Search the Community

Updated: 6/30/2022 @ 2:34pm (PST) ** IMPORTANT NOTE: This program is released as-is without any warranty or implied support, please read all of the information, and understand what you're doing. This is a personal release by Kyle and not affiliated with BearBullTraders, so please do not request any support through the BBT support channels as they will not be answered. What it is: Bookmap Think-or-Swim Config Helper (say that five times fast) is a command line utility (.exe) you can use to run various functions against the Bookmap config file if you're using the Think-or-Swim version. For some reason, the ToS port of Bookmap does not include these features natively. The way the ToS version works is that it uses the lastUsed section of the config file to apply to any newly opened feeds if a symbol doesn't have a matching config. To make things more confusing, configs are stored with their feed# (e.g. AMD@DXFEED#3), so it's possible you will load an AMD chart and it will inherit the default settings stored in lastUsed, despite you previously setting the config for this symbol. I got tired of this and decided to make a fix. Functions: Print or Save the symbol list (saves the currently stored configs in the Bookmap config) Extract a Symbol's config to an external file (for importing later). Clear all stored configs from the Bookmap config. Inject a previously exported config to the lastUsed setting (so newly spawned charts will inherit the config you want them to). Overwrite all existing stored configs with a previously exported one (good if you use detached windows, as it leaves the window settings untouched). Auto backup of Bookmap config file before any destructive (change of data) action is taken. Instructions for Usage: Please see the ReadMe.md file on the GitHub for more detailed information, including the commands to use: https://github.com/kylek29/bookmap-tos-config/ DOWNLOAD: https://github.com/kylek29/bookmap-tos-config/tree/main/dist [zipfile: BookmapToSConfigEditor.zip] VIDEOS: - None yet, but I will make one on it. SUPPORT: Post here and I'll try to answer any issues as I have time. KNOWN ISSUES: None yet. Everyone should collectively cross their fingers. UPDATES: 06/30/2022 - Initial v1.0 release.

SCHWAB / THINKORSWIM - HOW T+1 SETTLEMENT WORKS WITH A CASH ACCOUNT I switched a trading acc with Schwab from Margin to Cash mid-day yesterday. I do options day trading in this acc - only long options (buying calls and puts) - so a cash acc works well for me - don't need the margin and the PDT restrictions. Here's some important info for Schwab/TOS from TOS support: 11:50 Adam_V: When you make a daytrade in a cash account, you will see your buying power replenish immediately 11:50 Adam_V: Even though the funds are not settled 11:51 Adam_V: It is much easier to incur a good faith violation as a result 11:51 Adam_V: For trading on unsettled funds 11:51 Adam_V: We recommend adding in the "Cash Available for Withdrawal" balance to keep track of how much you have in Settled Funds for trading Yesterday, after an options day trade in TOS in the new Cash acc, predictably, my "Cash Available for Withdrawal" dropped by the amount I spent on buying the options. ("Available Funds For Trading" showed the higher settled value - which the TOS support warned about). This morning, "Cash Available for Withdrawal" is at the settled amount. So with T+1 settlement, at least for Schwab/TOS , the settled funds are available the next day morning - awesome! To avoid cash acc trading violations, in TOS, trade with funds within the "Cash Available for Withdrawal". https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/trading-investing/trading/avoiding-cash-trading-violations EVEN WITH A CASH TRADING VIOLATION THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN: SCHWAB WILL REJECT YOUR ORDERS IF YOU GO BELOW THE SETTLED FUNDS FOR THE DAY

I made the switch from DAS back to thinkorswim (tos) - here are some observations that might be of help to traders who are comparing DAS to thinkorswim SIMULATOR DAS simulator is probably the best realtime sim out there. The SIM is just an account like a live account - You just switch the account to the one you want to trade in. Between SIM and live - it will feel exactly the same experience. TOS Papermoney (simulator) - the fills are really bad - it is counter intuitive - you would think that the fills would be super fast because it is a sim - but not. so I quickly switched from TOS sim to TOS live and started trading with a very small number shares - early on in my learning process. To switch from Live to Papermoney you will have to restart TOS. HOT KEYS TOS does not have elaborate hot keys like das - I made the switch - I use active trader on TOS like most TOS traders do - check out this video for the limited hotkey setup for TOS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKDoAFafN78 CAMARILLA DAS has built in CAMARILLA pivots You can script CAMARILLA pivots on TOS https://usethinkscript.com/threads/camarilla-pivot-points-day-trading-system-for-thinkorswim.12988/ i have compared DAS vs TOS cams (based on the script linked above) and they match very closely for stocks - (for futures they may not - read the explanation here https://usethinkscript.com/threads/camarilla-pivot-points-day-trading-system-for-thinkorswim.12988/ ) i use tos - i have separate charts plotting cams with/without premarket data and choose the one like @thor explains in this video https://youtu.be/1O5G4rhIJRA?si=fMhtqFD2hqhc6Hdx The gist is that - look at cams w/wo premarket data before the market opens and based on alignment choose the one that fits better. LEVEL 2 DAS has really good level 2 - you can pay more and expand it to ARCA and IEX TOS level 2 is a joke compared to DAS TIME AND SALES DAS has really good T&S TOS T&S is decent - I have compared with DAS and found that DAS order flow is smoother - but TOS T&S works OK. COST DAS $150 per month min platform fee + the charges from your broker for transactions TOS FREE platform + FREE transaction fees for stocks - if you have a Schwab account - you can create a Schwab account with with very little money options cost $0.65 per contract per transaction FILLS DAS fills are considered superior than tos. TOS fills are decent from my experience - there are studies that show that TOS fills are fast. to me the fills are super fast sometimes and decent most of the time. WORKS ON A MAC DAS windows primarily - can make it work on a Mac with parallels TOS works on Mac, Windows, Linux out of the box CPU, RAM REQUIREMENTS DAS is light on cpu and ram resources - so any off the shelf windows laptop with 16G of ram will be plenty. However, if you want to connect multiple monitors or broadcast like the moderators, then you need a dedicated graphics card and more RAM. TOS is a beast when it comes to CPU and RAM usage. Get the latest CPU and as much RAM as you can afford. A MAC with a M3 chip and 24 or 36G RAM is what I would use as my TOS machine, if I were to buy one today. CHARTS & TOOLS DAS look and feel of DAS is dated - like a 20 year old windows 95 application - configuring the charts with multiple windows is a struggle and unexpected craziness can happen with your layout. But essential chart studies are available on DAS. Options trading on DAS is available but not as good as the TOS interface. DAS has limited stock scanning capability. TOS excels with charts, layout, chart studies (countless). I was able to replicate all the studies that I had on my DAS charts on TOS - most of them included with the TOS platform - others with a little bit of scripting. Link to Camarilla pivots script above. TOS also has extensive analysis tools, news and fundamentals info. also CNBC TV (with about 40 sec lag) TOS has a very sophisticated stock/options scanning interface with the ability to convert your scans into watchlists that update automatically. Overall, TOS wins.

Hello - Here's a link to the BBT scanner that you can access from your Trade Ideas account https://bearbulltraders.com/download-trade-ideas-scanner/ I have the logic from an old doc for the BBT Trade Ideas gap up/down scanner logic - attaching here. If you have an account with Trade Ideas (I don't), please post a screen shot of the latest logic for the BBT Trade Ideas gap up/down scanner. Appreciate your help!