Trading Platforms

[Sharky]

Thought it might be interesting to find out other people's trading system setups. So I'll start off with my own:

Hardware:
Pentium II Celeron - 450 (overclocked from 300!)
360mb RAM (its soo cheap now, 256mb for £30 - anyone with less than 256 mb should consider upgrading immediately!)
12GB Hard Disk space (split between two hard disks)
2 x 15" ViewSonic TFT Flatscreen Monitors (My babies!)
G450 AGP Matrox Dual Head Card (to power them!)

Software:
AIQ RT with Mytrack data feed (not using at the mo, since im not trading regularly enough)
Quote.com - like their free realtime dow chart (click the link on the front page of t2w, on the market report for DJI to get it! - still not in the same league as AIQ).

Internet:
AOL 6.0 on a 56k modem

Brokers:
CMC-SB - (no fees, just the spread, but they requote you too often and bias the spread when there's any movement - so I'm thinking of changing). Used to spread bet the DJI.
Comdirect - (to qualify for the £150 acc. openning offer)
DLJ Direct - (my broker since the start of 2000, not used for a few months now)

Trading Frequency:
Occasional at the moment - looking to start trading DOW open and close on a regular basis.

 

[madasafish]

Hardware
Evesham Athlon 500
512Mb Ram (upgraded as so cheap...)
20MB disk
2x19 inch screens
Magnox G400 d/head video card
UPS (we get black/brown outs occasionally in winter and odd spikes living on edge of country)

Software
Updata Trader 1.. will not renew when license expires
Linnsoft's Investor RT.. real time with lovely grahics.
Sharescope
Win98SE.. upgrading soon to XP for reliability...

Brokers:
GNI
Fins
C Schwab (not used for months)


And NTL cable as ISP/internet connection (moved from ISDN .. cheaper and quicker and no 2 hour relogging on

 

[Hughmac]

Hardware
1gig Athlon
2x20gig hds
512ram
2xgeneric monitors(19&16)
AGP dual head card

Software
Updata Proff II
Prestel live feed

Internet
NTL cable

Brokers
CMC - (sb)

Trading
Daily (for a few weeks anyway!)
Footsie only at the moment but investigating the
Americian indices when I can find suitable software or
sites!

 

[madasafish]

Hugh
Have a look at http://www.linnsoft.com/tour/

 

[Naz]

Hardware
Dan pentium III 1gig
512 mb ram
50 gb disk
2x 19 in screens
G450 Matrox card

Software
Window on wallstreet,for graphs and back up level 2
Soon adding e-signal as well.
Exp trader level 2 software
Terranova level 2 software
TC 2000 for daily US scans
Briefing for news

Internet
BT ADSL
56kmodem for back up
Aol and hemscott.net as well

Brokers
Schwab UK for peps
Investin Dallas for US swing trades
Terranova for US scalping
My broker for trading/investing my SIPP on the Nasdaq

2nd Hardware set up

Dan Pentium II 450
256mb ram
2 x 15in flat screen monitors
10g hard drive

Software
Updata(not looked at for 4 months)
Sharescope
TC 2000
Exp trader(for back up swing plays)
My broker(for investing SIPP on the Nasdaq)
Window on wallstreet for more graphs

Internet
AOL on a 56k modem on seperate bt line

Trading
Daily, US only.
Strong scalping on the open for 1st hour(loads of trades)
then tailing off and picking up at the end of the day.
Swing playing in second account through out the day.
Indices, only QQQ's

 

[Hughmac]

Naz

i'v seen mention of QQQ,s a few times now, is it the name of a company?

BTW nice setup!

 

[Naz]

The QQQ's are a Nasdaq 100 tracking stock.they are an easy and very quick way for anyone with a nasdaq level 2 screen to trade the Nasdaq 100 index.If you have ecn access to trading this stock it allows you to buy on the bid sell on the ask and capture the spread.

 

[Hughmac]

Naz and Madasafish

thanks for the info, much appreciated by a newbie!

 

[Grey]

My Platform

Hardware:- 3 Flat screens , Matrox Dual Card, PIII and P4 1GHz and 2GHZ , 512 Ram, Lap top (not shown here for fast position sizing). One more flat screen since then...

Software:- Loads, mainly IRD, Updata ( no more after next Feb,) other useful tools for real time risk analysis and money managment.

Broker :- Etrade, Datek, CMC, Kstone thinking of switching to www.Tradestation.com

ISP :- Bt internet 56K only

Others:- Couple of swords to cut my losses. ( As shown)

Trading Style:- Heavy use of advanced technical analysis including neural (EOD only) to bully weak stocks. Don't like scalping and never change strategy in the middle of trade.

 

[Naz]

Hi Grey

I like the set up and its great to see the picture.I kind of guessed that you didnt like scalping.I used to use window on wallstreet which i think was taken over by Tradestation.Any way it's Tradestaion i use now and i find it very agreeable.

 

[Naz]

Trader Pattern,you street fighter level 2 player!

 

[TraderPattern]

Here's mine...

[Naz,
I removed the set-up, cos I thought it might insult a few people... but I am now putting it back, cos I feel it is only fair to show my set-up! This set-up is ALL I need to trade. Pornography within my set-up helps me trade more aggresively for some reason.]

My trading arena is the most stimulating of the lot ... gets my adrenaline and testosterone going simultaneously.

(Dual Monitor Dell, 1gig I think... DSL connection)

TRADING STYLE: destroying newbie traders (sending em back to their day jobs within a few months by consistently depleting their trading accounts) whilst avoiding getting destroyed by the marketmakers.

PICTURE:
1) Various pornography (softcore, hardcore, centrefolds, lesbian etc etc, depending on my mood)
2) The S&P futures (but will also flip it on occasions to the daily chart of the stock I am trading, to get a feel for any key levels I should be wary of)
3) Any 4 stocks that I feel I can make money on (I have about 50 favourite stocks in my head and I look through a selection of em ... some weeks I will just do the same ones ... but sometimes I will get exotic e.g. if an airport has a bomb alert I may trade INVN)

 

[Naz]

Trader Pattern
I sometimes post something and take it off so i dont offend anyone.I know just how you feel trading level 2 Nas,i feel i'm REALY trading,i enjoy the buzz,i enjoy realy taking advantage of people who dont know how to trade it properly.

I find it hard to comprehend why more people in the UK dont take advantage of it?

Any negativity is always from people who truly just dont understand it and are not willing to learn. Every person i have ever taught has been absolutely blown away with it.

I always try and look at different styles of trading thats why i found level 2 Nasdaq.But some people just seem to want to stay with the same old boring ways and not open their eyes.Nasdaq like they say is the market of the 21st century and it will expand around the world.One day we will all be taking our trades the same way as they do on the Nasdaq.

 

[TraderPattern]

Yeah, I agree. I would rather put my money with someone who knows how to avoid getting burnt by the market maker sharks i.e. someone who was either a market maker before or who is self-trained in the games that market makers play. Trading is war, there is no doubt about it... I feel very happy to let others try and theorise about the optimal technical indicators out there... let them do their academising, their systems testing, their statistical modeling... I am 100% happy to be the other side of their trades, if I see that I can take their money from them.

 

[Naz]

It seems to me that to many people are dreamers.I dont need any fancy theorising,i definately dont need any late actioning t/a indicators .Give me a level 2 Nasdaq screen and i know whats REALY happening.

I,m sure that Goldman,Morgan Stanley and the rest are not waiting to see where the bollinger bands are or any other fancy pants stuff is before they start moving the stock.

 

[TraderPattern]

Exactly! I would rather be the doing the same thing as Goldman i.e. taking the OPPOSITE side of a quantum mechanic PhD with a sophisticated technical indicator. Bollinger bands, stochastics and such like are merely aberrations of reality. I am VERY happy that people continue to rely on technical indicators, cos it makes it so much easier for me to treat the market as an ATM machine giving away free money. Long live technical analysis!... without it I would have fewer people to make a living off.

 

[Naz]

You and i are going to get in trouble.I can see loads of t/a traders wanting to start posting replys to our chat.

I would say that i've always find it remarkable when i talk to t/a traders,they all seem to want to enter a stock late when the move is over and the market makers are either selling to them or buying from them.

 

[TraderPattern]

Yes, simple TA (things like where prices have been congested for a while and things like daily levels) are useful... but like you said they are useful not to make money off directly but to see if T/A traders can be exploited for profit at those T/A-related prices.

You and I ARE probably using simple TA in our decisions... i.e. it is nice to look at a chart of the futures or of the stock to put the current market maker action in some context. Example: if we've been monitoring the market makers all day and have deduced that NITE is the Ax, then a near term historical feel for how prices have reacted to NITE's manipulations is definitely useful.... sometimes if I forgot what the recent reaction was to the Ax, looking at the chart will remind me. Now if the Ax is doing the same exact thing again, then I will have a feel for the potential of the move BEFORE the move occurs ... the chart as of now may not look like a buy (indeed the chart as of NOW may look totally CRAP), but if the Ax is behaving in a way that I have previously observed, I will think to myself "screw what the chart looks like right now and just buy the godamn stock!" ... so T/A I suppose has a subtle role to play BUT not in the conventional way T/A players would use it... it can give me a feel for the potential of a move before there is ANY chart indication that a move is about to occur. I am only using a chart to gauge movement potential... I am using level2 to make 90% of my decision off.

But trading off T/A studies is something I could not do. T/A is literally history ... put a historian against me anyday! I will take his money with pleasure.

 

[Naz]

Yes i realy like trading off t/a levels becuase i know i can read their mind.I know if A B or C happens they will enter or exit the market.So because i can see the true market and its possibilities and they cant i like to get in before them.When they enter after their indicators confirm the move i then sell to them.

The trouble with t/a its almost like a system that says if this happens you do this.If everyone knows your system other players can take the opposite view.Thats why many times the ax will sit underneath a support level and when it breaks down he knows that it will hit many t/a players stops and they will panic and sell out.Because i can see him there and see him buying everything i can jump in as well.Then of course up we go.

Nice chatting with you but i've got to go.See ya

 

[TraderPattern]

Likewise, nice chatting with you too Naz. Have a good remaining weekend... dammit, I wish we didn't have weekends... I am itching to get back to the game!