Trading Tools You Simply Cannot Live Without

[MadMarketScientist 11]

I'm always curious what you use that helps your trading in some way that you simply could not live without. If you have some you'd like to share - let us know.

 

To get it started here's a few things I use that I wouldn't want to give up:

 

Apple iPad

I have been on probably 6 trips throughout the summer and instead of taking a notebook everywhere I took an iPad for the first time. Worked great. All I needed was the LogMeIn App and I could easily connect to my trading computer at the home office and both check on trades, make any changes, etc... It's not like being in the office of course but it also enabled me not to have to duplicate everything on a notebook which was always a pain.

 

Also, with the iPad I just use Gmail and have all of my email "popped" into Gmail. Business, TL emails, etc...then it's super easy to have it all consolidated - and you never have to worry about your Outlook file growing too large. Which used to really drain my trading computer and forced me to use a different computer due to the system resources of Outlook. No longer.

 

Speaking of the iPad I like the Bloomberg app just to give me a quick cross section of the financial news, and fairly easy/fast charting of markets just to get a macro picture.

 

As for tools when I'm back at home base....I use NinjaTrader to manage my trades and connect me into Interactive Brokers but I actually chart on Tradestation and have some automation built in Tradestation that then sends trades through Ninja into IB. Seems like it could go wrong with all those connections but doesn't. A key was having a really small app built that would reconnect Tradestation anytime it went offline. Was having a big problem with it going offline if the internet faltered and not logging back in on its own - a big problem if you are auto-trading. With this small app the second it notices a log off it repeatedly tries to log back in. Problem solved and it was a really BIG one causing me losses.

 

I use a spreadsheet app from NetPicks.com called Ultimate Trade Analyzer. I like to log my trades and over time get some very interesting data that sometimes helps me adjust my trading rules and automation (it has helped me change my start and stop time on several markets to improve results.)

 

There's other tools I use but this is the main stuff that gets utilized every day.

 

MMS

[Obsidian 10]

Firefox, java, mt4

[SIUYA 11]

computer. (Sierra Chart, Interactive brokers)

pencil and pad of paper - old school but it works.

[MightyMouse 12]

Freshly ground espresso coffee for the early morning session.

French roasted coffee for the NY Open.

Really cold diet soda served in a glass at around 3:00PM EST.

One last espresso after the close of the new york session.

[henryduncan12 10]

Thanks to share these tools here with us. Some tools are good for me as well.

[fugu_master 10]

I use iTeleport on my Mac (at the office) and iPad to check into my trading PC, which runs Multicharts. iTeleport is probably the simplest and most easy to set up remote desktop app out here.

 

Its become an essential tool for me to manage trades and monitor the market if I am away from my PC, even if it means going from my home office into the lounge whilst waiting for set ups.

[bassramy 10]

My Best Tools are Discipline and Patience.