mslk

On the day before expiry, I bought the option back at $0.68 for a profit of $0.22 for a return of 2.2%. The S&P downgrade really messed up some of my trades. happy this was still profitable. -mslk

Of course it works ... check out this cool contest. News - Automated Trading Championship 2008 -mslk

hey everyone ... could you all let me know what you trade, what software platform, and what broker you use? i'm looking to automate trading equities, and eventually futures, but still haven't fully committed to a platform yet. i was hoping i could see what some successful people are using and help in my decision making. i appreciate any direction you guys can give! thanks in advance - mslk

we did! congrats on the new place ... you missed all the volatility ... but there will be more to come i'm sure -mslk

thanks for the feedback. this market has definetely turned some of these trades in the wrong direction! but i just have to wait it out and see how they are closer to expiry in sept. - mslk

fair enough. i guess free help and protection can't do no harm. well i think tams' post sums up a good path going forward. - mslk

ok i'm not a vendor and i don't love vendors. anyway, i just wanted to give a perspective from a newbie member that would be a 'target' of a vendor. i don't need anyone to protect me but thats just me. thx. -mslk

i just don't think we need to 'classify' people into these buckets as the problem is not as bad as it is made out to seem. if you don't like urma's thread just ignore it? the moderators have done a good enough job (imho) of getting rid of spammy vendors that don't add value. and yes some people self-promote a little much but again, big deal, any real spammy stuff is ridden of pretty quickly. we don't need big brother here on TL do we? -mslk

i have to agree with urma here. as a newbie member on TL and the other forums, the content here is much more rich. and yes sometimes i wonder a bit about the posters motive, but at the end of the day i'm an adult and i don't need someone to 'save me from the vendors'. i've seen obvious vendor marketing (that add no value) removed very quickly which is great. threads such as urma's actually contribute to TL and so what if he has a business that is related? he is contributing to the content and that is what is important. -mslk

how does trade station or multicharts compare with e-signal? any suggestions from the experts? - mslk

tams - i don't know if your being sarcastic or not. instead of speaking in code, what do you mean by these 2 posts? thanks - mslk

are you referring to other traders or yourself? if its other traders, is the idea for you to spot these and take advantage of? if its yourself, then isn't the point of automation to try and eliminate these (assuming its programmed correctly with the right fail-safes). thanks for the input. anyone know what the big institutions\hedge-funds do? thanks - mslk

no worries, i've just seen other threads where this stuff kills the thread (e.g. most threads where steve46 is involved!) anyhow, my motivation for this question is really around picking the right broker\platform. obviously, if success can be achieved via programming then i need to be more selective and my options are more limited. i've been playing with ninja but also looking at tradestation as its broker integration is nice. for any of the programmers out there, what are you using? thanks - mslk

good to hear! while i have your attention, can i ask how much of your trading is automated? i'm trying to see whether or not it is worthwile trying to program rules into a platform. sorry if i'm off-topic but here is the other thread if you don't want to respond here: http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/technical-analysis/10442-manual-automated-trading.html thanks - mslk

hey cory are you back trading yet? thanks - mslk

your not done here are you? :helloooo: many thanks, -mslk

tams, is your trading 100% automatic? i am also a programmer by trade and thus automating is always my natural instinct. on one hand, i see your point - if your rules are logical and clear, in theory it should be programmable. in practice, i see some issues with sequential languages and maybe a rules-based language might be better. but back to the topic, how much of your trading is automated? you hit the nail on the head phantom! lets not get into a 'prove' yourself flamewar .. tams i'll take your word on whatever your response is. any other traders have any input? timracette, thenegotiator, mms, steve46, thalestrader, urmablume? thanks -mslk

very interesting ... instead of making a tangent on your thread i'll start another to discuss this topic ... http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/technical-analysis/10442-manual-automated-trading.html -mslk

as i have been reading thru the numerous threads about people techniques (phantom, maelstrom, optiontimer, etc), a question always pops in my mind - "is any of this automated?" if not, is it possible? or does successful trading require more than just programming models into a system? do you need to develop some gut-instinct as well? - mslk

good to hear! hey - just a simple question ... how much of your trading is automated and programmed into ninja and how much is manual? if its less than 100%, do you think you can ever get it to 100%? - mslk

interesting idea ... but when people get out of hand the 'report post' button usually takes care of it. of course ignoring them also works wonders! unfortunately this is the reality of an anonymous forum. i find very little problems here, the same can't be said about the other trading forums out there ... all i see are bashers and people fighting! -mslk

i'm interested in this product too ... please let us know how this works out. it looks great and much easier than trying to install multiple video cards -mslk

thanks maelstrom for this thread, its been great following it. i would love to see more application of your trading method and follow some of your trades, like the Reading Charts in Real Time thread. no sure if you can or not but its just a suggestion. thanks again. -mslk

hey phantom, first off, thank you for a wonderful thread. i have enjoyed reading all the posts and the learnings i've been able to take away. i speak for myself, but i am not in a position (trading expertise-wise) to 'give' yet, thus i don't. this may be true of other people learning to trade as well but believe me we all appreciate people like you. don't be discouraged, you have 21pages - this is a great thread! keep up the great work. - mslk

New Trades - July 25, 2011 johnson & johnson (JNJ) - sell, to open, jnj (JNJ) sept $65 puts for at least $0.87, stock is ~ $66 - if options expire worthless, i get 6.7% return on my margin in two months ($0.87 / (20% of $65 strike) == 6.7%) - if it i'm obligated to buy the stock at $65, and taking into account the $0.87 premium, i'm buying the stock at 3.7% discount medtronic (MDT) - sell, to open, medtronic (MDT) sept $35 puts for at least $0.6, stock is ~ $37 - if options expire worthless, i get 8.6% return on my margin in two months ($0.6 / (20% of $35 strike) == 8.6%) - if it i'm obligated to buy the stock at $35, and taking into account the $0.6 premium, i'm buying the stock at 6.9% discount microsoft (MSFT) - sell, to open, microsoft (MSFT) sept $26 puts for at least $0.46, stock is ~ $27 - if options expire worthless, i get 7.4% return on my margin in two months ($0.46 / (20% of $26 strike) == 7.4%) - if it i'm obligated to buy the stock at $26, and taking into account the $0.46 premium, i'm buying the stock at 5.9% discount will update trades from last week's expiration shortly ... -mslk