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  1. 15 points
    Updated: 8/8/2019 @ 12:44pm (PST) Finally out of the alpha stage and releasing this to the community, I've been using it with success. Because I had to do some musical chairs with memory I made a configuration utility as the script itself is very ugly. This is more of a BETA release for this, so if anyone wants to try this out in SIM and let me know if you have any issues with the configuration sheet or the hotkeys themselves. It's based on the work started by @fjmocke here: https://forums.bearbulltraders.com/topic/469-das-calculate-shares-based-on-account-risk/ . What it is: It's a hotkey command script that can be used to dynamically alter the share total based on: Available Buying Power (capital) Stop Location (Risk) % Account Risk OR Fixed Dollar Amount The script includes purchase power protection and won't send an order that you can not afford, it does this by calculating two factors: A - Shares You Can Afford B - Shares at Risk Parameter (e.g. $25,000 account equity, 1% risk = $250 risk, $250 * a stop distance of .10 = 2500 shares) min{A,B} = 0.5(A + B - | A - B | ) But, why male models? I just told you. /Zoolander reference You'd use this to calculate your share total based on what you're willing to risk. So instead of blindly throwing 500 shares at every setup, you can dynamically alter risked amount based on the per-trade setup. I use it on my StreamDeck (will also release the icon packs soon) with modifiers of 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25%. 100% is the A-Plus setups I see, those I have HIGH confidence in. Alternatively, if a stock has a large spread or is low-float, I may only use the 25% modifier key for those. Instructions for Configuration: Go to this link: V2.1: DOWNLOAD ^^ Recommend latest DAS version of 5.4.3.0. Requires DAS version 5.2.0.34 or above (current BETA branch as of 11/19/2018) for the physical stop portion to work. If you don't use the physical stop, you don't have to worry about it. NOTE: Thoroughly test in SIM to make sure it's doing what you expect it to do. Choose: Download the ZIP file and unzip to where you want. On "Setup & Instructions" configure your settings. Account Leverage (default for DAS is 4), this is the margin your broker gives you. Some off-shores give 6. It needs to match what is configured in DAS for proper calculations. Max Account Risk %. This is the maximum percent of equity you're willing to risk on every trade (default is 1%). You can always risk lower (more on that later). % of Total Buying Power. If you don't want to calculate based on the total buying power of 100%, you can set this to a lower percentage (example: 100,000 buying power with 60% here equals $60,000 maximum position size) Route. LIMIT, MARKET, SMRTL. Default is LIMIT. Order Bid/Ask Offset. This is the offset you use when you send the price for order, e.g. "Ask + 0.05" (meaning fill me up to 5 cents above ask) Time in Force. Default: Day+ Default Shares. This is the amount of shares you want to set as the DEFAULT SHARES for all trades (e.g. when you click a Symbol and it loads, this is the share total). You can see why this is here in the technical breakdown section below. Minimum Stop Buffer. This is an offset to the stop distance. If you set this to 0.05, it'll add 5 cents to the stop distance calculation (so if your stop distance is 0.05, it'll be calculated on 0.10). Switch to the "Hotkeys" tab. Choose your preferred style. % Risk of Equity (Dynamic) or Fixed Price (e.g. $150 risk). %Equity Risk: Use the drop down to select what you want the value to be % equity. NOTE: This is a modifier AFTER your account risk maximum %. So if you have 1% account risk, and set this to 50%, your effective account risk is 0.005 --> 0.5%. $ Fixed: Use the drop down to select what you want the value to be for dollar risk. Select "long" or "short" to flip the script's direction. Click the cell that contains the start of the command (E column) and Ctrl + C (copy). Paste it into DAS. It should look like a sample command below. Instructions for Usage: First, you must have "Double Click to Trade" turned on in Chart, Right-Click --> Configure --> Settings --> Double-click to trade. Double click the chart where you want to set a mental stop (it does not place a stop order, you can always put one in after). Hit your configured hotkey. Sample Scripts: LONG: DefShare=BP*0.98; Share=DefShare*0.25* Price * 0.01; Price = Ask - Price + 0.02;SShare = Share / Price; Share = DefShare - SShare; DefShare = DefShare + SShare; SShare = Share; SShare = DefShare - SShare; Share = 0.5 * SShare; TogSShare; ROUTE =LIMIT; Price = Ask + 0.05; TIF=DAY+; BUY=Send; DefShare = 500; SHORT: DefShare=BP*0.98; Share=DefShare*0.25* Price * 0.01; Price = Price - Bid + 0.02;SShare = Share / Price; Share = DefShare - SShare; DefShare = DefShare + SShare; SShare = Share; SShare = DefShare - SShare; Share = 0.5 * SShare; TogSShare; ROUTE =LIMIT; Price = Bid - 0.05; TIF=DAY+; SELL=Send; DefShare = 500; Technical Breakdown: DAS has basic scripting. Montage commands have access to very few read/write variables, basic operations, and only operators of addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication. To do this calculation we need additional operators (min function, and absolute function) and more memory for storage of variables. This command gets around these limitations by using user-writeable areas of memory in the program. Since DAS is written in the C++ language (from what I can tell), it's strict on what can be done in these existing memory locations. The hotkey uses the following items (plus the usual Price -- FLOAT): (Assumptions on Datatypes) DefShare -- INT (Used as a temporary variable for storage) SShare -- Unsigned INT (Behaves like an Unsigned INT in certain situations. Used as a temporary variable for storage) Share -- INT (Used as a temporary variable for storage) With the 3 INT variables, objects are moved around in memory so that we can calculate and compare with our variable limitation (be much easier if we could assign our own). To facilitate the ABS() function, we use a trick --> When a negative value is placed into an Unsigned INT it loses it's sign (thus, it becomes a POSITIVE value in memory). A more detailed technical breakdown (step by step) is located in the Configuration spreadsheet up above. Future Enhancements: If need be, I can make a step-by-step video of this entire process. I have a version that uses an AutoHotKey macro to drop a line at the stop location, I can upload that as well if people want it. ^^ Update, I discontinued this as it was too cumbersome. You had to have two sets of hotkeys for each command. I may someday revisit it if I can build out a configuration tool for it. TLDR: It does the math for you so you can risk a known amount (% or $) based on your per-trade risk position (stop distance). And yes, I'm a bit of a tech nerd. Also, longest post .. ever. Would not read again, 0/5 stars. --- KNOWN ISSUES: %Account Risk gets smaller and smaller when subsequent open positions Reason: No Equity variable, we reverse calculate equity using Buying Power. On subsequent positions, the % (e.g. 1%) calculation will be based on the available buying power and NOT the account equity. Workaround: Precalculate the %risk and use it for the $risk versions. So 1% of $25,000 equity equals $250. SSR rejection on LONG position when scaling out; rejection message (e.g. "Short marketable limit order disable due to SSR!") if using the automatic STOP trigger. Reason: DAS calculates that the position will drop below the open stop order position and reject as this can cause the position to "flip" if it was triggered. Workaround: Have a hotkey to clear the open orders (CXL ALLSYMB), clear it, scale the position (e.g. 25%). Either replace the stop or switch to a mental stop. Alternatively, you can add "CXL ALLSYMB;" to the front of the scale-out hotkeys. You just have to be cognizant to replace the stop order. Equated position size if very small (e.g. 4 or 5 shares when expected is hundreds). Reason: Wrong side was used for the order. E.g. a long hotkey is used when trying to go short. -or- Stop Distance was calculated to be a negative value (clicked too close to current price). Workaround: Be cognizant of the hotkeys used and the stop distance clicked. Clicking too close (a really tight stop) can be very dangerous if you do it inadvertently. TriggerOrder for automatic STOP placement not being sent (no stop order placed). Reason: Montage is not set to a style that doesn't allow TriggerOrder input. Styles not compatible are: Default [DAS's, if you changed it], Basic, OCO, Option, Full Fix: Use a style that is compatible, they are: Stop Order, Detail, Trigger -- I recommended using the "Stop Order" montage style. To change this, right click the montage area around where you'd enter a price and select Style --> Your Choice. --- UPDATES: 10/17/2018 - Added v.1.1 link, you'd need to use the new version to change anything. - General cleanup of the script. Added instructions for the IB issue (discussed in this thread) - NEW FEATURE: Added a new section to the Hotkeys sheet, it will now create a set up for Dynamic Scale-In hotkey commands. You'd use these by setting a scale value (say you want an additional 50% of your current position size). The hotkey will calculate the maximum share you can afford (how much you can afford at the moment) and the scale value, choosing to take the least amount. So if your current position is 1500 shares (@ $50.00) and you want to scale in at 50% your current position, it'd check if you can afford an additional 750 shares, if you can't, it'll buy the maximum you can afford. For this example, you can't afford it (if Buying Power is 100k), so it'd buy roughly $25k worth (500 shares). - CLEANUP: Cleaned up the $Dollar Risk version and removed unnecessary steps. Don't really need to replace yours if they exist, but worth noting. 10/30/2018 - Added @Michael P's suggested fixes for Excel. Configuration tool should now work in both Sheets and Excel. - NOTICE: This was a configuration tool change, no changes were made to the hotkey scripts, so no need to change any existing hotkeys. 11/19/2018 - Shortened some of the commands so we don't hit any hotkey character limit, makes them less readable, but shorter. Couldn't get them low enough to fit the montage buttons though (although removing the portions for the buying power rejection protection would likely do it). - Added a section for SELL/COVER buttons for people who just need to create those. E.g. "Sell 25% position" or "Sell 33% position". - Added @Robert H's stop suggestion. New fields on the setup page for enabling physical stops. If enabled, it'll place a MARKET or LIMIT (settings included) trigger order to go into the market once the initial order is fulfilled, these are placed at the location you double-clicked on the chart. 11/20/2018 - Added a stop-order setting to set an additional buffer for the stop price (for those that want to include or exclude the double-clicked price). - Added conditional formatting to subdue the stop settings that aren't required if you disable sending a physical stop into the market. 12/10/2018 - Added a known issues section to this post and the spreadsheet (for when a new version goes up). 12/12/2018 - Updated known issues section to include the "Montage Style" issue for TriggerOrders. 12/13/2018 - Updated to new version 1.46. Fixed a bug in the Trigger Order script which could cause it to not be interpreted by DAS's command parser on certain user settings. - Added "modifier" extra hotkeys. See instructions next to these on how to use them. - - - Set Stop to Breakeven - Long or Short - Stop Limit or Stop Market (cancels any pending orders for SYMB) - - - Set Stop to Breakeven - Bidirectional - Stop Market (cancels any pending orders for SYMB) - - - Stop - Update Price - Long or Short - Stop Limit or Stop Market (cancels pending orders, double click chart where you want stop before firing hotkey) - - - Stop - Update Price - Bidirectional - Stop Market (cancels pending orders, double click chart where you want stop before firing hotkey) - - - Stop - Update Position - Long or Short - Stop Limit or Stop Market - Replace (requires you double-click the original stop in the Orders window) - - - Stop - Update Position - Bidirectional - Stop Market Orders Only - Replace (requires you double-click the original stop in the Orders window). 8/8/2019 - New version 2.0, download the .zip file and unzip it. - Fixed an issue with some hotkey configurations that may have caused them to be inaccurate in vary rare situations. Recommend recreating your hotkeys in this new version, just to be sure. - Added Profit Target hotkeys. - Added % Scale-In Hotkeys - Added $ Risk Scale-In Hotkeys - Added Short-SSR to Long/Short dropdown for SSR hotkeys (DAS Simulator) - Added Range Order hotkeys - Added Y-Margin Scale Increase hotkey, Y-Margin Decrease, and Y-Margin Reset - Added new sheet "Example - Equity%" and "Example - $Risk" to give a more workflow outlook on what is happening. - Included a ScaleOut worksheet to manually simulate what different scale percentages / scenarios look like (instructions will be in the video). ALSO: Video is done and rendering, I think it comes in at 45minutes with 3.4gigs (4k), so it'll need to be optimized before I upload it to YouTube. Will try to do it today and will update this when done. 9/10/2019 - New version 2.1 released. Just general clean up (UI) and bug fixes. - FIXED: Issue with the Scale-In $Risk hotkeys. - FIXED: Issue with the Stop Update Price long and short hotkeys> ^^ If you use either of those, please regenerate them and replace in your DAS to avoid issues. UPDATES: The majority of this side project is completed and besides a few requests I have in with DAS developers to optimize a few things, out of any major bugs or improved scripting features, I'd say this is about done. I'll provide any edge-case support as need, but I want to move on to other BBT-community projects. So what do I have cookin' for you guys, gals, and cat? You'll see a glimpse in the video of an early prototype (buggy! I programmed that in a few hours, so bugs are expected) of a DAS calculator side program. The newer version (need to finish the UI) will incorporate a lot more in ways of tools for you, including automatically calculating changes without a hotkey intervention. It also allows you to mass-process trade log .csv files you may have exported and compile it into Excel or .CSV for import into other programs. Configuration is drag/drop friendly, so rearranging your columns is as easy as click and holding. I'm also going to shift my attention to finishing my ORB-strategy research. Right now, my datapool encompasses 15000 news article, gaplists for 2011-2019, and 1second data for stocks in that range. It's a data store of roughly 80 gigs. The idea is to test for hidden signals we may not see that can indicate a potential direction of an ORB strategy (if no rare outside influence occurs, like a terrorist attack) by leveraging a consortium of machine learning algorithms to give us a higher probability of success for each day. Depending how the research works out, the end product would likely be a probability predictor for each day. I'll share the research results with the community and may incorporate some other tests as well. VIDEO: Ok, so I may have gone down an editing rabbit hole and that took longer than expected. The videos are up, came in quite long so I chunked it down. Sorry it's a tad scattered and not one-linear cohesive unit, but I tried to mark it up as best as possible. Part 1 - Config / Math - https://youtu.be/YrRrydwGyRY Part 2 - Setup, Quick Examples, Tips - https://youtu.be/pXLlWF7T6hw Part 3 - Sim Trade Example - https://youtu.be/SO9UhJh4dTc Bonus 1 - Scale/Price Excel Calc - https://youtu.be/KTr_iJ2p0TU Bonus Tips - https://youtu.be/sNHXFMoia7A
  2. 11 points
    until
    Hey Everyone! I'm going to be in NYC for my 40th Birthday. I was thinking about a little get together on the 3rd. We are Meeting up with @Andrew Aziz, @Carlos M., @Mike B, and Myself. Location is going to be the "Three Monkeys Bar" one W 54th St. We have an entire floor and outdoor patio with a private cash bar and food. Hope to see you there. Please RSVP by commenting below so I can get a head count. Thanks! Thor
  3. 9 points
    Ever wanted to swap line styles on the fly and make a rainbow on your chart? You can do that in 5.5.0.0+. The hotkey isn't the easiest to understand, so I very quickly made a web utility for you (link below). How to Use: Go to URL: http://kaelmedia.com/projects/das-line-config/ Select a Line Type, default is HorzLine Select a Line Style, default is SolidLine Select a Color, default is Barney Select a Width, default is 1 Hit "Generate" Glance at the preview window and see if it is what you wanted. If it is, hit the "Copy" button and it'll be placed in your computers Clipboard. If you wish to share you creation, press the "Share" button and a special link will be placed on your clipboard to post in the forums. Example: http://kaelmedia.com/projects/das-line-config/?hotkey=ConfigTrendLine horzline dotline:035aab:1; Paste the copied hotkey (looks like: ConfigTrendLine horzline dotline:035aab:1; ) into your DAS Hotkey Configuration. Optionally, bookmark or save the line so you can edit it in the future (it adds the settings to the browsers URI/URL). How the Hotkey Works: The hotkey as designed will swap the DEFAULT config for the Line Type chosen, each type has one default stored for the user. So if trigger a hotkey with a horizontal line with a blue color, your very next (and all following lines) horizontal line you trigger on the chart will be that configuration (blue). Because of this, I have a "default line" hotkey and a series of colored hotkeys, this allows me to toggle back and fourth. Advanced Uses: Go HERE.
  4. 8 points
    I have been working today on 2 hotkeys for myself. The script(s) uses the defined R/R script from previous Kyles hotkeys. It performs the following: Cancels any previous orders for the symbol Enters the trade, ensuring total shares bought is equally divisible by 4 (rounded down); this prevents having extra shares hanging around after the range trades complete or stop out. Creates a range order at your stop level for 1/4 of your initial shares bought with a profit level of 2R Creates a range order at your stop level for 1/4 of your initial shares bought with a profit level of 3R Creates a range order at your stop level for 1/4 of your initial shares bought with a profit level of 4R Creates a single order at your stop for the remaining 1/4 shares; This allows you to ride the last 1/4 to whatever level you want before exiting As with Kyles hot key scripts, you double click your chart at the level you want to place your stop then press your button or hot key The Script for the long entry CXL ALLSYMB; StopPrice=Price-0.01;DefShare=BP*0.5;Share=DefShare*0.333*Price*0.01;Price=Ask-Price+0.01;SShare=Share/Price;Share=DefShare-SShare;DefShare=DefShare+SShare;SShare=Share;Sshare=DefShare-SShare;Share=0.5*SShare;Share=Share/4;Share=Share*4;TogSShare;ROUTE=SMRTL;Price= Ask+0.05;TIF=DAY+;BUY=Send;DefShare=1000;Price=Ask-StopPrice*2+Ask;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:RANGE LowPrice:StopPrice HighPrice:Price ACT:SELL QTY:POS*.25 TIF:DAY+;Price=Ask-StopPrice*3+Ask;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:RANGE LowPrice:StopPrice HighPrice:Price ACT:SELL QTY:POS*.25 TIF:DAY+;Price=Ask-StopPrice*4+Ask;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:RANGE LowPrice:StopPrice HighPrice:Price ACT:SELL QTY:POS*.25 TIF:DAY+;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice-0.3 ACT:SELL STOPPRICE:StopPrice QTY:Pos*.25 TIF:DAY+; and the Short CXL ALLSYMB; StopPrice=Price+0.01;DefShare=BP*0.5;Share=DefShare*0.333*Price*0.01;Price=Price-Bid+0.01;SShare=Share/Price;Share=DefShare-SShare;DefShare=DefShare+SShare;SShare=Share;Sshare=DefShare-SShare;Share=0.5*SShare;Share=Share/4;Share=Share*4;TogSShare;ROUTE=SMRTL;Price= bid-0.05;TIF=DAY+;SELL=Send;DefShare=1000;Price=StopPrice-Bid*2;Price=Bid-Price;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:RANGE LowPrice:Price HighPrice:StopPrice ACT:BUY QTY:POS*.25 TIF:DAY+;Price=StopPrice-Bid*3;Price=Bid-Price;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:RANGE LowPrice:Price HighPrice:StopPrice ACT:BUY QTY:POS*.25 TIF:DAY+;Price=StopPrice-Bid*4;Price=Bid-Price;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:RANGE LowPrice:Price HighPrice:StopPrice ACT:BUY QTY:POS*.25 TIF:DAY+;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice+0.3 ACT:BUY STOPPRICE:StopPrice QTY:Pos*.25 TIF:DAY+; Long $50 Risk CXL ALLSYMB; StopPrice=Price-0.01;DefShare=BP*0.5;Price=Ask-Price+0.01;SShare=50/Price;Share=DefShare-SShare;DefShare=DefShare+SShare;SShare=Share;Sshare=DefShare-SShare;Share=0.5*SShare;Share=Share/4;Share=Share*4;TogSShare;ROUTE=SMRTL;Price= Ask+0.05;TIF=DAY+;BUY=Send;DefShare=1000;Price=Ask-StopPrice*2+Ask;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:RANGE LowPrice:StopPrice HighPrice:Price ACT:SELL QTY:POS*.25 TIF:DAY+;Price=Ask-StopPrice*3+Ask;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:RANGE LowPrice:StopPrice HighPrice:Price ACT:SELL QTY:POS*.25 TIF:DAY+;Price=Ask-StopPrice*4+Ask;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:RANGE LowPrice:StopPrice HighPrice:Price ACT:SELL QTY:POS*.25 TIF:DAY+;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice-0.3 ACT:SELL STOPPRICE:StopPrice QTY:Pos*.25 TIF:DAY+; Short $50 Risk CXL ALLSYMB; StopPrice=Price+0.01;DefShare=BP*0.5;Price=Price-Bid+0.01;SShare=50/Price;Share=DefShare-SShare;DefShare=DefShare+SShare;SShare=Share;Sshare=DefShare-SShare;Share=0.5*SShare;Share=Share/4;Share=Share*4;TogSShare;ROUTE=SMRTL;Price= bid-0.05;TIF=DAY+;SELL=Send;DefShare=1000;Price=StopPrice-Bid*2;Price=Bid-Price;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:RANGE LowPrice:Price HighPrice:StopPrice ACT:BUY QTY:POS*.25 TIF:DAY+;Price=StopPrice-Bid*3;Price=Bid-Price;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:RANGE LowPrice:Price HighPrice:StopPrice ACT:BUY QTY:POS*.25 TIF:DAY+;Price=StopPrice-Bid*4;Price=Bid-Price;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:RANGE LowPrice:Price HighPrice:StopPrice ACT:BUY QTY:POS*.25 TIF:DAY+;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice+0.3 ACT:BUY STOPPRICE:StopPrice QTY:Pos*.25 TIF:DAY+; Everything prior to defshare=1000 in each script is completely from the original Risk/Reward Hotkeys except the bit of code that ensures the number of shares is equally divisible by 4. Feel free to give them a try and let me know if there are any issues.
  5. 7 points
    Hello Bear Bull Traders, This TradeBook is a collection of trading strategies that the moderators within our community trade throughout the day. It is designed to assist you in understanding the setups that our moderators discuss in the chatroom. The information contained within each of these strategies can also be used as a starting point in your own journey to create a personalized strategy. It is highly recommended that you begin testing any strategy in your simulator before attempting to trade with real money. Sincerely, Bear Bull Traders Team SEE BELOW THE UPDATED VERSION..... BBT TradeBook.pdf
  6. 7 points
    Since everybody has different levels of experience with the stock market, it is difficult to have a one-size-fits all objective list. I am going to try to cover all the areas that you should have a firm grasp of by the end of the 3-months. It is a rough outline of what I have learned after 4 months of paper/real trading. This post will be a work in progress, but here goes. ~IN PROGRESS~ Day Trading is probably the most deceiving profession on the planet. On the surface the concept seems very simple: buy low and sell high. Then why is it that 90% of traders fail at his endeavour? Surely they aren't trying to do the exact opposite of what is profitable. Even flipping a coin has better odds at 50%. Let's take a look under the hood to see what is required to be a successful trader. CLASSES There are four classes in total. Each one runs about 1 hour, except for class 4 which is almost 2 hours. It is recommended that you attend the classes multiple times to reinforce your knowledge, refresh the concepts, as well as stay updated on any new material. It is your responsibility to go over the slides and understand what is being taught. If you have any questions, please ask them during class, in the forums, or in the chat. The community is always here to lend a hand. You should also bookmark the Bear Bull Traders FAQ and DAS Trader Pro FAQ. Some members choose to read additional day trading books, as well as practice trading replayed market data. What you get out of the course is directly related to how much effort you put in. In a sense, the entire 3-months is more of a self-paced learning program than a structured course. There are no quizzes, no tests, no projects and no scoring. It is up to you to wake up every morning and spend time in the chair mastering the trade. Nobody will hold your hand, watch over your shoulder, or monitor your performance in any way. That is how day trading is in real life: absolute freedom to stake your fortune or self-destruct and implode. STOCK MARKET BASICS -Warren Buffet once said 'The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.' This is true for long term investing and for day trading. Remember that for each transaction you see in the Time/Sales window, there is a buyer and seller. When a stock is down 20% on the day and you short it, somebody is on the other side of that transaction buying. You don't know their hand though. They could be covering their short from earlier, it could be institutions loading up for long term investment, somebody hedging an options contract, etc. Beginners often gloss over this point. Volume represents transactions being filled; a transaction always involves two parties. You are trading against other people, not the market itself. -Exchanges: NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX -Market Makers -Pre-market and after-hours -High Frequency Trading (HFT), algorithms -Bid, Ask, Spreads -Short-selling. What does it mean. -Short inventory. Why are some stocks shortable and others not -Short Sale Restriction (SSR) -Short interest, or Short Ratio -Share float -5-cent tick programs -Circuit Breaker Halts -News, earnings, and catalysts -Buyouts -Pattern Day Trade Rule >>> Make sure you understand the above prerequisites before proceeding any further. Investopedia is a great resource. CHARTS -Candle Sticks. How to read them. -Understanding Price Action. Bearish vs bullish candles. Indecision candles. -Higher highs and higher lows / Lower highs and lowers lows -1-minute vs 5-minute chart -Moving averages and how they are calculated in different timeframes -VWAP. Why it's an important intraday indicator >>> The above concepts are not tool-specific and apply to all trading platforms MECHANICAL ASPECTS -Knowing your tools (DAS) -Platform, Hotkeys, Scanners, Journaling -Order entry. Limit, market, marketable limit, stops -Level 2 -Calculating commissions and tickets >>> The goal is to familiarize yourself with DAS and be comfortable using it. For some this could take days. For others this requires weeks. TECHNICAL AND STRATEGIES -Finding Stocks in Play -Good vs. bad pre-market price action -Finding Support/Resistance Levels -Day trading Strategies. Master recognizing the patterns, entries, stops, targets. -ABCD / Reverse ABCD -Bull Flag Momentum / Bear Flag -Fallen Angel -VWAP False Break Out -VWAP Reversal -VWAP Trend Trade -Opening Range Breakup / Opening Range Breakdown -Red-to-Green / Green-to-Red -Moving Average Trend Trade -Top Reversal / Bottom Reversal -Time of Day: Open, Late Morning, Midday to Close >>> Everybody will pick this up at a different pace--learning to recognize different strategies, figuring out which one works best for you (at what time of day), etc. MANAGING YOUR ACCOUNT -Risk Management -Position Sizing -Money Management PRACTICE THE PROCESS OF EXECUTING A GOOD TRADE Putting on a trade is more than buying at point A and selling at point B. You need to combine everything you learned to get in and out of a single trade properly: 1) finding good stocks in play 2) identifying chop and staying away 3) identifying the strategy or setup 4) quickly calculating risk-to-reward 5) getting a good entry and avoid chasing/jumping the gun 6) managing the trade based on live price action and new information which the market is providing you 7) taking profit (often overlooked, yet it involves half of the entire trade) 8) you need to do all of the above while keeping your emotions in check and fighting your psychological demons >>> Over the 3-month period, you will repeat this process hundreds of times. This is where the bulk of your time will be spent. Learning to take good trades and improving on your mistakes. This is the only path to consistency. Don't waste time trading unrealistic sizes on low-float stocks because you won't learn a thing. >>>Some of your trades will turn out to be winners, some will turn out to be losers. Most likely you will have a few trades that blow up your practice account (but don't worry, you weren't taking things seriously and would never do it live, right?). GOING LIVE -Choosing a broker -Starting small and gradual position sizing -Returning to Simulator -Peer-to-peer support PSYCHOLOGY OF TRADING -Why do most traders fail here -I'm highly intelligent, analytical and very disciplined. Why this will ruin your trading. -I'm a good poker player. Good--you will be playing against yourself -Revenge -Overtrading -Fear of missing out (FOMO) -Fear of pulling the trigger -Trading scared -Averaging down -Turning a day trade into a swing trade ~IN PROGRESS~
  7. 6 points
    But wait! There's more! @Alastair @peterB I actually do have a hotkey that will place down R levels. It's a bit of a hack but it works! And being such a visual person, these are a godsend for helping me get to my R goals. The way it works is if you are in a position with a stop loss set, it utilizes your SIM account to place the target levels at 1R, 2R, etc. Look below - the green arrow is obviously my entry, and the blue arrow is my stop loss in my live account. And then when I hit the hotkey it will place two orders at 1R and 2R (orange arrow) with 1 share using my SIM account. Basically it does the math calculation for 1R and 2R, swaps the montage to my SIM account, places the orders, then puts the montage right back to my live account. The 1 share orders never get filled (I'm actually not sure why...), so as the price gets to the 1R and 2R markers you can take a partial or full exit, and it will be executed in your live account. After the trade is done just cancel the orders. Long StopPrice=AvgCost-StopPrice;Price=AvgCost+StopPrice;Share=1;TIF=DAY+;Route=Stop;StopType=Limit;Account=TRIBTXXXX;Sell=Send;Account=UXXXXXXX;StopPrice=StopPrice*2;Price=AvgCost+StopPrice;Share=1;TIF=DAY+;Route=Stop;StopType=Limit;Account=TRIBTXXXX;Sell=Send;Account=UXXXXXXX Short StopPrice=StopPrice-AvgCost;Price=AvgCost-StopPrice;Share=1;TIF=DAY+;Route=Stop;StopType=Limit;Account=TRIBTXXXX;Buy=Send;Account=UXXXXXXX;StopPrice=StopPrice*2;Price=AvgCost-StopPrice;Share=1;TIF=DAY+;Route=Stop;StopType=Limit;Account=TRIBTXXXX;Buy=Send;Account=UXXXXXXX
  8. 6 points
    I shared my thoughts on the classic ABCD/Flag strategy. This pattern presents itself in virtually every move, across multiple timeframes. The formation consists of: 1. Run-up/sell-off 2. Profit taking/consolidation 3. Continuation Let me know your thoughts!
  9. 5 points
    I just switched to DAS with TDA. I was with IB before. So far, I haven't noticed any major problems with fills. I have had a couple instances of bad slippage, but might have happened anyway regardless of the broker because I got stopped on a breakout. I am trading small size and doing lots of scalps, so the savings in commissions is definitely worth it. When I start increasing my trade size and profits, I will probably switch back to IB. In my first couple weeks, these are the differences I noticed: Need to change all my hotkeys to LIMIT and MARKET instead of SMRTL and SMRTM. No problem. Otherwise, it was really easy to switch from DAS IB to DAS TDA It seems TDA will not allow me to close my position or close part of my position if I have a stop in place. I don't like this because I like to partial and then edit my stop after. Keeping the old stop keeps the little order marker on my the chart showing me visually where my stop was and I can click on my order and just replace my share quantity without redoing the stop. This is not a huge issue, but it is more work for me. I think TDA might be trying to protect people from accidentally forgetting they have a stop order and then get filled the opposite direction without knowing. Personally, I like that IB gives you the freedom to do anything you want even if it might not make sense for most people. When I click to buy/sell, there is a delay in DAS showing my order in the platform...less than one second, but for those milliseconds I wonder if I was filled and what price I was filled. I think it's just the delay in the data showing the platform and not the actual price filled. So for example, if I was going long, I hit buy...the price keeps moving up and after a slight delay I see the trade triangle where I was filled and it is usually better than where the price is currently trading. The delay is a little annoying since I like quick scalps, but it looks like I get filled where I expected. TD free commissions does not apply to every ticker or instrument. Honestly, I haven't figured out which stocks have commission or not, maybe the OTC ones (?). I will research this later since I just got started here. There were also some names I can trade on IB, but not on DAS TD, like JUVAF. Again, I am not sure why (not short locate problem because I was long). Perhaps it was foreign - I don't know. Hope this helps!
  10. 5 points
  11. 5 points
    Hi fellow traders. I would like to share with anyone who may find this useful or perhaps provide a helpful ‘head start’ into the world of Hot Keys. When I began to learn day trading and the importance of using hot keys, I created an editable PDF file which I would refine and develop as my trading progressed. To this day I still refer back to this chart as a constant reminder of my complex hot-key layout. One very nice thing about the PDF I am providing here is the fact that all the comment text boxes and red square boxes are ‘live and editable’. You can use this file as a head start to customize your preferred hotkeys vs. creating one from scratch. (Bit of a time saver) You will find that as you evolve your hotkeys, you will revise your PDF on the fly continuously making it more detailed and accurate for your desired use. Just a note; All I did here was take a photo of my actual keyboard and added some black space around it. I then saved a .jpg file and converted it to a PDF file. A few things I would like to point out here in hopes to answer some possible questions. This layout I am providing here is simply how I ‘personally’ have found to work for ‘my’ for my trading style. Yours can of course differ. - The text boxes Highlighted in ‘yellow’ represent the very active hotkeys I use most commonly - The colored stickers on the keyboard (purchased from a dollar store) are something I did to help me learn with clarity/confidence under pressure. Once you have used them for a while you will most likely find that you do not need colored stickers. Your hotkeys become natural to you. That day will come. - The hotkey scripts I am providing are based on using DAS trader version 5.3.0.5 (and in particular IB as my broker). Please note to ensure that you test out all your hotkeys in simulation mode before you go live. Make changes as necessary. - From my understanding and experience using hotkeys in DAS Trader Pro 5.3.0.5. Hotkeys associated with ‘stop order’ like actions DO NOT work in pre-market environments. (I do not know why). So use at your own discretion and ensure to test out all of them in the simulator environment. Perhaps now that I have done this, it might be nice for other fellow traders to share their hotkey layout and what works well for them. Be nice to see other trading styles. Happy trading everyone! And good luck! Uploaded; April 20 2019 Revision: 0 DAS HotKey Layout and Shortcut Scripts REV0.pdf
  12. 4 points
    Few users asked about this in chat, posting here so everyone can see how I do my ATR chart. 1) Create a new "Daily" chart 2) Download the linked .zip file and unpack it. --> https://drive.google.com/file/d/12JJGdg_SOeQVM-avM7_N-pNbDRQfN2wz/view?usp=sharing 3) Right-click the chart you created in DAS and select "Import Settings" --> Select the "ATR-chart-setup.cst" file you unpacked in #2. 4) You may need to select the chart and zoom all the way in for the effect to work. 5) Move the chart and place it where you want it. As a side tip, you can right-click the border and choose to hide the title-bar (making it smaller). I do it like this to fix a few issues .. DAS's ATR study doesn't allow you to hide the line on a chart and a chart must have either a volume or price study. If the chart is small, it'll make all of these lines behind the study info, making it hard to read .. if you make the line color white, it'll make the study color white. So I use the Volume Study with the same color as the background placed above the ATR studies to "hide" the lines. You then just need to zoom all the way in (should stay), and you'll end up with just the Study Info in the upper corner. Screenshot:
  13. 4 points
    Hello everyone! Me and the team usually get a lot of e-mails asking for the hotkeys we're using or for some simple hotkeys; Therefore, we created a list of the most frequently used/asked for hotkeys. This is just a beta and short version, and we will keep adding to it depending on your request. This list will be worked on not only by us moderators, but by you as well if you wish! Please share in the comments some of the hotkeys you use a lot which aren't in the list and we will definitely update it, you can also ask for any hotkey you think you miss, and if any member replies with it in the comment it'll be also added to the list https://bearbulltraders.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/DAS-Video-Series-Hotkey-Scripts.pdf The hotkeys have been tested in DAS trader DEMO account and DAS/IB, still make sure to test them in simulator before trying them live! Thanks all.
  14. 4 points
    This table does not apply to all traders, but for those that have a strategy that is very buying power intensive. It takes in consideration that IBKR and other brokers actually limit us to 25% margin in several volatile tickers, so this table is actually conservative on what could possibly be done with consistency. I made this table to clearly display what the ideal scenario is for someone who has a successful strategy that is reliant on the upper limit of their buying power available. Several of my win days are larger than my goal amount ( x3 ) and some are SIGNIFICANTLY bigger than my goal amount ( x10 ), so I decided to simplify this table and go with a "If I never lost a single day at bare minimum goal amount" approach. With a starting balance of $25,000, 0.05% risk per trade, 5R goal amount, and big winners every so often, you would still have to wait probably at least 2 1/2 years before living off of this income was easily achievable. (assuming you want to continue to build the account while living off of the income) At first the numbers seem way too conservative, but then all of a sudden they seem unbelievable. Year $ Gain Risk Bump @ +10% Intervals Goal Amount 5R Risk Per Trade 0.05% Total Trading Days Years Months Days $15,263 $25,000 $63 $13 40 0 1 28 $27,500 $69 $14 80 0 3 25 $30,250 $76 $15 120 0 5 23 $33,275 $83 $17 160 0 7 21 $36,603 $92 $18 200 0 9 19 $40,263 $101 $20 240 0 11 16 $27,039 $44,289 $111 $22 280 1 1 9 $48,718 $122 $24 320 1 3 7 $53,590 $134 $27 360 1 5 4 $58,949 $147 $29 400 1 6 32 $64,844 $162 $32 440 1 8 30 $71,328 $178 $36 480 1 10 27 $47,901 $78,461 $196 $39 520 2 0 20 $86,307 $216 $43 560 2 2 18 $94,937 $237 $47 600 2 4 16 $104,431 $261 $52 640 2 6 13 $114,874 $287 $57 680 2 8 11 $126,362 $316 $63 720 2 10 9 $84,860 $138,998 $347 $69 760 3 0 1 $152,898 $382 $76 800 3 1 29 $168,187 $420 $84 840 3 3 27 $185,006 $463 $93 880 3 5 25 $203,507 $509 $102 920 3 7 22 $223,858 $560 $112 960 3 9 20 $246,243 $616 $123 1000 3 11 18 $165,367 $270,868 $677 $135 1040 4 1 10 $297,954 $745 $149 1080 4 3 8 $327,750 $819 $164 1120 4 5 6 $360,525 $901 $180 1160 4 7 4 $396,577 $991 $198 1200 4 8 31 $436,235 $1,091 $218 1240 4 10 29 $292,958 $479,859 $1,200 $240 1280 5 0 22 $527,844 $1,320 $264 1320 5 2 19 $580,629 $1,452 $290 1360 5 4 17 $638,692 $1,597 $319 1400 5 6 15 $702,561 $1,756 $351 1440 5 8 12 $772,817 $1,932 $386 1480 5 10 10 $518,994 $850,099 $2,125 $425 1520 6 0 3 $935,109 $2,338 $468 1560 6 1 31 $1,028,619 $2,572 $514 1600 6 3 28 $1,131,481 $2,829 $566 1640 6 5 26 $1,244,630 $3,112 $622 1680 6 7 24 $1,369,092 $3,423 $685 1720 6 9 21 $1,506,002 $3,765 $753 1760 6 11 19 $1,011,372 $1,656,602 $4,142 $828 1800 7 1 12 $1,822,262 $4,556 $911 1840 7 3 10 $2,004,488 $5,011 $1,002 1880 7 5 7 $2,204,937 $5,512 $1,102 1920 7 7 5 $2,425,431 $6,064 $1,213 1960 7 8 33 $2,667,974 $6,670 $1,334 2000 7 10 30 $2,264,355 $2,934,771 $7,337 $1,467 2040 8 0 23 $3,228,248 $8,071 $1,614 2080 8 2 21 $3,551,073 $8,878 $1,776 2120 8 4 18 $3,906,181 $9,765 $1,953 2160 8 6 16 $4,296,799 $10,742 $2,148 2200 8 8 14 $4,726,479 $11,816 $2,363 2240 8 10 12 $5,199,126 $12,998 $2,600 2280 9 0 4 With a 3k account this last year I was able to make 34k (Totaling 37k), paid off my debt, and then made another 6.5k from only 8k starting balance in the last 3 months. I'm only 'flexing' these numbers because there isn't very much announced success on here to the point that it can be discouraging. I wasn't profitable for 3 years, and before I started making money I literally lost all of my money and money that wasn't mine. If you are someone reading this that doesn't have very much money, I would really encourage you to find good investments rather than day trading, while you learn to trade. Learn to do the conservative routes like selling covered calls and selling puts so you can get the confidence under your belt and build your equity. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Eventually you will stumble upon opportunities that are obvious rather than forcing trades because you won't have the stress of 'making it' as a day trader. Those opportunities will build your account and give you peace of mind while you chip away at this skill. All that being said, this table is actually achievable. Stay the course my friends. Bailey Nevener
  15. 4 points
    ANOTHER UPDATE --- SOLVED MY PLATFORM DELAY ISSUE. WORKS GREAT!!!! So my issue with a few seconds delay between any order is finally fixed. In short, I installed the platform again on a completely different folder per recommendation from DAS. So I no longer have my platform freeze after every order or every time a pending order gets filled. It's a breath of fresh air....finally. Long story...my problem with seconds of delay freezing up my platform was feeling like it was getting worse....like 5 seconds where I can't do anything on my platform every time I place an order or when one gets filled. Finally I was playing around in SIM and Trade Replay and noticed the same thing happened, which is odd since it's just SIM and as far as I know, does NOT need any communication with TD. I had contacted DAS several times and tried all the usual things: updating platform, uninstall/reinstall, even changed my internet service provider for faster connection. Now that I made the connection of the delay happening in Trade Replay (I just recently signed up for replay), I knew it had to be my platform. I contacted DAS and they told me to reinstall in another folder and thankfully it now works as I hoped.
  16. 4 points
    After listening to the Mastering Trading Psychology Audiobook by Andrew and Mike, I'm proud to say I've taken some very positive steps in my lifestyle choices. I got myself an Exercise Bike in February and have been doing a daily workout where I never really exercised at all (unless you count running around after 3 kids exercise). 3 Weeks ago, I was having beer almost daily, and from 2 weeks ago, now only having some at the weekend instead. And from today, I've cut out coffee during the week. Along with missing breakfast most mornings, I decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and make my own fruit smoothies - I get my breakfast, and my morning drink. Feel good about the changes I'm making and it's thanks to listening to that audiobook - Thanks Guys.
  17. 4 points
    Hi everyone, I've gotten a ton of requests for my hotkey file and associated StreamDeck icons and I haven't been able to stay on top of all the google drive requests. So I've attached them to this post! Included in the zip file: -Short and long icons for trading sizes for 100 to 10,000 shares -Sell 1/4, 1/2, and ALL size icons -Cancel icons -A couple of custom icons -The Adobe Illustrator template file to make your own -And finally my hotkey file with a specific, logical hotkey defined for each share size in the set. Hope you enjoy! JH-STREAMDECK-ICONS.zip
  18. 4 points
    Hi Folks My name is Shannon - I'm from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I'm typically a pretty shy person - but thought I'd reach out to the community and see where it leads - I'm quite excited to be a part of the BBT community. I stumbled upon Andrew's book last summer and was immediately drawn to his ability to humbly and clearly communicate information that I find is typically made quite technical and confusing. It led me to the website where I lurked around for a week. Once again I was quite impressed with the humility and helpfulness of not only the moderators - but the entire community. I watched a few trading sessions and browsed through the learning material and decided quite quickly that this was the environment that I wanted to learn to trade - I actually did not even look at any other trading communities - and I became a Lifetime Member. I've spent my entire career of 31 years in emergency services as a paramedic and firefighter. I'm eligible to retire in the next 12 months - not sure exactly when I will - and I've thought several times that Day Trading may be a perfect 2nd career. Fortunately - I have a plenty of time to patiently and systematically learn and practice the material. My dream is to become profitable as a trader so that retirement from my current career is a simple decision - and I can spend more time with my wife and family. Looking forward to this new journey!!
  19. 4 points
    I have created a combined Playbook and Trade Planner that may be of use for some fellow members. I use it myself as a kind of cheat sheet to refer to prior to entering a trade. The idea was to store setups / strategies with picture examples in a single file that can reveal that example with the click of a button. An example of a cheat sheet is shown in the picture. In addition to the pictures of setups I have also defined some indicators / rules for each setup which refresh with the setup selection. I define the indicators on the "Strategy_definition" sheet and add pictures in the (hidden) columns on the "Plan" sheet. When a strategy is selected in cell D8 and the button is clicked, it refreshes the table of indicators and unhides a cheat sheet example picture for that setup / strategy. It is a bit slow to refresh. In addition I have added a trade planner table. I enter my intended STOP and entry price and the intended trade direction (Long / Short) and it refreshes the R:R table which provides me with the price levels that would need to be met to deliver a 2R trade and beyond. I like to compare these price levels to support / resistance levels I have marked on the stock and other technical levels and moving averages to assess the potential roadblocks at various prices. In addition I may throw in a rough trade management plan on a simplified level with Partials planned out. I include some other useful info like RVOL, the direction of the overall market etc whilst planning the trade. As a pretty new trader still in SIM I have found this has helped me to be more disciplined / patient. It also helps journal later as it gives an idea of what I was expecting before entering a trade. I just copy a new "Plan" sheet for every new trade and have one file for the trading day with several sheets. The setups I have included are my interpretation of setups mainly from the moderators success webinars. On that basis, take it as a disclaimer to check that you agree with my interpretation and test in SIM if you plan on using this. The file is an excel document and can be accessed via the Google drive link below. It needs to have macros enabled in order for the button to unhide the cheat sheet pictures to work. I have left some blank fields to allow a longer list of setups to be included. Any feedback, tips or suggestions for improvement are most welcome. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wm5YohE7wgNn69IEGJrUBwBn1x52zPoW/view?usp=sharing
  20. 4 points
    5-Minute Opening Range Breakout (ORB) 5_MIN_ORB.pdf High of Day Break / Low of Day Break HOD_LOD_Breaks.pdf VWAP Reversal VWAP_Reversal.pdf Mountain Pass Mountain_Pass.pdf 1-Minute Opening Range Breakout (ORB) 1_MIN_ORB.pdf Rising Devil Rising_Devil.pdf Falling Angel Falling_Angel.pdf Parabolic Reversal Parabolic_Reversal.pdf
  21. 3 points
    Since this subforum is by far the most active, we've stickied this FAQ which contains links to individual posts. This post will be updated regularly. [Last updated: May 17, 2021] DAS Trader Downloads DAS Trader Pro Production Releases for Interactive Brokers DAS Trader Pro Production Releases for CMEG BBT DAS Simulator Production Release (ONLY IF YOU GOT DAS SIM THOUGH BBT) When doing an install of a new version, it is always a good idea to back up your settings! DAS Trader Pro references, education and support OFFICIAL: DAS INC DAS TRADER PRO - DEMO Tutorial - How to Correctly Use DAS Trader Pro User Guide and Manuals DAS Trader Official YouTube Channel DAS Weekly Free Q&A Webinar DAS Trader Pro Knowledge Base DAS Trader Pro Risk Control explained in Knowledge Base. Common DAS Trader errors No More Order Server to Connect’ error message ‘Wrong Trader’ error message “Lost Connection to Quote Server” error message General Where can I subscribe for DAS Trader Pro live account for Interactive Brokers? How to Change Your Equity and Buying Power in Simulator How to Switch Between Live and Demo Accounts Update/Upgrade DAS To Latest Version Understanding the DAS Account Report DAS Deluxe Package - Switching Options L2 for ARCA Book DAS Trader on MAC OS also see DAS Trader FAQ > 5. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS How to link symbol selection in Trade Ideas to DAS How to set a price alert in DAS How to add Audio Alerts in DAS How to Configure DAS Mobile for Android or iPhone Definition of Time and Sales Flags How to use the DAS Risk Control Page List of Index tickers (SPY, DJIA, NASDAQ, RUSSELL, etc.) How to Make a Pre-Market Scanner in DAS DAS Trader Videos Playlists in YouTube DAS Trader Tutorials (basic DAS Trader configuration) DAS Trader Pro Instructional Videos (Advanced DAS Trader Features) Market Replay Mode How to use new DAS Trader Market replay feature Montage, Windows, and Layouts How to Make Your Custom Layout Load as Default on Startup How to link Montage to Time&Sales and Charts? How To Setup Multiple Monitors in DAS How to Duplicate a Montage, Chart or Other Window Montage / Level 2 color and shade settings How to Quickly Add Rows to Watchlist (Market Viewer) How to Change Order Button Colours (BUY, SELL, SHRT, CXL, RPL) Select Active Montage to Trade Definition for each of the Level 1 (L1) fields at top of Montage How to select the montage before placing a trade How to use the New L2 Highlight Feature in DAS Trader (YouTube video) Charts [VIDEO] How to configure charts in DAS Trader Pro: Education Center How to Add Index Tickers for SPY, DOW, NASDAQ DAS Trader Tutorial – Make Your Chart Look Like Andrew's How to Add Average Line to Volume Study How to Drag and Drop Horizontal Lines How to Transfer Price Levels to Another Chart Drawing Support and Resistance Lines in DAS How to add previous day close (PCL), high of day (HOD) & low of day (LOD) How to Prevent Chart from Zooming out When Switching Symbols How to Add/Remove Trade Icons on the Chart Show trade info on chart (triangle click) How to Increase Y-Axis Scale to See More Price Levels / This can now be done with the newer versions (5.4.0.0+) of DAS using hotkeys Change Default Number of Candles How to add Relative Strength Index (RSI) to Chart How to Draw a Diagonal or Sloping Line How to Change font size in Chart How to add separator line for Pre-Market (Open) and After-Hours (Close) How to correct short/small candlesticks by excluding Studies from Y-Axis Scale (Y LOW, YY HIGH, etc). How to Zoom in on Specific Area of Chart Why is VWAP sometimes different between 1-minute chart, 5-minute chart, and/or Montage? How to add vertical lines on 1-minute chart to show each 5-minute period How to add Average True Range (ATR) to DAS Daily Chart How to add and use Volume by Price study How to add bid & ask to your charts How to add RVOL in DAS? Exceeded max number of global trend lines Order Entry Placing Orders in DAS Trader Pro Trailing Stops How to Lock Your Montage How to set a Bracket aka Range aka OCO order (includes hotkeys) Hotkeys and Hotkey Buttons - Always test your Hotkeys in simulator Most frequently used hotkeys Terminology Clarification: Hotkeys vs Hotkey Buttons Programming hot key for stop loss Buy/Sell Hotkeys for Automatic Stop Loss How to Create HotKey Buttons on the DAS Montage Level 2 Window Hotkeys for Flipping Position Hotkey for buying based on a percentage of Buying Power How to Adjust Montage Hotkeys Button Size What does the Panic hot key do? How to set up hotkeys for trailing stops Hotkeys for adjusting share size How to create hotkey which launches Finviz page for a selected stock Hotkey for automatic share size based on max dollar loss Hotkey for automatic share size based on % loss of account How to short stocks in SSR: see here and here Thor´s Freeroll Hotkey DAS Trader Pro Support Live Chat Support Das Trader contact page to send messages DAs Trader Support Email DAS Hotkey Line Style Configuration tool.
  22. 3 points
    What does this do: This 2 part script will allow you to set a stop loss, set a future price on your chart where you want to enter, and dynamically calculate the shares you can afford based on a fixed dollar amount. What do you mean by “2 part”?: With the current limitations of DAS, it's required to use two scripts (hotkeys) for this to work. 1. The first hotkey will set where you want your Stop Loss to be 2. The second hotkey will set where you want your Entry to be Example: The High of Day is $49.99 The current price is $49.50 and trending back up towards HOD The L2 has lots of strong ASKS at various price levels above $50.00 You want to enter if it breaks $50.00 Double click on the chart where you want to set your Stop Loss - $49.90 You hit Hotkey 1 Double click on the chart where you want to set your Entry - $50.01 You hit Hotkey 2 If and when the price hits $50.01 it will automatically enter you into the trade with your fixed $Risk and place your Stop Loss. ------------------------------------------ I used this on NVDA today at 9:51 ($415.63) for a HOD break. Luckily my preset stop was also set right below $415 at $414.97, so I didn't get wicked out I actually set it up around 9:40 and wasn’t even looking at the chart when it entered for me! By the time I noticed I was in the trade I was already in the money! Scripts: Long $20 Risk: Part 1: StopPrice=Price Part 2: DefShare=BP*0.97;Price=Price-StopPrice;SShare=20/Price;Share=DefShare-SShare;DefShare=DefShare+SShare;SShare=Share;Sshare=DefShare-SShare;Share=0.5*SShare; SShare=Share;Share=Price*100; Price=StopPrice; DefShare=Price*100; Price=Share/100; Price=Price+StopPrice; StopPrice=Price; Share=SShare; TogSShare; Price=Price+.05;TIF=DAY+;Route=Stop;StopType=Limit; Buy=Send; Share=DefShare;Price=Share/100; StopPrice=Price; DefShare=400;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice-0 ACT:SELL STOPPRICE:StopPrice QTY:Pos TIF:DAY+; Short $20 Risk: Part 1: StopPrice=Price Part 2: DefShare=BP*0.97;Price=StopPrice-Price;SShare=20/Price;Share=DefShare-SShare;DefShare=DefShare+SShare;SShare=Share;Sshare=DefShare-SShare;Share=0.5*SShare; SShare=Share;Share=Price*100; Price=StopPrice; DefShare=Price*100; Price=Share/100; Price=StopPrice-Price; StopPrice=Price; Share=SShare; TogSShare; Price=Price-.05;TIF=DAY+;Route=Stop;StopType=Limit; Sell=Send; Share=DefShare;Price=Share/100; StopPrice=Price; DefShare=400;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice-0 ACT:BUY STOPPRICE:StopPrice QTY:Pos TIF:DAY+; Known Issues: I have seen the script fail and only enter me with a small number of shares. Uncertain what caused this, but I’ll be looking for it again. Final Thoughts: I’ve been testing this in SIM for a week and wouldn’t advise using it live without doing the same. I know a lot of people have been asking for something like this - I would love to hear what other scenarios people would use this for!
  23. 3 points
    We're having a Meetup with Andrew in Zurich on March 12th, 2023, 4:00 PM and you're invited! Venue: Aden Hotel Whether you're a pro or just starting out, this is a great opportunity to connect with other traders, learn from each other, and have some fun. So mark your calendars and stay tuned for updates!
  24. 3 points
    In this video AdventureDogLA shows us how to set up Risk Controls in DAS Trader Pro. Risk Controls enforce limitations such as maximum daily loss, maximum shares traded per day, etc. Risk Control Page is a safety net to keep in control our loses, either to have an external control over our behavior as traders or due to a contingency such as failures in the internet connection, electric power outages, broker failures, etc. You can find "Open Risk Control Page" in DAS Trader Pro Account window, just right-click in any row of that window and Risk Control Page will open as a popup browser window to let you update your risk control settings. Some considerations: 1. This configuration works with real accounts and simulator 2. You can deactivate settings "Risk Control Page" anytime by leaving all in blanks and clicking SUBMIT 3. When you are using DAS linked to IB, or simulator, the Risk Control settings are handled by DAS. DAS staff updates your settings manually (the form is emailed to them) anywhere from 2 to 30 minutes during business hours. 4. In LOSS fields, enter a positive number. 5. “No new order” avoids orders for the current day 6. “Pos Loss” = Position loss. 7. “Enable Auto Stop” will automatically close your positions when you hit the Max Loss / Total Loss. 8. “Max Share - Max auto stop execution share per day” = How many shares can be sold / bought by the Auto Stop mechanism. 9. “Max Auto Stop Order Size” = Maximum size per order made by the Auto Stop mechanism. 10.“Delay for next order if exceed max order size (sec)” = Time between orders if the Auto Stop needs to place multiple orders to close your positions. 11. “Stop Gain Account Net Realized PL Thresh“, “Drawdown Percent of Max Net PL“ , “Pos Stop Gain Thresh “ and “Drawdown” - Like Auto Stop but for gains. The threshold is the profit the Stop Gain is looking to hit, the Drawdown is how much it can drop from that target before your positions are closed. Example, you set a threshold of 2000 and drawdown of 20(%). When you make 2000 in P/L, the Stop Gain will trigger, and will close your positions if you drop 20% ($400) from that value, closing you out at $1600 Net P/L.
  25. 3 points
    Hi everyone and welcome to our new forum on swing trading. As you likely know, swing trading involves taking positions in a stock or other security and holding that position for as short as overnight to days or weeks or even longer. If you are new to swing trading and want to learn more, reading Brian Pezim's book "How to Swing Trade" would be a good starting point. It is available on Amazon. We expect this forum will be used by our members to present and openly discuss swing trading opportunities. The one advantage of swing trading is that the trader has the opportunity to slow the decision process and plan their trades without having to make a quick decision on whether to enter a trade. Thanks in advance for being part of this forum and we hope this forum can offer up some profitable opportunities for our members.
  26. 3 points
    Hey Everyone, as you know Andrew is traveling, if anyone is interested in meeting up him on Dubai, November 26 for some drinks and talk trading? Date: Nov. 26 2022 Time: 6:00 - 08:00 PM Venue: Koko Bay. West beach Palm - Jumeirah - Dubai - United Arab Emirates Please confirm in this thread!
  27. 3 points
    Fellow Bear Bull Traders, I would like to share with you the Equity Simulator. Another possible name for it could be Expectations Manager. What the tool does: The tool calculates the likely Equity curve and distribution of daily R given the probability of R outcomes in every trade. It also compares the Equity curve when using a Fixed amount R vs using R as a % of Equity. Motivation: As part of my Trading plan, I've set rules for increasing and decreasing position size based on my trading results, as well as moving from Live to Sim and vice versa. But I was feeling that these rules were quite arbitrary - I was wondering how many Red/Green days a week/month I should reasonably expect in the long run, and what kind of profitability I would actually need to meet my goals. Learning how to execute each trade properly is paramount but I felt this would add some perspective and peace ("do I really have to have red days, given my win rate?":) Alternatives: EdgeWonk analyzes individual trades and seeks for potential improvement in entries, exits, and trade management in general. (thanks @KyleK29 for the suggestion) In contrast, this Simulator can't be used for tweaking individual strategies - it focuses more on the bigger picture and your average trading results. It could be however used to compare your results using two styles of trade management - e.g. Style 1 : 60% chance of -1R, 40% chance of 2R vs Style 2: 80% chance of -1R, 20% chance of 4R Further comments can be found in individual cells and on the second sheet. Please let me know any suggestions or questions. Link to the Excel file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SUEfrZskJOWpwASR7sUvB2LnOrkxgF2d/view?usp=sharing Have a nice day and don't forget to hold the line! JanJ
  28. 3 points
    I am asked a lot how to buy and send an automatic STOP Loss order all in one hotkey. Try this: ROUTE=SMRTL;Share=BP*0.25;TIF=DAY+;Price=ASK+0.10;BUY=Send;ROUTE=STOP;StopType=Market;StopPrice=AvgCost-0.30;Share=Pos;TIF=DAY+;SELL=Send; What it does? It buys at 25% of your buying power, and then automatically send a stop loss order at AvgCost -30 cent. You can change it anyway you want!
  29. 3 points
    Hi, Anyone interested in learning about options, search for projectoption in youtube. Great resource to learn about options.. Good luck... Mohan
  30. 3 points
    Trailing stops are a great tool for a trend trade when the price is moving slowly but inexorably in one direction for a longish period of time. A trailing stop acts as a moving stop loss to protect your profits while also allowing you to secure near the maximum profits of the trend when it reverses. I started using them in SIM today because I recognized that I tend to jump out of trends too early, leaving profits on the table. You can create a trailing stop on both the long and short side in the same way: 1. In your montage, set the order type to STOP 2. In the "Stop Type" drop down, select "Trailing" 3. Just below the "Stop Type" drop-down, the third field over from the left is labeled "Trailer Price", set the value to the amount you want the stop to move behind the price. 4a. If you're setting a stop for a long position, click "SELL" - You should now see an order sitting in your order window 4b. If you're setting a stop for a short position, click "BUY" - You should now see an order sitting in your order window A trailing stop always stays a set value below the current price, so for example, if the price is 4.20 and you set a Trailer Price of .20 on a long position your stop loss will be at 4.00. If the price goes up the trailing stop price moves with it, but only in one direction. So for example, if the 4.20 stock moved up to 4.30, the trailing stop would would move to 4.10. If the price subsequently moved down to 4.15, your trailing stop price will stay at 4.10. The trailing stop price will always be set based on the current price, so be careful to look at the current price and movement on the 1 minute chart, the stop will trigger the moment the price tics back to the stop price. For example, if you see the 1 minute candles varying about 10 cents per minute on the trend, a .05 trailer price will probably trigger too early. Make sure you're setting your trailer price to a value that protects your profits without prematurely closing your position when the trend would likely continue. I will update this thread with real chart examples. I also have a hotkey but I want to test it in SIM Monday before I post it here. Edit: How to create a hotkey to set a trailing stop.
  31. 3 points
    As previously said you need not only a set up but also an entry strategy, and trade management strategy including you target ( a level, MA or 3R) where to partial, do you move SL to BE or you partial at 2 or 3 R and then you move your SL or it could be all or nothing ( 3 R without moving SL.). The goals at early stage is not how much money you make but getting familiar with the platform, defining a trading process , get enough screen time, learn price action, L2 and T&S, identify which set ups you trade the best and which you are not good at and scratch them, building a journal and sound review process. Money comes naturally once you master the above. We all start with the mindset of the outcome but in trading the process oriented approach is the way to success. You are not doing wrong, it is a learning curve, you enter in a good trade, couldn't manage, so now your improvement goal will be to define exit and partial strategy. Don't expect to be able to hold the entire move, it will take time, we all start scalping and shorter TF and once we get some experience we move to bigger TF and look for set ups there to get the bigger moves. Don't beat yourself. You did it great! I couldn't see any set up for much longer than 3 days when I started.
  32. 3 points
    You can right click on the chart area then select Data Config, and make sure you have a check mark on "Show Pre/Post Market" (Red Circled Below) Best of luck.
  33. 3 points
    The Money Zone is where 70% of the volume was traded on a given day. It can use it with das trader. Its in the study config/volume by price/config button and check the show volume area box. to use it go to the previous day and mark the value area high, value area low. you can then use the marked area to judge the type trading day for the upcoming session. in this example NIO is opening above vale and above yesterdays range. this signals bullish strength and should have you looking to take a long position if your bias is confirmed. This can also use this with a longer time frame. when we go back 5 days and see NIO has been consolidating. Mark the Money Zone area for this expanded timeframe and you can see after 3 days NIO dropped below the lower value area and quickly bought back up to the top of the value area. the next day NIO sold off in the morning and was quickly bought back up to close above value . This is signaling a possible rejection of value and a possible move to new value ahead. another confirmation of strength in this move is the pivot point relationship. it is an inside value relationship with a narrow pivot range further confirming the possibility of searching for new value. as we can see it didn't even stop to test the value area high before looking for higher value area.
  34. 3 points
    I like to create custom spoken alerts using Amazon's Polly. (my favorite voice is Emma). My most recent custom alert audio (and new favorite) is attached as an mp3. If you want to add it to your alerts, you will need the WAV file which is located here: DOWNLOAD "STOP TRADING" ALERT WAV Then place the WAV file in your DAS main folder and set up your alert as shown in the attached screenshot. Russell Landwehr Stop Trading alert.mp3
  35. 3 points
    I made a small application to review my trades and make some statistics about the results of each strategy. I wrote it because I needed some tools to speed up my journaling and to help me reviewing my trades and didn’t find something out there that was exactly personalizable for my style of trading and my way of journaling... Thought that sharing it with you guys would be a way to give back some of the great help that I received from this community! Features The application imports automatically from the DAS logs your trades and displays: The results for each trade and trading day All the entries and exits If you use hard stops based on trigger orders, the risk of the order/trade The risk/reward of the trade, based on the S.L. orders or on a fixed $ amount You can create trading strategies and associate to each trade additional information: The strategy used Whether the setup was valid or not according to the strategy, and if your execution of the strategy was good The theoretical maximum target that could be reached -> based on that the app calculates the maximum result of the trade if you closed your whole position at the max target If the trade is a “playbook trade”, i.e. if you want to add it to the list of your “ideal” trades for this particular strategy You can associate custom tags to the trade You can choose to exclude the trade from the calculations of the daily results and of the statistics You can attach a screenshot from the clipboard, or import it from a file You can add quick comments as well as a detailed review of the trade Based on that, the tool calculates some statistics: Number of trades and global result of the trades in each strategy Number of winners/loosers, percent winners/loosers and average winner/looser in the strategy Average result and average max result of the trades in the strategy Average risk/reward and max risk/reward of the trades in the strategy You can filter the trades for which you want the statistics: Start date/end date Time of day Strategy Direction (long/short) Whether the setup is valid, and whether the execution was good You can select the playbook trades only You can filter the trades by tags You can select only the winner or the looser trades You can filter by trading account You can visualise the equity curve of your trades: You can filter the trades used to calculate the equity curve The equity curve is synchronized with the statistics Screenshots Download Setup: Download and run the installer inside the zip. Once installed, just select the DAS Trader directory and the application will automatically start loading your trades. If you already installed a previous version of the program, the installer will automatically import all your data. In any case you can transfer/backup your data through the Import/Export functions from the File menu. Download link: TradeReview 1.3.1 Setup New in 1.3.0: Equity curve visualization, synchronized with the filters of the Statistics tab Possibility to edit the trade details directly from the table + added context menu for trade exclusion/details Joined the Trades and Analysis tabs (can be reverted through settings) Possibility to filter the trades also by long/short direction Possibility to add some brief comments about the trading day Possibility to import the last DAS screenshot Possibility to visualize more fields in the trades tables Bug fixing New in 1.3.1: Possibility to filter the trades by time of day Trades executed in replay mode are discarded Bug fixing
  36. 3 points
    This feature was recently added in version 5.2.0.14 (check your version by going to Help> About). In the Account window, right-click the account and select Reset BP/Equity. Update your Equity, Daily BP, and Over Night BP.
  37. 3 points
    Updated version.... TradeBook Master Complete March 2021 Version.pdf
  38. 3 points
    Yeah, the current solution is to use the Fib. These are my settings it - you click and drag from your entry point to your stop level. Looks like this
  39. 3 points
    The two tools I have found helpful for this are: PowerToys FancyZones – Divide your screen(s) into equal parts. and AquaSnap – Drag and snap windows together. Using these tools can really help in creating custom desktop layouts without having to “eye-ball” it.
  40. 3 points
    Pierce and Fail - Trade Book (Work In Progress) Description: Pierce and Fail is a Trend Reversal Setup characterized by a Breakout through a Major Level of Support/Resistance with High Relative Volume, followed by a change in Sentiment and Momentum back through the Level as the Trend Inventory is Exhausted and must return to Value Areas to gain new inventory. Purpose: Reversal Strategy to use both as a Aggressive Scalp Trade with strong Risk/Reward (R/R) along with potential to Trend against initial entry. Using Volume Signals to help justify Entry and Stop Loss Area compared to arbitrary concepts that are not definite. Clear Risk/Reward; Quick Trade with Potential for Large Reversal. Observation: Kept observing stocks start by forming a Morning Range; once Range was broken (and retested), stocks tend to go in search of value. Stocks that have Higher Time Frame Trends and/or Ranges may have Intraday Transitions to Levels that provide signals for Reversal Strategies with a high R/R Probability. Concepts: Levels - Support and Resistance, Areas of High Interest based on prior Price Action Ex. Daily Levels (HOD/LOD), Inflection Pivots, Premarket High/Low, Whole Numbers, etc Ranges Support and Resistance Zones defined by Price Action moving between each Zone Transitions Moving from one Range to another, defined by a Low Volume Zone between Ranges Time Frame: 30 Minutes after Market Open until One Hour Before Market Close Indicators: Extended from 9 EMA on 5 Minute Chart High Volume Event(s) at Major Level Breakout is not sustained, Level 2 and Time and Sales shows Opposite Sentiment Confirmations: Reversal Candles on Smaller Time Frames Engulfing Pin Bar Wide Range/Resting/Pierce and Fail (Name Pending) Entry Signal: Price moves through Level on High Volume Sets a High/Low of that Breakout Returns through the Level (Level 2 and Time and Sales are showing Opposite Momentum to Trend) Entry at Level Stop Loss: Slightly beyond Breakout Price to avoid getting 'tagged' Target: Depends on Trade Management Moving Averages R Targets Pivots Avoid: High Volume Events that occur through Intraday Levels on Larger Time Frames Leads to Trend Continuation against the Reversal Setup Averaging Down if Price Breaks Below Stop Loss on Volume Sizing into a larger position once a second shakeout candle forms is acceptable, but be wary that if Price goes through the initial Stop Loss without returning to above the prior, the trend can continue against you quickly
  41. 3 points
    Hello everyone, My name is Tyler. I'm 29 years old and live in Nebraska. I'm a police officer and have been doing that for 8 years. I've always had an interest in day trading. I started off researching day trading about 6 months ago and read a lot of articles and watched a lot of YouTube videos. It took me a while before I came across the BBT Community and read Andrew's book but after reading the book and looking into BBT I knew this was the type of community and program I was looking for. I'm currently still working my way through all of the education sections and hope to start with sim soon. I look forward to meeting and learning with you all! Tyler
  42. 3 points
    I chatted with an IB representative who was very helpful. In short, it seems like there is nothing to worried about when it comes to the exchange rate. I don't think you have to convert everything to USD (or deposit in USD) either. Here is an example. If I have $1,000 CAD and $0 USD and I want to buy a $100 stock, then I am borrowing $100USD from IB. At this point, I have -$100 balance in USD. If I have a winning trade and now I sell the stock at $120, then I have a $20 profit. My USD account balance now will be $20. If I lose and sell the stock at $80, then now I have -$20 balance in USD. For -$20, I will have to pay some interest to IB or you can convert the amount from your CAD balance. As you can see, there is no place for the exchange rate to come in because I would be simply trading in borrowed USD, not CAD that is converted to USD. However, the exchange rate changes every day and when it comes to the total balance shown in USD it changes every day even if you don't trade at all. With the $1,000 CAD scenario, if the USD/CAD exchange rate is 0.8, then your balance in USD is $800, but if the rate drops to 0.78, then the balance will be $780. You would still have $1,000 Canadian. If the CAD value drops significantly, then the total value of your balance in USD drops significantly too and even if you win some trades (in USD), you may have less USD equivalent (as your base currency) at the end of the day than when you started trading in the morning. I think it is what happened to the OP. But I believe you would still have your original CAD balance in your account (plus the positive USD won in the trades).
  43. 3 points
    Hi folks, here is a copy of the playbook template I discussed in the Feb 14 recap. The file is obviously a sample meant for each individual trader to complete with their own strategies, patterns, and setups. https://drive.google.com/a/bearbulltraders.com/file/d/1bmu3XzT_KtzTfya2Fo7Uqc7DZG_N7q-B/view?usp=sharing Please download a local copy as .xlsx
  44. 3 points
    Hi Zack This is a B/E stop market order: ALLSYMB;Route=Stop;Price=AvgCost;StopType=MARKET;STOPPRICE=AvgCost;StopPrice=Round2;Share=Pos;TIF=DAY+;Send=Reverse;ROUTE=SMRTL I guess you just need o change StopType to LIMIT ALLSYMB;Route=Stop;Price=AvgCost;StopType=MARKET;LIMIT=AvgCost;StopPrice=Round2;Share=Pos;TIF=DAY+;Send=Reverse;ROUTE=SMRTL Not sure if you can use Price=AvgCost+.05 maybe you can test this in the sim and let us know if it worked for you.
  45. 3 points
    Good news, I fanally solved my problem. Since IB where busy with the Covid-19, it took me 3 weeks in total to make all arrangements and have my USD account working. First, I took out my CAD $ from my IB account. I've then opened a USD account over the Internet with my current Royal Bank of CANADA but it did not work. They could not make a USD transfer to a Canadian provider since it was going to convert my USD deposit to CAD and I could not link this account to IB. They had to transfer me to another department for USD account with RBC in USA. I then checked with Bank of Montreal where I have another account ond opened a USD account. Took me 2 minutes over the Internet. I then linked my account directly with IB. After the verification, I was able to make a deposit in US to my account. Now, everything is working perfectly, I don't loose even 1$ from my gains. Hope this topic could help someone.
  46. 3 points
    This exists now. In case anybody finds the above instructions confusing, here is the step-by-step on how to set up "click and add" price alerts. Steps: 1) Right click on a chart > Chart Area > Config Area. Check the box in the bottom-right that says "Enable placing alert on chart". 2) Next, you must create a hotkey (Setup > Hot Key > Add New Item). I have simple scripts for when price crosses above or below my alert price. I'll share them: Price crosses ABOVE alert price: AlertName=newalert;AlertType=LastPrice;AlertOperator=>=;AddAlert Price crosses BELOW alert price: AlertName=newalert;AlertType=LastPrice;AlertOperator=<=;AddAlert 3) Open the Alerts window (Tools > Alert & Trigger). This window NEEDS to be open for the hotkeys to work, so I now just have it permanently fixed in my Desktop layout. 4) Now, when you press your hotkey, an arrow with an "A" next to it will show up on the chart, and you simply click the price where you'd like the alert to be placed. (NOTE: The first time you click, you'll get an error message that says "Placing alert failed". Just click again and it will work. This is a bug and I've reported it to DAS already.
  47. 3 points
    A Alert: brokerage trading platforms offer an alert feature that can be set up to advise a client by text or email that an event, such as a stock hitting a specific level, has occurred. You may be watching this stock and wanting to enter a trade once the specific event has occurred. Algorithm: a proprietary computer program that executes trades based on programed inputs. The inputs could be technical indicators such as moving averages or they could be newswire feeds where computers will trade off of key words or phrases. Ask: the price sellers are demanding in order to sell their stock. It’s always higher than the bid price. Average daily volume: the average number of shares traded each day in a particular stock. I don’t trade stocks with an average daily volume of less than 200,000 shares. As a swing trader, you will want sufficient liquidity to be able to get in and out of the stock without difficulty. At times this term will also be referenced as “average volume”. Average relative volume: this is the number of shares traded in a stock compared to its average daily volume. I like to see stocks with an average relative volume greater than 1.5, which means the stock is trading more than 1.5 times its normal daily volume. This would likely be due to heightened interest by traders and investors in the stock. At times this term will also be referenced as “relative volume”. Average True Range/ATR: how large of a range in price a particular stock has on average each day, taking into account gaps that occur between market sessions. Averaging down: a technique that some traders employ which involves adding more shares to a losing position in order to lower the average cost of that position. They hope the stock will eventually move back in their favor enough so that they can sell and break-even. I do not average down because this may magnify losses. I stick with my trading plan and sell when I hit my stop out price. B Bear: a seller or short seller of stock. If you hear the market is bear, it means the entire stock market is losing value because the sellers or short sellers are selling their stocks. In other words, the sellers are in control. Bearish candlestick: a candlestick with a big filled body demonstrating that the open was at a high and the close was at a low. It tells you that the sellers are in control of the price for the period represented by the candlestick and it is not likely a good time to buy. Figure 7.4 illustrates 2 bearish candlesticks. Beta: the amount an individual stock will move in relation to the market or underlying asset. High beta stocks or ETFs will move more on a percentage basis than the market or underlying asset. Bid: the price that traders and/or investors are willing to pay to purchase a stock at a particular time. It’s always lower than the ask price. Bid-ask spread: the difference between what traders are willing to pay to purchase a particular stock and what other traders are demanding in order to sell that stock at any given moment. It will change throughout the trading day. Traders will refer to a “wide spread” when the bid and ask are far apart. This spread is partly a function of the stock price. For example, a $300.00 per share stock might have a bid-ask spread of $1.00 versus a highly traded $20.00 per share stock where the bid-ask spread would be $0.02. Broker: the licensed company that buys and sells stocks on various stock exchanges based on instructions taken from investors and traders. These instructions can be placed online and directed to the exchanges or taken by an employee at the company which executes the trade. Having an employee place a trade is much less common today versus 30 years ago when it was the only way to buy and sell stocks. Using an employee is also a much slower process compared to trading online. Bull: a buyer of stock. If you hear the market is bull, it means the entire stock market is gaining value because the buyers are purchasing stocks. In other words, the buyers are in control. Bull flag: a type of candlestick pattern that resembles a flag on a pole. You will see several large candles going up (like a pole) and a series of small candles moving sideways (like a flag). After consolidation, the price will break higher. Bullish candlestick: a candlestick with a large body toward the upside. It tells you that the buyers are in control of the price and will likely keep pushing the price up. Figure 7.3 illustrates 2 bullish candlesticks. Buying long: buying a stock with the expectation that its price will go higher. Buying power: this represents the capital in a trader’s brokerage account. Buying power will vary depending on the type of account you have, the broker’s rules on lending if you have a margin account and what you hold in the account such as cash, shares etcetera. C Candlestick: a very common way to chart the price movement of stocks. It allows you to easily see the opening price, the highest price, the lowest price and the closing price value for each time period you wish to display. Chasing the stock: chasing happens when you try to enter a position and the price keeps moving away from your desired entry. For example, you want to go long on a stock at $4.50 per share and the share price keeps moving higher above your bid. As the share price moves higher, you keep entering a higher and higher bid hoping to get filled. This will negatively affect your reward to risk ratio if you chase the price up too far from your desired entry price. Chatroom: a community of traders. Many can be found on the Internet. As a reader of this book, you are welcome to join the BearBullTraders.com chatroom. Choppy price action: occurs when the price of a stock cycles up and down in a range with relatively small movements of price within the cycles. You should try to avoid stocks with choppy price movements and wait for signals that the stock price is ready to move outside of the trading price range. Churning: this refers to a specific type of price movement where a security will not be trending in any direction. Instead, there are small waves of erratic buying and selling with no significant price movement in one direction or the other. Close (“the close”): this refers to the last hour the stock market is open: 3:00 to 4:00 PM ET. Higher levels of volatility or price movements can occur in the last hour of trading. Consolidation period: consolidation usually happens after a sharp move up or down in the price of a stock. Some traders are getting out of their positions while others that missed the move are entering. This fight between the buyers and sellers causes the stock price to pause before resuming the original trend or reversing. D Day trading: the business of trading stocks based on very short-term technical signals. Time frames of 1 minute and 5 minutes are commonly used to find trades. Day traders do not hold any stocks overnight; any stocks they purchase during the day are sold by the end of the trading day. At the close of every trading day, a day trader holds all cash in their accounts. Death cross: occurs when an uptrending stock changes to a downtrend. The death cross event occurs when the faster moving 50-day simple moving average (SMA) crosses the slower reacting 200-day SMA. The 50-day moves from above the 200-day to below it when the cross is made. Doji: an important candlestick pattern that comes in various shapes or forms but are all characterized by having either no body or a very small body. A doji indicates indecision and means that a fight is underway between the buyers and the sellers. Double bottom: a “W” pattern that occurs in a chart when a stock price drops to a low, bounces higher temporarily, and then drops again back to the previous low. On the second dip lower, the buyers take control again, thus moving the price higher. This creates a strong level of support and is an indication that the stock price will likely continue to move higher. Double top: an “M” pattern that occurs in a chart when a stock price rises to a high and then drops back temporarily. The price pushes higher again but fails to make a new high on the second run higher. The sellers then take control again, moving the price lower. This creates a strong level of resistance and is an indication that the stock price trend will likely continue to move lower. E “Either or” order: this is 2 orders that are entered by a trader. The orders are linked so that as soon as 1 of the orders is filled, the other order is cancelled. This allows you to both set a stop-loss to protect from excessive losses and also enter an order at a profit-taking price. Entry point: when you recognize a pattern developing in your charts, your entry point is where you enter the trade. Exchange-Traded Fund/ETF: an investment fund traded on exchanges and composed of assets such as stocks, bonds, currencies and indexes to name just a few. There is a huge variety of ETFs that are available today where you can play almost any sector or tradable asset. Exit point: this is the price where you plan to dispose of all or part of your position in a security. It can be the profit target price or it could be the stop-loss price. You make a plan before taking an entry and you stick to your plan unless there is a good fundamental reason to change the plan. Exponential moving average/EMA: a form of moving average where more weight is given to the closer dates in the moving average period. The EMA will respond more quickly compared to the simple moving average where all prices over the period are given an equal weight. F Flag pattern: a chart pattern that resembles a flagpole and flag. Flag patterns can be bullish or bearish and represent a strong move, followed by a period of consolidation (which forms the flag part of the pattern) and then there is a continuation in the trend. Float: the number of shares in a particular company available for trading. Forex: the global foreign currency exchange market where currencies are traded. All currencies are traded in pairs, such as the US dollar against the Euro. Forward guidance: refers to comments made by a company’s management that is related to how they see business prospects in the future. The companies may provide earnings projections for coming quarters. These remarks are usually made during an earnings report conference call and can have a significant impact on the stock’s future price movement. Fundamental catalyst: some positive or negative news associated with a stock or a sector, such as a US Food and Drug Administration approval or disapproval of a medicine, or a series of hurricanes in the Gulf affecting oil and building supply prices. Futures: futures are a contract that requires the buyer to purchase an asset at a specific price and future date (such as oil, lumber, wheat, currencies). A seller of the futures contract is contracted to deliver that asset at a specific date and price. These financial instruments are highly risky, only used by sophisticated traders and big companies, and often as part of hedging strategies. G Gap down: occurs when a stock closes the previous day at 1 price and opens the next morning at a lower price, leaving a gap between the 2 prices. Small gaps will often happen between trading days and large gaps will happen if there has been some negative news regarding the stock, associated sector or market. Gap up: occurs when a stock closes the previous day at 1 price and opens the next morning at a higher price, leaving a gap between the 2 prices. Small gaps will often happen between trading days and large gaps will happen if there has been some positive news regarding the stock, associated sector or market. Golden cross: occurs when a downtrending stock changes to an uptrend. The golden cross event occurs when the faster moving 50-day simple moving average (SMA) crosses the slower reacting 200-day SMA. The 50-day moves from below the 200-day to above it when the cross is made. H High-Frequency Trades/HFT: a type of trading done by the computers on the various exchanges. These trades are being executed at a very high frequency and often to make tiny gains on price movements in stocks. There’s no need for swing traders to be concerned about this activity because swing trades take place over days, weeks or even longer periods of time. I Illiquid stock: a stock that has a very low volume of shares traded during the day. These stocks can be more difficult to sell and buy and therefore you may not get the price you had hoped to get on entry or exit. The bid-ask spread can also be wider in the absence of higher daily trading volume. Indecision candlestick: a type of candlestick that has a small body and similarly sized high tails and low tails. They are referred to as spinning tops and they usually indicate a fight for control of the price between the buyers and sellers. It’s important to recognize an indecision candlestick because they often indicate a pending price change. Indicator: an indicator is a numeric value produced from a mathematical calculation. The calculation can be based on a stock’s price or it can be based on both price and volume. These numeric values can be used as a gauge of trader and investor sentiment toward a stock or security and are often used to scan the market for trading opportunities. Understanding these indicators can help you find and execute trades. Institutional trader: a trader who works for an investment bank, brokerage firm, mutual fund or hedge fund. Intraday: trading all within the same day, between 9:30 AM and 4:00 PM ET. Investing: investing involves purchasing some asset and expecting it to grow in value in the short term or the long term. Investment account: a regular brokerage account that allows you to trade stocks up to the maximum value of the cash in your account. L Lagging indicator: lagging indicators are indicators that provide you with information based on activity that has already taken place, but they do not provide any guidance for a future event. Leading indicator: leading indicators are indicators that provide some information about what the future could hold. For example, an increase in building permits filed likely indicates higher levels of construction activity. Level 2: a tool commonly used in day trading that will show you buying interest and selling interest (bid and ask) at various price levels. It is not applicable to swing trading. Leverage: the margin your broker provides you based on the capital in your account. The leverage varies between brokers, what you are holding in the account (cash and securities) and share price. Limit order: an instruction you give to your broker to buy or sell a stock at a specific price versus a market order which is filled at the best possible price at that time. There is a chance the limit order will never be filled if the stock price moves away from your order. Liquidity: liquidity means there is sufficient trading volume in a stock for you to be able to enter and exit a trade around where you target. You always want to ensure you can easily get in and out of a trade. Long: being long or “going long” means you have purchased stock in the hope that it will increase in price. For example, “long 100 shares Tesla” means you have purchased 100 shares of Tesla in anticipation of their price increasing. Low float stock: this is a stock with a low supply of tradable shares. Usually, this means less than 10 million shares available for trading. When there is a large demand for shares in low float stocks, their price will rise dramatically due to the shortage of shares available to own and trade. These stocks are typically lower-priced shares and can represent good trading opportunities. M Margin: the leverage or borrowing power your broker gives you to trade with based on the assets (money and stock) that you hold in your account. Margin account: an account that allows you to buy and sell using margin or leverage based on assets held in the account. Margin call: a notification you receive from your broker that the assets in your account no longer meet their lending requirements. This will happen when you have trades that are going against you and the account value is decreasing. Immediate action needs to be taken by adding more cash to the account or exiting some current stock positions. Marketable limit order: an instruction you give to your broker to immediately buy or sell a specific stock within a range of prices that you specify. This helps you to get a fill but not to overpay for an entry. Market cap/market capitalization: a company’s market capitalization is the total dollar value that investors consider a company to be worth. It is calculated by multiplying the share float by the price of the shares. A company with a float of 50 million shares that trades at $10.00 per share is considered to have a market cap of $500 million. Market maker: a broker-dealer who offers shares for sale or purchase on a stock exchange. The firm holds a certain number of shares of a particular stock in order to facilitate the trading of that stock at the exchange. Market order: an instruction you give to your broker to immediately buy or sell a specific stock at the current price offered on the bid or the ask. You get an immediate fill on your order but the price could be subject to volatility and there is a small chance you may not get the entry price that was expected. Medium float stock: a stock with a medium-sized float of between 10 million and 500 million shares. Mega cap stock: a stock with a very large number of shares. For example, Apple Inc. has over 5 billion shares available for trading. Micro-cap stock: a stock with a low supply of shares available to trade at a relatively low price. The market capitalization of the micro-cap stock (also called small cap) ranges between $50 million and up to about $300 million. Mid-day: 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM ET. During this time the market trading volume often drops off a little and then picks up again into the close. Moving average/MA: this is a widely used trading indicator that is calculated by taking past closing stock prices for a certain period and then averaging them over that time. Two commonly used MAs are the simple moving average (SMA), and the exponential moving average (EMA), which gives more weight to more recent prices and therefore reacts more quickly to changes in sentiment. O Open (“the open”): the first one hour the stock market is open: 9:30 to 10:30 AM ET. Trading volume is often higher during this period. Options: a specific type of vehicle for trading. Options are a contract that gives a purchaser a right to buy or sell a security at a certain price by a specific date. They can be used in a number of different trading strategies and are considered to be a more sophisticated trading vehicle. Over-the-counter (OTC) market: the OTC is another venue or way to trade different securities such as less regulated stocks. P Paper trading: this is a technique that can be used by new traders to develop and test their skills before risking their money. You start with an imaginary account and go through the process of scanning and finding stocks for trading. You record the trades that you would take on paper with a plan for an exit (profit or loss). You then monitor the stock and record the profit or loss on the trade after one of your exit points are hit. Penny stock: the shares of companies that trade at lower prices. The share prices are typically under $1.00 per share. Position sizing: refers to how many shares you buy or sell per trade. Recall that you should not risk more than 2% of your account in any one trade. Pre-market trading: regular trading on the stock markets starts at 9:30 AM ET and ends at 4:00 PM ET. Some brokerages will allow traders to trade before the official open and after the close. This is called pre-market and after-market trading. During this period, liquidity is often lower and volatility is much higher. This is not a good time for swing traders to trade. Previous day’s close: this is the closing price of a stock on the previous day. If a stock closes on or near the high of the day, then it may be an indicator that the stock price will continue higher on the following day. Price action: a term that is used by traders to describe the movement in price of a stock. For example, if a stock price is dropping, price action is considered poor and likely a good short opportunity. Profit target: this is the expected exit price of a profitable trade opportunity identified by a swing trader. It is based on reviewing your charts and identifying the reward and risk in each trade. R Real-time market data: real-time market data allows you to see current bid and ask prices as well as last trade price and volume of shares. You need to ensure that you are using real-time data as some sources offer data that can be delayed 15 minutes or longer. Relative Strength Index/RSI: a technical indicator that compares the magnitude of recent gains and losses in the price of stocks over a period of time to measure the speed and change of price movement. Your scanner software or platform will automatically calculate the RSI for you. RSI values range from 0 to 100, with an extreme RSI below 20 or above 80 definitely catching my interest. Retail trader: individual traders who do not work for a brokerage firm or manage other people’s money. Risk management: this is one of the most important skills that a successful swing trader must master. This is done by only entering trades with a good reward to risk ratio, risking 2% or less of your capital on any trade and following your trading plan with stop-losses and targeted profit gains. Risk to reward ratio: this ratio is determined by assessing how much you expect to profit in a trade versus the most that you would be prepared to lose before exiting the position. Good trades offer at least 2 times the reward compared to the risk. For example, if you expect to make a $2.50 per share gain and are prepared to stop out if you lose more than $1.00 per share, then the reward is 2.5 times the risk and it is a good trade from a risk to reward perspective. Rotation: refers to a process where investors and traders move their money from one sector to another. One sector may fall out of favor with investors and they will move their money to another sector that they consider to have a better opportunity for a return on their investment. S Scaling out: a process you use to take advantage of a longer-term trend in a security. Instead of selling all of a profitable position at a target price, you will sell a portion of the position at the first target and hold the remainder for more gains. You should move the stop out price up to a level that is close to the first targeted sell price so gains are not given back. Scanner: software that you program with various criteria in order to find stocks that could be setting up for a profitable trade. Scanners are available on the Internet and are also supplied by some brokerage firms as part of their trading platform. Sector: a sector is considered to be a group of stocks that are all in the same business. For example, the financial sector refers to banks and other financial institutions, with companies such as Wells Fargo, Toronto-Dominion Bank and JPMorgan Chase in that sector. Short: an abbreviated form of “short selling”. It occurs when you borrow shares from your broker and sell them. You are expecting the price of the shares to drop and you are hoping to return the shares by buying them back at a lower price. If you say that you are short IBM, for example, it means you have borrowed and sold IBM shares and are hoping their price goes lower. Short interest: this is the number of shares in a stock that have been reported to be sold short by the brokers. Brokerages are required to report to the exchanges how many shares they have loaned out for short positions. A very high short interest (greater than 20%) is an indication that a lot of investors and traders hold a very negative sentiment toward a stock and the consensus is that the share price is going to go lower. It can also cause a “short squeeze”. Short selling: this occurs when you borrow shares from a broker and sell them with the expectation that the price will go lower and can be bought back at a lower price. You return the borrowed shares to your broker and keep the profit. Short selling restriction/SSR: a restriction placed on a stock when it is down 10% or more from the previous day’s closing price. Regulators at the exchanges place a restriction on short selling of a stock to prevent short sellers from continuing to drive the price down. The restriction only allows a short entry when the price of the stock is going higher. Short squeeze: occurs in a stock where there is a significant short interest. If some positive news comes out about the company, the price may move aggressively higher. Traders who are short get very worried and start buying shares to cover their positions. Combined with the investors and traders buying on the good news, this can create a frenzy of buying which will drive the stock price higher and higher. Short squeezes are bad to be caught in and good to ride higher. Simple moving average/SMA: a form of moving average that is calculated by adding up the closing price of a stock for a number of time periods and then dividing that figure by the number of time periods. As the time period moves forward, the oldest price is dropped and the newest period price is entered to calculate a new value. Simulator: some brokerages offer simulator accounts that start with a set amount of “fictitious funds” or “imaginary money”. You can use the simulator to trade with the imaginary money, allowing you to develop your skills and build experience in trading. This is similar to “paper trading”. Size: the bid-ask information on a stock order page will also likely display the “size” or number of shares being bid for (wanting to buy) and the number of shares being offered for sale. This will change often throughout the trading day on an actively traded stock. Spinning top: a type of candlestick that has similarly sized high wicks and low wicks that are usually larger than the body. They can be called indecision candlesticks and they indicate that the buyers and sellers have equal power and are fighting between themselves. It’s important to recognize a spinning top because it may very well indicate a pending price change. Split adjusted: after a stock split the price will drop in relation to how many new shares were given to current shareholders. A stock may be split more than once if it keeps going higher over time and, with each split, the price will drop. A split-adjusted price is the price a stock would have been before the split or splits. Standard lot: a standard trading size is 100 shares. The “size” column on the stock order page will indicate how many standard lots of shares are being offered for sale or purchase. For example, a bid size of “4” means there are buyers waiting at the bid to purchase 400 shares at the bid price. Stock in play: stocks in play are shares of a company that are being actively traded by traders and investors. They are characterized by higher than normal trading volumes in the shares being traded and by more price movement than previously experienced. Stock split: on occasion a company will want their share price lower to allow more potential investors to buy and own their stock. For example, a stock that trades at $300.00 per share may be too expensive for many investors to own. To address this issue, a company will split the stock so all of the existing shareholders own more shares. In order to do this, they could perhaps offer another share for every one a shareholder currently owns. With twice as many shares in the market, for the value of the company to remain the same the stock price will drop by half. In our example, the share price would drop to $150.00. Stock ticker: short abbreviations of usually 1 to 5 letters that represent the stock at the exchange. All stocks have ticker symbols. Apple Inc.’s ticker, for example, is AAPL. Stop-loss: prior to entering a stock position, you must determine what is the maximum you are prepared to lose on a trade. This level could be based on an indicator or pattern. You enter a position hoping for a profitable trade but if this does not occur then the stop-loss is used as an exit point to protect your capital from greater losses. Support or resistance level: these are areas in a chart where share prices often reverse or pause. There can be areas where resistance to further price increases occur and there are areas where the downward price pressure ends and the share price pauses or moves higher. These areas often repeat, as if the share price has a memory. Swing trading: the serious business of trading stocks that you hold for a period of time, generally from 1 day to a few weeks. Swing trading is a completely different business than day trading is. T Technical analysis: this is an analysis method that is used to forecast the future direction of prices by studying past market data. The data used is primarily price and volume. Trade management: this is what you will do once you enter a trade. You will monitor your position and be prepared to take a profit or get stopped out and take a loss. Trade plan/trading plan: the plan you develop before entering a trade. The plan includes determining an entry price and an exit strategy with a profit target price and stop-loss price. The plan concludes by closing the position and then recording and reviewing the result. Trading platform: this is the software that you use for sending orders to the exchange. All brokers will offer a trading platform. Trailing stop: this is a technique used to stay in a position as it continues to move in your favor. As the trend continues, you move your stop price to trail the move so that when the trend does finally change, you capture most of the profit in the trend. V Volume: the number of shares that are traded during a period of time. The period could be daily, weekly, monthly, etc., or the current volume during the trading day. W Warrant: a right to purchase shares in a company at a specific price. Warrants have an expiry date so they can expire worthless if the actual share price does not move above the purchase price on the warrant. Watchlist: you may build a list of stocks that you are interested in taking a position in. You may very well not be ready to enter at the time the stock first catches your interest and, instead, you are waiting for a confirming event like a bounce off of a double bottom. In this case, you build and maintain a watchlist of potential future trades. The brokerage may also offer an alert feature on their platform so you will be advised when the confirming event occurs.
  48. 3 points
    They’ve got it right, but I’ll add a little to it as I was speaking with DAS today about this. If you change the global order configuration (setup menu, order template), you have to make sure to check the “use global” box when you right click the montage and go to order template. Either way you do it, if you have an account chosen in the order template, it will always default to that account when you click a symbol, assuming you have the account set for the exchange on which that symbol is traded. So if you set the default as your U account from IB, then you change it in the montage to trade your demo account, it will switch back to the U account (the default) when you click another symbol. To avoid this, don’t choose an account in the template. Leave it blank. When you choose it in the montage, it will stay that way until you change it again in the montage.
  49. 3 points
    Hi Everybody! My name is Ryan (Ryan W in the chatroom). I live on Long Island, NY and I'm an IT consultant with my own business. I have been in IT for about 15 years now (I'm 32 and got started when I was 15). I have Bachelor's Degree in Business Management with a concentration in Information Systems. I have always been interested in trading. One of my best friends is Jesse Colombo (look him up). He introduced me to trading and finance in general while we were in high school, but of course I was only concerned with girls at that time lol. As I got older, I realized how interesting the markets are. I love staring at charts and trying to understand the underlying sentiment and what is happening on the screen. I started swing trading more actively in 2010 and was basically just treading water. I wasn't a fan of the overnight risk and after having awoken to several of my positions being down due to news or earnings, I realized swing trading wasn't great for me. I started to look into day trading. I got involved with Trading Education company here in NY and provided IT services for them. I was exposed to day trading more and was really enthralled by what was happening. Of course, this particular company wasn't known for the most honest and realizable trading education, so I took what I saw with a grain of salt. I received some exposure to some really great traders and mentors though, but their strategies and styles never really worked for me. After almost 4 years of day trading and having whipsaw emotions and losses, I am happy I found Andrew. I bought his book and was literally on the verge of giving up, but seeing how he trades and understanding his style and strategy has helped me immensely! The IT field has changed dramatically from when I first got started, even when I was in school (seems like a million years ago) and I am just sick and tired of it. I have been wanting to switch over to full time trading for years now, but the strategy I was trying to make work never worked. The person that taught me doesn't trade this style (even though he teaches it) and it just ended up costing me a lot of time and money. Now that I am on the right track with Andrew, I really hope to move over to full time trading sooner than later. Since I work for myself, I am able to balance trading and my clients. Of course, some days that's not always the case, but it does give me the opportunity to have the exposure I need. I look forward to working with everybody both here in the forum and in the chat!
  50. 3 points
    Hi Mario, Falcon builds really quality systems, but they do come with a pretty high price tag. I am an IT consultant so naturally, I have the skills for this lol. I built my own machine with parts from my local computer store (Microcenter) for around $2,500. Mind you, I went completely overkill because my trading platform (Tradestation) is a real resource monster and you need to have some heavy processing power in order for it to run properly. DAS isn't as nearly intensive as TradeStation, but you do want to ensure you build something that won't become obsolete in the next 2 years. Especially with how frequently Microsoft is updating Windows 10, each update comes with a bit of a hit on certain areas of performance. Also just be mindful that the more monitors you wish to add, the more power you will need. Here's my system: 1x Intel i7 6800K CPU (processor) that is water-cooled and overclocked to 4.2 GHz. 32 GB's of high performance RAM 1x Samsung EVO 950 Pro (NVMe), 256B SSD (Solid State) - For Windows and applications 1x Crucial 525MX, 525GB SSD - For profile data and basic user data 1x Western Digital 3 TB 7200RPM Mechanical drive - for bulk data like image files 2x nVidia GTX 970 video cards 1x Corsair H110ti water cooler (for CPU) 1x Asus STRIX X99 Gaming motherboard 1x Corsair 750 Watt power supply 6x Acer 24" LED LCD monitors mounted on a HEX stand that is mounted to my desk 1x NEC monitor that is rotated for portrait mode and has the chatroom, Outlook and other apps on it 2x Dell keyboards. 1 keyboard is used for normal input, the second keyboard I used a free program called HIDMacros that allowed me to program any key to executed a macro or command. So the number pad on my second keyboard handles all of the order entry commands for my platform. Windows 7 Pro Remember, I went overboard because of my platform and since I am an IT guy, I figured "why the hell not?". Plus, it was a business write-off :) You will often find that "gaming" computers are best suited for day trading, but they sometimes have video cards that are complete overkill. As I mentioned above the specs of my machine, the more monitors you wish to have, the more video processing and hardware power you will need. MOST video cards can support up to 4 monitors on 1 card. If you want more than 1 monitor, than you will likely need 2 video cards. On-board video may be an option, but some manufactures will disable the on-board video if an add-on video card is detected. However, here's a breakdown of the BARE MINIMUM you need for a decent trading workstation: Processor (CPU): Minimum of an Intel Core i7 series processor. Most of these processors are fine and the latest generation (7th generation) is sufficient to handle the load. Ideally you want a processor with a higher clock speed (measured in GHz) as this will crunch numbers and data faster. Memory (RAM): NO less than 16GB's (Gigabytes) of memory. 32 is perfect, but 16 will do the job as well. The more memory you have, the more responsive programs are and the more space a program is given to store instructions that it needs quickly. Storage (Hard Drive Space): Hard Drive capacity is measured in Gigabytes and sometimes Terabytes depending on the type of drive. This isn't super important to your trading computer unless you plan on using your trading computer for other tasks, at which point, you will likely need more space. However, the most important take-away here is you want your primary hard drive (the "C-Drive" where Windows and your programs live) to be a Solid State Drive (SSD). These come in many forms, but the BEST option here is what is called an NVME drive. This type of drive plugs DIRECTLY into the motherboard. These are the fastest drives available now. The other type of solid state drive which is still a good option and good enough for trading is a regular 2.5" solid state drive that connects via a SATA data cable to a SATA port on your motherboard. This isn't as fast as the NVME drive you plug directly into your motherboard, but if you are on a budget it will suffice. The third and final type of drive to avoid unless you need a buttload of space is a standard 7200 RPM mechanical drive. These are the drives that have been around forever and the drives that moving parts (they have discs in them that spin around). These drives are slower and have a higher failure rate. Motherboard: The motherboard is the most important piece to the puzzle here since it connects all of the components and makes them "Talk" to each other. Naturally, you want a board that is compatible with your processor but also powerful enough and offers enough expansive capacity to ensure you will be able to add more memory (RAM), additional hard drives, and most importantly, additional video cards if needed. Once again, most of the gaming motherboards will fit the bill here. If you plan to have more than 3-4 monitors then you will need to ensure the motherboard you get has the ability to add another video card. You will want a board with at least 2x PCIe (PCI Express) x8 slots. Newer boards have x16 slots which is even better (the x8 or x16 signifies the speed at which the port can operate. Newer cards need the higher speed to operate more effectively, but this is more for gaming than trading). Also ensure the board offers gigabit LAN. This is a default on almost all boards nowadays, but I have seen a few lower-end boards that only offer 10/100 speed for the LAN (rather than 10/100/1000 or 'Gigabit'). Video Cards (GPU): I discussed this above with how many monitors you plan to add to your system. I prefer the NVidia cards as they are reasonably priced and they offer lots of power. You do not need the absolute latest $700 video card that has 5 GB's of RAM. This is total overkill (unless you plan to game). Any of the lower-end 10x series or even the higher numbered 9x series cards will do the job. Each of the video cards will be independent. Gamers tend to use what is called 'SLI' to make 2 cards act like one, but that is not the case here since we just need extra monitor space. Just be sure if you want more than one video card you see my notes on the motherboard above. Case: The case is something that you can have a little fun with. This is where all of the pieces of the computer live. People tend to get creative with these and get cases with windows and lights and all sorts of fancy stuff. This is entirely up to you. The most important take-away on the case is that it MUST support proper cooling. Most cases have 2x 80mm or 120mm fans in them. The more fans the more air is moving through the case to keep the internal components cool. If your goods overheat, then your machine will shut down and could potentially fry. So make sure you find a case with decent cooling capacity. Power Supply (PSU): The power supply or PSU is what provides power to all of the components. There are calculators out there that can help you determine based on what you plan to buy how large of a PSU you will need. My rule of thumb is do not go for anything less than 500 Watts. If you plan to have additional hard drives and video cards, then you will likely need a 750-1000 Watt PSU. Also, do not buy a cheap unit here. You want something that is robust and ideally, a modular power supply. These units provide the power to all of the components. If the PSU is providing crappy quality power, then you can expect crappy performance or fried components. Do not skimp on the power supply! Cooling: One final piece I am going to add here and it relates to everything else is that you need to ensure your system is properly cooled. A computer that is improperly cooled will perform poorly and you will end up replacing parts far sooner than you should. Proper cooling primarily comes from the case (discussed above), but other environmental factors such as location of the computer (is it near a heat vent, placed in a hot room, etc) will also affect the cooling. The processor is the most important component that needs to be cooled. Depending on which CPU you get, it will either come with a factory CPU cooler, or it won't come with anything. You DO NOT need to get a water-cooled system. This is ONLY for people like me who are a bit crazy and like to push their hardware to the absolute extreme. For day trading, a simple air cooler is more than enough for the processor. "Tower Coolers" as they are known do an incredible job of keeping the CPU nice and cool even under a heavy load. If you plan to go all out with high-end cards, a high-end CPU and you plan to game, day trade, edit videos and all sorts of stuff, then you will need liquid cooling. But the point of this thread is for a DAY TRADING system. so no overkill needed! I believe I about covered everything here. I probably made your head explode with even more questions, but that's what we are here for! I also apologize for the mess in my office in the pictures above. I need to re-organize my office at some point, but I had back surgery a few months ago, so moving anything is off the table for now. Although they do so that a disorganized desk is the sign of an intelligent mind.... Please feel free to ask any follow up questions. I didn't post links to specific hardware or websites since you can get this stuff from pretty much anywhere for very close to price. I have found that Microcenter is a lot cheaper than NewEgg and Amazon are. But if you don't have a Microcenter near you, you will have to order from elsewhere.
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