IB Trader Workstation for day trading?

[frontrangeflyer 11]

On 12/9/2019 at 3:46 PM, RTrader said:

Another option is to use TradeStation.  The platform is excellent, and I’ve always had great execution with them. They are now commission free as well, so you don’t need to worry about that. You just pay the finra/exchange fees which are very low. They got rid of their platform fee as well. So with that including the commission savings, your business costs will be at least 500$ less each month. If you trade big size then you might save thousands per month in fees, lowering your break even.

I'm migrating from ThinkOrSwim to Tradestation so I can get more flexibility entering orders and automate more of my trading. There's a fee for Level II data (free with TOS), but it's only $11/mo.

[wklodge 2]

On 12/9/2019 at 5:46 PM, RTrader said:

Another option is to use TradeStation.  The platform is excellent, and I’ve always had great execution with them. They are now commission free as well, so you don’t need to worry about that. You just pay the finra/exchange fees which are very low. They got rid of their platform fee as well. So with that including the commission savings, your business costs will be at least 500$ less each month. If you trade big size then you might save thousands per month in fees, lowering your break even.

Hello RTrader,

I finally found someone else who uses TradeStation besides me! I'm on v9.5 though; won't go to v10 for a while.

Regarding hotkeys, have you considered using the Elgato Stream Deck XL, which has 32 customizable LCD keys? Although I know my hotkeys fairly well, I've made mistakes in the heat of the moment. Looking at a key and seeing "Buy 300 at Ask + .05" would be a lot easier to do. The XL version is a little pricey (although not compared to the rest of the hardware), but the cost could be recouped in a short while. I just don't know how to program the thing (yet).

Also, I don't use TradeStation's Level 2. I prefer the matrix, which also shows Level 2 data. Most of the stocks we trade don't move fast enough to justify a hotkey for Buying shares, etc. I've been in the TS sim and the matrix seems to work for me just fine. I have 4 24" Dell monitors, but only 2 have TradeStation data (I make liberal use of workspaces instead). What's your setup like?

Thanks,

William

[wayneb 7]

Tried TWS and TradeStation and bailed on both. Never got the hang of them, too complicated and little support. Found Das to be the best!

[Radek 7]

Hi Guys,

Topic is quite old, but I thought I will give my feedback. I started with TWS, then moved to DAS and again I'm back to TWS. For me TWS is simply better for they style I like to trade. I mostly use hot-keys, hot-buttons and chart (orders on chart that look like lined) to trade. On top of that I use API, so that my algo can connect and place orders (but that's just a side benefit). I can prepare my entry, exit and profit targets, even before trade will actually trigger (if my entry is a Stop Limit order for example). And I can do it visually on the graph (like on the attached image). When my trade triggers I can easily transmit (activate) trades and adjust them to the price action. Then of course I have hotkeys to "close" position and cancel orders.

I don't have any CPU/memory issues as I have really powerful machine (24 logical CPUs, 32GB or ram and super fast SSD drive). In the last 6 months it has not crashed on me.

I know that BBT is mostly using DAS, but for me it was not ideal. I hope I will not get casted-away from BBT due to my platform choice ;). 

Couple of positives that I see when I moved back from DAS to TWS:

1) Trading on chart is much easier on TWS

2) Hot-buttons / (DAS hot-keys) can be used with additional confirmation. E.g. I have buy and sell hot keys, I can setup hot-keys to prepare orders, and then use a different key to "transmit" the order. This way I have a lot less "misclicks" compared to DAS. This is thanks to that "additonal" level of confirmation.

3) Placed order modification is way easier in TWS compared to DAS. It is easy to create "range" (aka bracket) orders using OCA groups. This way I can pre-plan my entire trade, and "go out". I don't have to worry about adjusting stop losses / profit takers etc. It can be put to "automatic" mode.

 

Example of my orders if I would like to take a trade at 15:33 market time (reversal). 

Green would be my entry, bottom red would be my stop loss, 4 red lines that are above green line would be profit targets.

Then if I would be in the trade I would switch profit target orders to range orders and I would shift my attention to search for another setup.

Hope this helps someone.

Cheers and see you in the chat room,

Radek (algo trader).

 

 

[Erwann 13]

@Radek thanks for sharing.

Do you use level II for trading ? Because it seems that TWS level II data feed is slower than DAS one.

 

[Radek 7]

Hi tardi44,

Yes, I use it a lot. Refresh rate is 4 times a second, but that's good enough. For the signals I'm interested in (e.g. large bids/large asks), it does not really matter that much. I think it's even better as you don't have too much number changes on the screen.

I trade with the following "main screen" setup (sorry for lack of data in the charts, but we are before market open).

From top left:

- 5 sec chart - I think this is super cool chart that is underutilized, I use it instead of "time and sales". I see on the chart "big orders" as volume spikes. This gives me perspective if there is "a lot of small orders" or there was a big order etc. It shows as well when the stock has problems to "break out" and if I'm counting on breakout, it might be a signal to get out early at break even or with a small profit.

- 5 min

- 1 min (with chart trading) + hot buttons + active orders

- L2 data

bottom:

- Spy 2min

- daily

 

[ahmedmobarak 0]

@Radek I'm also a fan of TWS. I just joined the community. Would you be able to share your TWS setup file with us?

Thanks a lot!

[Radek 7]

Sure. No problem. My XML files with settings should be attached to this post. File is XML, so you would have to change file's extension.

settings-2020-11-13.txt

[ahmedmobarak 0]

Thanks Radek! What's the right format?

 

 

[ahmedmobarak 0]

haha. Thanks man. Sorry, beginners problems...

[Erwann 13]

Hello @Radek,

I tried your settings today. Thanks again for sharing.

Like the 5 sec chart, looks really interesting to see the momentum. I did really appreciate to this volume and fast/slow orders but would you mind sharing a little more how you use it ? Volume size but also patterns ?

Also I used your button settings. Nice but i messed up with sizes and STOP buttons. How do you use them please ? Mental or hard stop ? 

Also are your a momentum trader as Andrew ?

 

[Radek 7]

Hi tardi44,

I use 5 sec chart to ensure that there is "order flow", that sometimes you miss on 1 min. For example if there is one large order vs many small orders. For momentum trading you are interested in many small orders.  On top of that I use it as additional confirmation for entry. On 5 sec chart you can really nicely see micro-breakouts/micro-breakdowns.  Just before it breaks, you can get a little better entry. Patterns (other than this micro-breakout) are not really reliable on this time-frame. I would not trust it. I tried it, but it simply does not work. I had many "ideal" setups on 5sec chart, but they failed and it feels random. So, nope, 5 sec chart is not for patterns.

As for the "hot-buttons". I use them without "ACTIVATION". This means that each click requires me to click keyboard confirmation. I have this "Transmit" under letter "T" on my keyboard. This allows me to. Trade as following:

1) Entering Trades:

1a) I click on one of the buttons (red - for short, blue for long) and press "T" to transmit this order. I'm doing quick calculation in my head of what is amount of shares to take. I haven't found a way to do it automatically in TWS.

2) Setting up Stop Loss:

2a) I click on "STP" button and I do NOT press "T" just yet.

2b) With my mouse I move up or down line where stop loss should be.

2c) In the "order" section below buttons I change Stop Order Position size to amount of Shares I purchased. In the drop-down there is "Position Size" so I click that.

2d) I click "T" to transmit the Stop Loss order.

3) Taking partials

3a) I click on one of the red or blue buttons. Which one depends on how much I would like to partial.

3b) I can immediately click "T" for transmit, if I want to take partial NOW. Or I move my order up or down to set where I would like to take my partial.

4) Update of the Stop Loss.

4a) in the "order section" I click on "postilion" and select "Position Size". I then press "T" on keyboard to transmit (update) stop loss order.

4b) If I want to, I can move my stop loss up or down with my mouse to Break Even.

 

5) "Automatic" mode - preplanning

There are some cases where I would like to walk away from my computer. In such cases I create 4 "range" orders for taking partials. Each of the orders has a Limit order and and Stop loss order. This is done using "OCA Group" column. If you want to "bind" two orders (so that one cancels another), simply put same text for both orders. I usually put: HHMM.PartialNumber (e.g. 0933.1). So if I would do 4 "partials" I would have 8 order lines in total: 4 limit orders, 4 stop loss orders, these orders would be "grouped" using following: 0933.1, 0933.2, 0933.4 0933.4. "Limit Order" would be linked with it's corresponding "Stop Loss" order

For stops - I use hard stops.

Hope it helps.

 

Best regards,

Radek

[Erwann 13]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me.

I really like how you use TWS. And yes automatic size calculation is really missing on TWS.

I will practice using your advice. 

By the way do you know what are little red and green small dotted lines on charts please ? I have find the setting for showing trades with triangles but nothing about those small dotted lines: