Big Mike who has had very extensive experience with NinjaTrader came to the same conclusion I have: the myriad of problems and hassles surrounding NinjaTrader – all versions: 6.5 beta and 7 alpha – are just not worth the effort and investment of time. Check out his blog post: Big Mike’s Trading Blog: Tired of NinjaTrader?. There are several good reads in his forum about alternatives for anyone trading with a DOM.

One good solution I haven’t seen mentioned is a combination of InteractiveBrokers and ZeroLineTrader. I like this combo for a number of reasons:

1. IB’s TWS is rock solid, excellent stability and the broker itself is one of the more reliable ones (most of the time).

2. IB’s commissions are very reasonable, at $2 they might not be the cheapest around but not that far off for a small retail trader either. For a nice comparison of commissions see HPT’s post here.

3. IB’s universal account means I don’t need to split my account, I can trade stocks and futures in the same place. Including most futures contracts around the world.

4. ZeroLine Trader platform itself has been rock solid with a lot of very nice options for a very reasonable price. There are other alternatives like the cheaper BracketTrader but it’s bare bones, and ButtonTrader which is too complicated and expensive to my taste.

Anyways, this topic of IB TWS+DOM (ZLT or others) probably merits a proper separate post of its own. But the main point is that there are many alternatives and options available that one should spend some time to find what works for them, which is a better approach then trying to force their trading on something that doesn’t work too well.

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I was thinking about trading strengths, weakness and was going to create a list for myself but found it hard to decide where to start. So I just started with brainstorming all the positive trading skills and traits, personal attributes and characteristics I could think of that successful traders might have. Here’s the list, see if I missed out on anything.

Discipline
Resilience in the face of adversity
Desire to continue and improve
Persistence
Curiosity
Creativity
Networking
Calmness
Courage
Competitiveness
Pattern recognition
Numerical skills
Practical (as opposed to idealistic)
Self confidence

Btw, INO is hosting a webinar and offering free access to MarketClub for 2 weeks, this isn’t one of those offers where you have to pay up front and cancel withing a certain amount of time, this requires no payment
info and cancels automatically in 2 weeks. Sign up here.

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This looks like it might be the best trading laptop ever. In truth, I traded on this kind of laptopfor a long time and made good money. But still, I know some traders who hop from country to country every now and then and I’m sure this would come in handy for them. At 12lbs it’s not something you’d carry with you to a cafe, but who trades from a cafe, or the beach or any of those other noob fantasy locations.

See the Laptop With Two Full-sized Screens – Tom’s Hardware

As for me, I’m happy with my desktop. Awesome piece of hardware, now if only I had more space I might add another monitor to my current dual setup. And to think that just a year or so ago I was still trading just off a single 15″ LCD, it’s funny how you get used to having all this “extra” space and all of a sudden you find yourself thinking it isn’t enough.

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I doubt it. There’s an interesting letter from a reader published at TraderFeed. Two things popped up for me, which I disagree with.

TraderFeed: A Trading Performance Insight From Ziad Masri

I remember early last year I’d sit there and watch the market for hours as it moved in a 6 point range with nothing happening. Now it’s almost non-stop action. The effect of all this extra exposure has been accelerated learning.

and he goes on to say:

And from that point of view, there’s never been a better time to learn and grow as a day trader… this market, far from just offering ample opportunity, is offering a crash graduate course.

Well sure there are opportunities to learn, but learn what? I’ve seen many times in the past people trading something that moved like crazy and then when those conditions were gone they crashed and burned. The key point being that abnormal market conditions teach us.. about abnormal market conditions.

I certainly don’t wish this experience on Ziad who sounds like a nice guy. But a reality check is in order. People learning to trade now in this market environment will have, in my opinion, quite a hard time when volatility goes back to normal, which is where it spends the majority of its time, for months and years. This post also reminded me that I’ve heard from a number of friends recently who got really interested in trading all of a sudden, the scoup? They managed to catch and ride a couple of shorts in the financials and now they feel like market geniuses. Profits are nice, but starting out in this environment and with outsized winners means their learning curve is only just beginning. Whether they make it or not and adapt and thrive in more “normal” stock market conditions, only time will tell.

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Tags: learning to trade, stock market conditions, trader development, trading

בפוסט זה הובאה תלונתה של המשתמשת טלי שנכתבה בפורום בורסה בדה מרקר עם הכותרת “שיטת המסחר של טריידנט – מאיר ברק”. אולם תוכן הפוסט הוסר בעקבות איומים של מר מאיר ברק מחברת טריידנט וקולמקס

מאחר ואני לא חברה שמתמקדת בפרסום ויחסי ציבור ותשלומי שירותים של אחרים אלא סוחר יומי מקצועי שמרוויח מהשוק אז אין לי זמן מיותר להתעסק עם מכתבי האיומים של מר ברק. מי שירצה יוכל למצוא את הפוסט המדובר במקומות אחרים באינטרנט. זה לא ממש קשה. על כל אחד מוטלת האחריות לבדוק במה הוא משקיע את כספו. בכל מקרה בתחתית הפוסט ישנם לינקים למקורות שונים שבדקתי שניתן ללמוד מהם, רובם בחינם.

לשוקלים להירשם לקורס מסחר כלשהו יש לי עיצה מקצועית על סמך הנסיון שלי במהלך השנים:

אני ממליץ לכל מי ששוקל ללמוד בקורס מסחר פרקטי כלשהו לבקש מהמרצה לראות את תדפיס חשבון הברוקר שלו למספר שנים על מנת לוודא שהמרצה אכן יודע את העבודה. זה יכול לחסוך הרבה אי נעימויות, גם לכיס, וגם מפחי נפש. אני נתקל באופן קבוע במתחילים שפונים אלי בבקשת עזרה לרוב אחרי הפסדים כבדים ולימוד לא נכון של המקצוע מקורסים ומרצים מפוקפקים.

אם ניקח דוגמא מהתחום הרפואי, המשפטי, התעבורתי, וכו’ בעלי מקצוע מקבלים תעודה מסמיכה שמאשרת שמותר להם לעסוק בתחום ויש להם את הידע הנדרש והם עמדו למבחן. יש מישהו שמוכן ללכת לניתוח על ידי רופא שיש ספק אם הוא אכן קיבל תעודה ומורשה לעבוד בתור רופא? בתחום המסחר, התשואה מדברת, יש הוכחות בדוקות של תשואה חיובית לאורך שנים – מעולה. אם אין הוכחות בדוקות  – אל לו למי שמפסיד את כל כספו במסחר מניות להתלונן אלא על עצמו. אין כאן עניין של פרטיות שכן המרצה מתיימר להציג עצמו ולשווק את יכולתו תמורת תשלום ועל כן מוטלת עליו האחריות להביא אסמכתאות התומכות בטענותיו. כל אחד יכול לייצר קליפים של ווידאו, סיפורי גבורה ותדפיסים של אקסל, המבחן האמיתי זה תשואות מוכחות מתדפיס הברוקר ולאורך זמן.

דרך מומלצת לדעתי ללמוד לסחור זה ממקורות כאלו, כולם מספקים תוכן טוב ובחינם:

קורס מסחר יומי בסיסי – עשרה שיעורים במגוון נושאים בחינם לגמרי

וידאו לימוד מסחר והשקעות, 4 וידאו חינם כולל אחד חדש כל כמה ימים

אסטרטגיות מסחר כמו פריצות וניתוח טכני, האתר הזה בתשלום אבל הם נותנים נסיון חינם ששוה לנצל.

מסוחרים אמיתיים כמו זה לדוגמא

ספרים מומלצים על מסחר

כל אלה נותנים בסיס טוב על שוק ההון, מניות ושיטות מסחר שונות, שממנו אפשר לבנות ולהתפתח הלאה. ותשמרו טוב טוב על הכסף שלכם.

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I’ve been asked by JD to write about what tools I use for trading so here’s a quick run down of some trading resources fellow traders may find useful.  Since I started with trading in 2000 I’ve used dozens, if not more, of tools such as charting and graphs applications, intraday data feeds, indicators, stocks scanners and screeners with and without strategy automation, intraday market gauges and barometers, spreadsheets, brokers (both direct access and online web-based ones), you name it most likely I’ve used it as some point. So the following is a snapshot of what I’m actually using at the moment. I try to keep things simple and basic, the less clutter and the lower the costs the better.

1. Charting – primarily QuoteTracker with IQFeed but also TradeStation and Amibroker occastionally. I was a very avid user of QCharts, unfortunately with the move to eSignal the application got screwed and became unusable. The amount of problems reported on the eSignal QCharts forum would embarrass any self-respecting company.

2. Broker – Almost exclusively InteractiveBrokers. The execution is great, the platform is rock solid, the commissions are low, the issues are rare, order types variety is awesome, access to international markets, currencies, futures, you name it. What’s there not to like? No charting, a bit of a learning curve for newbies, customer service is a frequent complaint, I don’t have very memorable negative CS experience in the past 4+ years I’ve been with them (which is probably quite telling in itself).

3. Scanners – a must have for day traders – I used primarily IB’s TWS scanners and Trade-Ideas.

4. Position sizing – A simple excel spreadsheet I made which calculates for me how much I should buy/short based on my risk level, entry and exit.

5. Trading Journal – I use Stocktickr to record my trades, it’s a great tool and much better in terms of features and analysis capability than the limited functionality I had before this came about when I was using an excel spreadsheet.

6. I also use Stockfetcher for testing out news ideas as well as TradeStation and Amibroker for more systematic backtesting.

7. Everything runs on my MacBook Pro running Win XP over Bootcamp with just the 15″ screen. I used dual screens back in 2005 for a couple of months but never felt I really needed it. If I had a second internet connection I’d probably run a second computer with its own monitor just as backup + for other non-trading related internet usage and music. I also use the excellent Logitech Cordless Trackman which is a wrist saver (during the week I live inside the computer).

What I never used and don’t see myself using: Trading rooms subscription, alerts services, newsletters, paid indicators (I use just EMA5 for stocks), paid guru consultation / training services, anything costing more than a 2 digits US$ amount (except for must have data service). I did buy, and sometimes still do, many many books on trading, some were excellent but most not very useful.

What else? I think that’s about it. Those are the tools that work best for me, at this point in time, that doesn’t mean they’re the best for others or that I won’t change something. At the end of the day you have to make sure whatever you use supports your trading style and objectives.

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Hey Excel gurus.. I’m looking at adding a calculation of drawdown to my spreadsheet. I have columns of both individual trade results as well as a column for cumulative P&L but I have no idea how to build a formula which looks at the largest drawdown drop. I should probably just get thisand Excel Advanced Report Development for that extra edge in applying those concepts to my trading journal. Any help would also be greatly appreciated.. thank you.

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