have never used another broker like the ones you described because all my reasearch told me that TradeStation was the best platform out there with the best support. They recently changed all their data to direct access....so it is wonderful. I never have a problem with fills. I love the Easy Language feature, because all my indicators are custom made for me. I sometimes use the automatic trading feature for entries when I am otherwise occupied. It seems to work just fine. Does this answer what you need to know?