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I use the combo order everyday with good success. Best way to create a combo is to drag each stock from the main screen to the combo window. You can create ratio orders although you must use whole numbers. You cannot say buy 1.5 of stock A and sell 1 of stock B. You must say buy 3...

I think that the IB combo order will do most of what you want. Although I am not sure about the trailing stops angle. Don

Thanks, I see your point. Although I think that correlated pairs tend to dampen the beta differences, you are probably correct that it still has a some effect. However, a few years back I remember trying to beta weight a portfolio and after a few months I decided that beta was terribly...

I don't see the logic for using beta to balance your pair positions. Beta simply measures the volatility compared to the market, it does not indicate any directional bias. Granted, if your pair trade goes against you it might move kinda fast, but the opposite is also true if it moves in the...

Spin, I'll have to give a little more thought to your double straddle idea, but if that could be done with minimum time value it sounds worthwhile. I've done a couple of plays with ITM contracts and I am pretty happy with the results. One pair went against me pretty hard and my losses were...

I don't think he expected a definitive answer since there is none. I might have said "you have to predict the movement of the underlying" If he asked how do you do that, I probably would have said, "most people use technical analysis or fundamental analysis". If he pressed further at...

I don't have a good quantitative guideline for you, but one way to achieve black swan protection is to use options. If you have some options savvy look at buying in-the-money calls and puts to simulate long and short stock positions. This is not economical for every stock, but for hi-volume...

It's not too difficult. First record a macro to copy and insert the column/row into your storage space. Using insert will automatically push the prior inserts further into the storage area. Then setup a timer as per this link: http://www.ozgrid.com/Excel/run-macro-on-time.htm If you...

I don't follow why you need different files. Why not just set a timer to copy the Excel quotes every 5 minutes into different columns or rows? Don

Yes, but the total amount at risk is technically unlimited if you have short stock. BTW, I have never seen a good answer to this question. Don

In the last 24 hours both MFC and PRU issued earnings. MFC dropped 3% and PRU jumped 20%. Apparently you were not impressed and faded the market. Gutsy play. I hope you are right since I also shorted PRU. Don

Actually I have pretty good success with the YHOO stock quotes. Quite a bit better than their BB content (LMAO, BTW). If you know another site that has the data you need, Excel can probably work with that as well. Another IB account might provide what you need, but I'll bet you already...

I use YHOO quotes that are automatically obtained via an Excel web query. Works pretty good. I think I get their 15min delayed quotes, but it may be possible to get their real time pricing (I never tried). Also, I submit a query every 5 minutes; if you need it more frequently I imagine it's...

After seeing your note I did think it looked attractive from a price ratio perspective, but I didn't have time to study any other factors so I did not bite. Don

Okay, I got it. Thanks, Don

Normally, I get nervous when earnings haven't been issued and are very near. A lot of unknowns can sometimes raise their ugly heads upon earnings release. I'm curious why you seem concerned that earnings have been previously released? Thanks Don

I don't think the problem is that the SEC is toothless, although they may be. I just don't think that they are very sympathetic to short sellers lately. Have you heard they want to bring back the uptick rule. Anyway, I'm pretty sure the IB rate reflects what they have to pay the people...

FWIW - I got out of this trade on Friday with a small profit. This morning the divergence got bigger than I have seen before so I decided to jump back in and pay the dividend if necessary. Luckily, IB had no SYT shares available to short so I couldn't get back in. As I type the divergence...

Relative to the CMP/SYT trade, I kinda liked it despite the low correlation and took a small position. The last couple of months I've noticed that pair trading in-general seems less profitable perhaps because volatility is lower. I'm wondering if using lower correlation pairs is a way to...

Jonny, According to my Excel correlation calculations this pair is only 62% over the last 150 days. The last 90 days it's only 32%. I don't know how to read your attached graphic so maybe you know this already. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong. Anyway, despite the apparently poor...