I am looking for trading software to execute emini trades with. The software should be able to let me bracket trade etc. - the problem is that obviously the vendors can see our filled trades - but I do not want them to be able to see my synthetic trades (ie. stops limits away from the market - until they are ready to execute) where they can therefore see my whole strategy (and then if I trade well, they can easily copy it and I will not be able to trade it anymore). Any suggestions ?
Open more than one account at more than one broker. Do the entries in one account and the exits in another. In addition to your regular trades, perform "misdirection" trades that go long in account A while simultaneously going short in account B. Find out how many times per day you are allowed to cancel orders without extra fees. Place dummy orders then cancel them a while later. Use unorthodox order types like All-Or-Nothing, Fill-Or-Kill, and so forth. If you primarily trade the eMini financials, occasionally execute a spread trade in Oats or Orange Juice: simultaneously buy the March and sell the June. Spreads don't move very far or very fast but they sure are confusing to observers.
obviously - nononsense - you are not fully comprehending the question - Before everything was fully electronic, you made your strategy and called the trades into your broker. Now by using fully electronic systems, not only are you entering your trades in one place, but many people also have to have their strategies behind them on the same system So nononsense - it is not about hiding your actual trades (that is paranoid) but it is about hiding the strategy's behind them. If you do not do that - and if you have a decent strategy the it very may be that the software vendor you are going thru can see everything you are doing (strategy and all - not only executed trades) They will be able to copy it and do it in greater numbers than you can (probably making your strategy irrelevant at that point).
..Do some experiments ....watch ....gather statistics ..... ....You just have to be clever and rely on experiments and statistics to guide your behaviour on topics relating to this question ..... Here is a hint: In the computer security world there is the concept of a "honeypot". The idea being that if you make people think there is something valuable then they will come after it and you can see how they behave ..... I have found this a most useful concept in the trading business as well ....
Two ways to be 100% certain they aren't mirroring. Trade manually with nothing sitting on the books. Or "trade away". Have a Prime relationship and do buys and sells with two different brokers. But frankly I think your being paranoid. Brokers make a hell of alot of money through commissions at no risk to them. And alot don't even trade a principal account anyway.