Hi, I am a newcomer to this trading business. Since I know programming languages, I am fascinated by the power of coding and developing trading systems. I would appreciate any hint about how and where from I should start. My final goal is to be able to code my own strategies as a trading system on a commercial trading software. I guess my question is what software are there and if there are less expensive ones for a starter. In any event, I am interested in a software that I can write own code in. Right now I use StreetSmart Pro of Schwab for trading. Thank you. Mohsen
Hello, There will be those much more knowledgable than I. Two to start would be Esignal on the higher end imo, then Tradestation on the lower end. By high end or low end I mean cost wise. However, cost is relative to looking at it as a business expense. Emphasis here, TREAT your TRADING as a BUSINESS. Lower overhead with similiar returns may result in higher profits. Keep your fixed cost as low as reasonably possible, without sacrificing service, reliability, and quality. Employ sound risk control, psychological stability, and reasonable expectations based upon methodology chosen. Also remember that available capital is also going to dictate, what you may or may not be able to accomplish. Start slow and bulid on your failures, as well as your successes over time. The markets have been around for years, and I don't see them disappearing anytime soon. Luck is Preparation waiting for Opportunity, dont be lucky, be prepared. Good Trading and God Bless! Kelly
Neoticker is by far one of, if not the, most powerful program for programming trading systems. They have a lease program if you are not ready to purchase. A demo is available. You'll need a data feed. As the other poster stated, it's a business expense if you are serious so a "starter" program (if there is such thing) isn't such a hot idea.
Thank you both for your advice. What data feeds do you recommend? I will have to have one that has historical and realtime data for "ALL" symbols. Thanks.
Quote from mohsengh: Thank you both for your advice. What data feeds do you recommend? I will have to have one that has historical and realtime data for "ALL" symbols. Thanks. Esignal is one of the more well known data providers. Tradestation has data and allows you to use easy language for programming. You might find it best to just do a search and use your own discretion. Do a serach on ET also, I'm sure there are numerous threads that have discussed this in detail at some point. Another helpful place would be to pick up an issue of the magazine Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities. They offer reviews and articles on many different areas. They also provide the language written by programmers or traders for certain programs based upon strategies they have discovered. Here is the link to their site, may it be of benefit. http://www.traders.com/S&C_homepg.html Take Care and God Bless! Kelly
Great info! I bet this is going to keep me busy for some time.. Do eSignal and Tradestation cover data for all penny stocks too? Schwab has it all so does google. But for example yahoo does not have good past data or even in some cases present data for some small penny stocks. God bless you and good luck today! Mohsen
Hrrrmmm... 1. Stop trading. I'm not saying, quite trading. Stop in the time being. You should stop wasting time and money with your current trading and focus on development. Initially, you'll be required to use money and time developing on getting the necessary tools to develop. 2. First thing you need is to get data. I wouldn't touch Forex because the data is way too dirty and it becomes very tricky. So what I can suggest is to get centralized exchange products like US equities or Financial futures. My suggestion is to do a Google on historical data and download free historical data. Pick the data that has the long time and less time compression. Most free datas are dirty and has problems in real life. (Again, datas... not only for 1 market... multiple markets) 3. Next thing to do is to get a tester. Familiarize yourself with some backtesting software and learn how backtesting works. Once you have a good idea of how backtesting software works, write your own tester. ........... Now... this may seem a bit odd for some people about not trading and trying to get free (yet dirty) data. The focus is to learn and gain experience and make all the mistakes you can without losing and using inappropriate money. There's way too much newbies with "light" expectations about trading their models live. It's never too late to develop a "real system" with purchased (clean) data once he's built the experience and tools for a "profitable system trader". My point is not to trade for the sake of being a system trader but for the sake of being profitable. I would say that.... for someone to be in a real-time test phase, the trader needs to have the core functions of the custom tester finished. "Getting ready" to code up a "custom" real-time simulation application...
Mohsen, I'm in a similar boat as you. I am doing tons of homework & research to make a move from discretionary trader to systems trading. I'm currently taking a good look at TradeStation and E-signal. I came across this (see PDF in link) piece of interesting info on testing that is written for newbie systems traders like us. Check it out and good luck. http://www.verticalsolutions.com/notes/intro_to_testing.html
My advice is to buy amibroker - its free historical yahoo data solves your data problem. You can go back to 1965 on think on the S&P500, and at least to 1980 on all the underlying stocks. Also the community of people in the yahoo group and elsewhere is also outgoing and willing to help you. If you have pressing requirements or time demands, there are a number of people who provide coding services for a small fee to get your system up and running without a big learning curve.