electroniclocal

I have just connected to a CQG broker feed and my volume delta charts and other order flow volumes are significantly different to my IQFeed volume deltas. Has anyone else seen this or have any comment regarding what I'm seeing. TIA. EL

I've had nothing but good experiences with AMP, and with IB for that matter. Making gratuitous unsupported defamitory statements about someone is both useless and a reflection more on the maker of such claims thatn the absent person it's made about. AMP costs can be found on their website. And they now support MultiCharts with both CQG and Zenfire. EL

The question mark at the end of the title to this post is mine. Ther article I am refering to is one by the hedge fund manager, Hugh Hendry and can be read here. It's an article from today's UK press that CNBC Europe is promoting too. The article is particularly apropos after Mr Bernanke's statements yesterday, coming clean a little.While I agree with the judgement of Mr Hendry who I have watched for a number of years, timing is everything. But as we say in the U.K., Mind the Gap!

Market System Analyzer : Day Trading Strategies : FX Trading : Adaptrade Software MSA has a lot more functionality than just record keeping. It can be used to improbe profitability. EL

Have a look at the new options for Renko charts - SHOW WICKS. The Renkos give a nice smooth clean chart and the visibility of the wicks is very important for backtesting. EL

I've used eSignal for years but am probably switching to or adding DTNIQ. I also use the data from TS in MultiCharts. I also have algos that use the Interactivebroker data directly rather than symbol mapping as the shorter timeframes need to trade off the same data as is being executed. I run a lot of algos and a 4 core processor handles it fine with the MC 64 bit version. I can add RAM if needed as I run a VPS.

Oversold markets don't usually have "V" bottoms. Depends on timeframe/periodicity. Usually a low followed by a higher low shows a rebound, especially if you can measure how oversold you are eg distance frm an MA,BolBand/keltner. Some testing will show you the probabilities of different setups. EL

I run both TS and MC, as well as a few other platforms. I was a user of TS since the very early days of the 1990's. MC is much, much faster than TS in Optimisation. TS has historical data, MC needs 3rd party historical data. The newest 64bit MC allows almost unlimited ticks historically. The amount of RAM you have is your limit. I get load failures on TS with complex strategies and trying to optimise over lots of tick data. I predominantly use MC for my trading. Each has pluses and minuses so choosing what features are dealbrakers for you will help your choice. EL

I use the fin-alg MP. Looking at your pic, the first change I'd make is that I'd use 1 minute bars not 30 minute bars so you get better granularity. That may fix the prob. Secondly, make sure you are both using the same percentage for calculating the VA. HTH EL

Yes, autotrading does "work", "work" meaning that you can create an automated trading system that is profitable over time with an acceptable drawdown. The expectations for a fully automated system should be different to expectations of an expert trader trading on a discretionary basis as, in most instances, a lot of quick dynamic reaction is lost in an algo. That being said, autotrading can take less skilled traders to CP by mitigating many of newbie reactions it may otherwise be difficult to eradicate. I'd start by reading Bob Pardo's book. EL

An easylanguage platform like MultiCharts or TradeStation is IMO the easiest comprehensive solution as its really almost english. EL

It's the best retail WFO analysis tool out there, IMO. Lots of great testing and it can save a huge amount of effort. The only downside is that the TradeStation Optimisation process that is a prerequisite to running WFO is very, very, very slow compared to MultiCharts. The South African guy who built it is working for TS in its integration into TS. The WFO presents a number of solutions and allows the user to look into them and choose which to use. Part of the results is a five point test that analyses each reported iteration and gives each test a PASS/FAIL and the overall iteration a PASS/FAIL. Great stuff. Highly recommended to algo designers. EL

The WFO is a great tool. Problem is the usual: RIRO (rubbish in, rubbish out). The criteria that is used to both enter and exit trades is of great importance. Just using your favourrite indicator with optimised inputs, rigid targets and stops won't in most cases provide a robust model, even if one set of parameters passes WFO. It's usually just a fluke. You got lucky, as Clint would say. This is easily seen as you try and get the same "chosen" inputs after using different lengths of data both for your IS and OS testing. The way to use the WFO is to use criteris that relates to market activity so that the algo will self adjust to the volatility and to use the WFO to fine tune its sensitivity. Having said that, TS's WFO is the state of the art after having purchased the Grail and having the guy that owned it integrate it into TS. But its really slow when you compare it to MultiCharts but what you get from it is much better. EL

shooly76, its unlikely you can earn a living with just $3k capital, but you can learn how to trade. Firstly, you should trade smaller, not larger so that the fear of loss is diminished. Secondly, you should perfect your skills before you risk money and prove to yourelf that you are CP. Thirdlly, you don't have funds to hire a mentor but you can self mentor yourself to a certain extent if you create a very specific written trading plan that fully describes your trading pictures: entries and exit rules after back testing. Then, at the close of every day, score yourself on how compliant you were to your trading plan. The result of this is that you will be profitable. If not, either you have not been compliant or your trading plan is really not profitable and your back testing was deficient. EL

That's the whole point. What does having money have do do with human rights, human dignity and the ability to play your role in your community. The fact that this "question" is even asked or considered as something that could be debated says a lot. Having money is an attribute just like having blue eyes or a colledge degree. As human beings in a community, deenfranchising anyone, not because of him committing a crime against the community, but because he just happens not to contribute money, quite abhorent to me. Some people make their contributions in other ways: playing music, painting, social assistance and so on. Just because I have a talent for making money does not give me the right to tell everyone how things should be in a society. In a democracy, the majority rules. Any one who doesn't like it can vote with his feet. People seem to be quoting Winston Churchill a lot recently. He said: "democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time".

Then let's also say anyone without a college degree or perhaps blue eyes or perhaps living only in NYC. Yes, lets take away the vote from the stupid masses who happen not to agree with what we may think.

The question, I think, was whether your goal of $300 a day is realistic. You have been SIM trading for 6 months so you should have a lot of statistics to rely on. These are theoretical. of course, but they should give you an indication if you treated the SIM seriously. If you haven't extracted the stats then I would suggest that you do. Look at win rate, drawdown, average trade in $, largest loss, largest win and so on. Break the data down so you have an average day, an average week and an average month. Now you have some decent information to make an assessment. The transition from SIM to live will have an impact on these stats due to both a psychological impact as well as an actual tradability impact. Just two comments, I second the view that having a separate income stream to live off is a great help in becoming CP Trade the smallest size your methodology will allow. $10k is very tight, even for a small contract such as the YM. I would at least triple the maximum drawdown you experienced in SIM to decide whether the capital is enough. Good trading EL

Just back from vacation. What a great idea TL! Full disclosure! Full disclosure is always beneficial. The previous TL policies made disclosure by professional traders look like self advertising. Those of us who have a track record of successfully helping people become profitable welcome this type of disclosure initiative by TL. It enables anyone who reads a post to look at the credentials of the poster and thus separate good information from much of the harmful misinformation posted by hobbyists. It’s the reliability and value of the content that matters. I must comment, though, that I was more than a little perturbed by the zealous “vendor” bashing in an almost McCarthyistic way by many of the posters to this thread. Does everyone want everything for nothing? Do you truly believe that people should spend their time and energy in teaching you to trade without any compensation? Do you not buy ongoing education as most professions do? I have and will continue to provide comprehensive teaching at no cost to anyone in my blog as the successes of my readers makes it worthwhile. Yes, I do one or two paid live training events a year as I have many requests from people who want more of my time and effort than I can freely provide without it cutting into my own earning time. I make my living as a full time trader and have done so for many years including years as a local on the floor of LIFFE. However, if my attempt at trying to be of help to traders labels me a “vendor”, so be it. ElectronicLocal

On the floor, we tried to hold our costs to less than 25% of profits. That's still my "rule of thimb" for a very active trader. Remember, its you taking the risk, not the broker. Having said that, increasing the average trade profit is the road to better earnings.

The taste in my mouth is fine thanks, Tams. I just was pointing out that giving an early warning before the fact is a little more useful than giving an early warning after the eventa has happened. And I'm not an unhappy vendor at all. Feel free to put me on ignore as I have you.

It's a big plus that you make these calculations. But there are other options that a number of mys students are doing. Trading outside of work hours. I have a number who are still in SIM and some who are trading real money and are working at perfecting the skills of instant trade recognition and trade execution in the heat of battle. They have found markets that are active during the periods they want to trade. With the global nature of markets, there is ALWAYS a market that you can find in your required time zone to trade. This way, the pressure of having to earn while you learn is gone. The step of first achieving CP consistent profitability) in SIM and then transferring those acquired skills into live trading the smallest size possible while still working at your job means that the risks of trying to become a full time trader have mostly disappeared. It can be done and it is being done by many people who have just used the information about how to structure your own road map to CP I've provided freely over the last two years, not just mentored students.

These discussions are like a religious argument. We are all looking at the same movie, the same maze, the same probloem to solve - whther to buy, sell, or do nothing. Some of us are more visual, some more numerate, some a combination of the two. And like Uma and Steve here, we are competing in the markets against each other, zero sum game (the brokers always win). There are many ways of finding the solution to the "problem" but the takeaway from all of this is that a successful trader finds a methodology, back tests the heck out of it over many different markets and volatilities and then creates a trading plan. The key to all of this is the use of the technology we have available to us. With the risk of adding my own pee to the fire, I must say that what I see is the key to bringing more traders to CP (consistent profitability) is what I have been moving my focus to more in the last year with my students, the use of technology more. To use the tech nology to identify instantly, those backtested high probability trading pictures that meet a trader's TP (trading plan) so that either they, or their algo, can respond with instrant trade execution after the instant trade recognition. The real holy grail is the competant use of the technology. It's simple but not easy as the saying goes, but also, its worth it. And guys, you are coming to the party too late with these "early" warnings. If you had read my blog for the last few months as my students and others have done, then you would have seen what was coming, what was happening and why. EL

Unless you know EXACTLY what the trading logic is of an algo, the compliance rate is quite low. Black box systems are hard to stick to as you have no idea whether the system is broken when a drawdown begins. Additionally, if there are inputs that a user can change, without a deep knowledge of the compnents of the trading logic, optimisation only results in curve fitting. That old saying of teaching a man to fish rather than giving him a fish comes to mind. It is much better to create your own algo based upon sound trading principles rather than renting a black box.

In fact, I believe that you can install it on all your PCs but only use it LIVE on one PC at a time. I have seen posts on the MC forum that have not been discouracged by MC that people use it in test mode (no live data, only loaded history) at the same time as they are using it live. But I'd double check this. EL

My principal trading methodology is based upon finding the trend on my chart and trading pullbacks. Many entries are easy and should be automated for consistency and speed of trade recognition. It's what comes next that needs human trade management. When I eyeball the backtested trades on a chart, over half the losing trades I see could have been avoided or reduced with manual trade management, either by tightening stops or by tightening targets. There are others whose obvious first target should have been further away from the entry rather than at the "optimised" exit. Even using dynamic stops and targets, the above holds true. The best use of the technology for me is what i call Hybrid Trading, auto entries and manual trade management and, of course, tuening the algo off when the market is going sideways.