trader_john

So, one of the things I like about TOS is that they are constantly improving their product. They do a monthly release, and the enhancements are substantial. They have been adding quite a bit to their futures capabilities including a DOM order screen added in November. It's not perfect, but it's better than sand in your crack. I agree that their margins are very high, and their commish is also high, but for a free platform it's not bad. I have experienced some data problems, but propose that if you are concerned about being locked in trades due to data problems, you should have redundant connections to your home and different providers on the end so you can take the opposite of the trade(s) you have open when one provider has a problem. At least then you can protect yourself from major moves against your position. ALL providers in the path from you to the market are subject to data problems. All that said, I am looking for another trading platform. Ideally it would: - be Mac/Linux compatible (not a requirement, but nice to have) - have a more flexible order entry system for OCO, brackets, etc. - have reliable data and great execution speed - have a well documented indicator / ta language - be low cost or free - have reasonable commissions - have an API (C++ and/or java) for my future robot to talk to - have low daytrade margin requirements - and have good tech support If you have suggestions, let me know. I've tried Tradestation, but don't really like a la carte data fees. I've been looking at Infinity now that they have some charting capabilities, but not sure how flexible it is. For now, I'm thinking that I might go with Infinity for execution, but use TOS for charting. Thoughts?

Hi Dennis, First, I'm not a TOS coding expert, but I have played around a little. A good way to learn the language seems to be by looking at the predefined indicators that have source code. These are the ones with the little scroll or paper icon next to them (double click on it). To your specific items, I played around a little and came up with these simple examples that you can expanded on (please share!): 1) display two stocks in upper: # Simple example of plotting two stock in upper # Data1 will be the primary stock you are viewing plot Data1 = close; # Data2 will be the comparison stock plot Data2 = close("c"); 2) display the difference between two stocks in lower: declare lower; def Data1 = close; def Data2 = close("c"); plot Diff = Data1 - Data2; There is also several "comparison" studies that compare your current stock to various others. It looks like you can change the line style and stock to compare to as well. Hope that helps, John

I've found that with a small account, the impact of bad habits and mistakes are magnified. Some examples: you may close trades that go against you before your plan calls for them to be closed you may close winning trades prematurely overtrading will kill you in commissions (stocks/options/futures) opening a long when you meant to open a short could wipe you out (or worse) thinking you closed a trade when you didn't could wipe you out (or worse) On the bright side, it might be more difficult to double your position rather than flattening it since you may reach your account limit. That said, Forex seems like the most practical for small account active trading since you only have to overcome the spread, no commissions on top. The thing to watch out for is a big whip and complete destruction. As an alternative, you could use a sim such as papermoney from thinkorswim while you build a stake. John

Hmmm. The extra spaces seem to be a problem with cutting/pasting into TL. The problem areas in my previous post are: def diff = reference BollingerBandsSMA(length = 20)."upperband" - reference KeltnerChannels."Upper_Band"; oscp.setPaintingStrategy( PaintingStrategy.HISTOGRAM); mid.setPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.POINTS); If you strip out these spaces, the indicator should verify...

There were a couple of extra spaces, and the bollingerbands reference was broken. This should work: declare lower; input Length = 20; input price = close; ###################### def e1 = (Highest(High, length) + Lowest(low, length)) / 2 + Average(close, length); def osc = Inertia(price - e1 / 2, length); plot oscp = osc; def diff = reference BollingerBandsSMA(length = 20)."upperband" - reference KeltnerChannels."Upper_Ba nd"; plot mid = 0; mid.assignValueColor(if diff >= 0 then Color.UPTICK else Color.DOWNTICK); #oscp.assignValueColor(if osc[1] < osc[0] then Color.CYAN else Color.magenta); oscp.assignValueColor(if osc[1] < osc[0] then if osc[0] >= 0 then #UpPos createColor(0, 255, 255) else #UpNeg createColor(204, 0, 204) else if osc[0] >= 0 then #DnPos createColor(0, 155, 155) else #DnNeg createColor(255, 155, 255)); oscp.setPaintingStrategy( PaintingStrategy.HISTOGRAM); mid.setPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.POINTS);