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So I'm new here and was just wondering what everyone's recomendations are concerning automated trading software? Do you use it? Fully automated or only partially automated? And what platform would you reccomend for a newbie?
Do you advocate it for anything beside High Frequency Trading? Knowing what I do about that, I realize most of us will probably never have the means to trade this way- access to the algrorithms the pros have and colocated pcs... So for eveyday traders, are fully automated systems feasible or are there more advantages to partial automation. E.g. automated entries but self managed exits...
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
Ninjatrader is one AT option. But most any solution you will find you will then need to either code or have your strategy coded. Fully automated systems are very feasible and have great advantages if your are a systems trader. You don't need to be High Frequency to automate.
"The day I became a winning trader was the day it became boring. Daily losses no longer bother me and daily wins no longer excited me. Took years of pain and busting a few accounts before finally got my mind right. I survived the darkness within and now just chillax and let my black box do the work."
What do you like about Ninja Trader compared to any of the other options on the market? I see a company called CoolTrade when I search Google- do you have any experience with them? And of course we've all seen the ads for Tradestation while watching the financial media...
Basically, I'm not that handy with programming. However, I don't want to be limited in what I can or can't do and would be willing to hire a programmer if nessasary.
I am not familiar with Cooltrade but I would stay away. Not saying they are a scam but not mainline so I would be careful. I have never used Trade Station so no comment. Do some searching on this forum and you will find a few different solutions to AT that all have pluses and minuses. There is alot of detail you can find here. Not trying to give you no answers but this is a big subject and this is a great forum to get educated on the subject. So I would just start reading and it will carry you far enough to start putting together a direction you need to go. One thing that is key is to develop your own system . There are companies that will automate your trading with 1000 other people or more doing the same thing. Most likely you will lose money that way. In other words you don't want a turnkey package that is being sold to everyone else.
"The day I became a winning trader was the day it became boring. Daily losses no longer bother me and daily wins no longer excited me. Took years of pain and busting a few accounts before finally got my mind right. I survived the darkness within and now just chillax and let my black box do the work."
Well, the thing I see that makes me confident they aren't a scam- is a list of partners that are very legitimate... eTrade, TD Ameritrade, etc. Could they still be a scam with some of the biggest players in the industry behind them?
I looked at the site. Not saying is a scam the way you think of a scam. But 99% chance you will lose money. Ask yourself this. If the system is good and will make you alot of money why would they sell access to it to you? Why don't they just trade it themselves and make $$$$$$. By selling to others it kills any edge a system might have. If that is kind of stuff you are looking at you are looking wrong direction. Also don't think by listing brokerages on website makes them legitimate. Go ask Ameritrade if they endorse Cool Trades. IMO
"The day I became a winning trader was the day it became boring. Daily losses no longer bother me and daily wins no longer excited me. Took years of pain and busting a few accounts before finally got my mind right. I survived the darkness within and now just chillax and let my black box do the work."
CoolTrade looks strange to me. Creating automated strategies with a few mouseclicks.
I do not know what it is, but I cannot get rid of the feeling that it is a toy for bored house wives and retired teachers. (This is just a picture, I do not want to insult anybody )
If you look at automated trading platforms that are easily affordable for the retail trader, than you would possibly name (in alphabetic order) :
For an example, I use NinjaTrader for swing trading futures fully automated. You can use it for faster trading without problem, but there are some back-testing limitations if you plan on being someone trying to grab a tick or two here and there with a tight stop on 1-minute bars.
I don't really recommend trying that type of trading especially when starting out with automation. Too many issues with slippage/transaction costs heavily influencing the profitability of a system. Not to mention you are down in the range of HFT noise. But your broker might love you long time...if you manage to break even...
You can get NinjaTrader to try out for free, so you can find out yourself if there is enough "wizardry" to suit your needs. All in all, I think that programming is a useful if not necessary skill for automation.
Hopefully, others will be able to chime in on some of the other packages' automation features.