Free automated trading platform, for IB
- Thread starter frostengine
- Start date
Ozzy, check out JSystemTrader if you're looking for free, java-based automated-system trading software to play with (now) while you're waiting for frostengine to donate his parallel-based effort. It's on the IB bulletin board and the thread is very active with several people working on the code and reporting improvements on a day-by-day basis.
But make no mistake: things like this are only free if your time has no value.
There's no free effort out there that's ever going to come close to what you get for 229 bucks from Amibroker. That developer has already spent 11 man-years of full-time effort behind his software, and the IB automated programming interface is very solid and feature-complete at this point.
My background is 16 years of professional programming experience (w/bachelors and masters degrees in computer science and another degree in statistics) with 3 full years now into trading the e-mini futures. I use eSignal for my real-time charting/trading signals and IB as my broker.
Any automated trading plans that I come up with within the next year will probably be done with Amibroker's automated trading interface to IB. The developer of Amibroker has already done the heavy lifting of building a well-tested interface to IB. There's no point in reinventing a good wheel just because I didn't make it.
I have the programming skills to do on my own whatever frostengine or the JSystemTrader developers are undertaking now. But I put my efforts into becoming the best trader that I can be. I no longer have the luxury of some 9 to 5 job that pays the bills. I'm doing what these programmers, who can't reach 9-5, workin-fo-da-man, escape velocity yet, are dreaming of doing one day.
I'm not a programmer with a fantasy of one day being a full-time trader. I'm a former professional programmer who has gone through the realities of what it takes to be successful in trading endeavors and has prioritized what is most important to achieve those ends.
I've seen both sides of the fence now and it has been my experience (so far) that any of you programmers out there who want to have any realistic hope of becoming successful, full-time traders bettter work harder on your trading skills in real-time instead of throwing the virtual spaghetti on the wall by playing with "let's see if this combination works now" approaches to automated trading.
Wannabe traders who program computers for a living, get this through your thick, nerdy heads:
Successful real-time traders have a far better chance of taking their successful trading techniques and applying them to automated trading systems than successful programmers have of applying their guesses at what a good trading method should look like. You simply don't have the built-up experiences of trading live markets to have the right feel for what works and what doesn't work.
And, by the way, who the heck would want to keep their day job if they had the ability to make a handsome living by trading for 1/2 a day in real-time? Answer: NO ONE.
But make no mistake: things like this are only free if your time has no value.
There's no free effort out there that's ever going to come close to what you get for 229 bucks from Amibroker. That developer has already spent 11 man-years of full-time effort behind his software, and the IB automated programming interface is very solid and feature-complete at this point.
My background is 16 years of professional programming experience (w/bachelors and masters degrees in computer science and another degree in statistics) with 3 full years now into trading the e-mini futures. I use eSignal for my real-time charting/trading signals and IB as my broker.
Any automated trading plans that I come up with within the next year will probably be done with Amibroker's automated trading interface to IB. The developer of Amibroker has already done the heavy lifting of building a well-tested interface to IB. There's no point in reinventing a good wheel just because I didn't make it.
I have the programming skills to do on my own whatever frostengine or the JSystemTrader developers are undertaking now. But I put my efforts into becoming the best trader that I can be. I no longer have the luxury of some 9 to 5 job that pays the bills. I'm doing what these programmers, who can't reach 9-5, workin-fo-da-man, escape velocity yet, are dreaming of doing one day.
I'm not a programmer with a fantasy of one day being a full-time trader. I'm a former professional programmer who has gone through the realities of what it takes to be successful in trading endeavors and has prioritized what is most important to achieve those ends.
I've seen both sides of the fence now and it has been my experience (so far) that any of you programmers out there who want to have any realistic hope of becoming successful, full-time traders bettter work harder on your trading skills in real-time instead of throwing the virtual spaghetti on the wall by playing with "let's see if this combination works now" approaches to automated trading.
Wannabe traders who program computers for a living, get this through your thick, nerdy heads:
Successful real-time traders have a far better chance of taking their successful trading techniques and applying them to automated trading systems than successful programmers have of applying their guesses at what a good trading method should look like. You simply don't have the built-up experiences of trading live markets to have the right feel for what works and what doesn't work.
And, by the way, who the heck would want to keep their day job if they had the ability to make a handsome living by trading for 1/2 a day in real-time? Answer: NO ONE.
frost engine,
what charting software do you program for? would you be willing to program a simple system for me ?
thank ,
Dennis
dwh13@msn.com
253-445-9674
what charting software do you program for? would you be willing to program a simple system for me ?
thank ,
Dennis
dwh13@msn.com
253-445-9674
Successful real-time traders have a far better chance of taking their successful trading techniques and applying them to automated trading systems than successful programmers have of applying their guesses at what a good trading method should look like. You simply don't have the built-up experiences of trading live markets to have the right feel for what works and what doesn't work.
But it would if you look at the problem from another side? Instead of hard-coding trading techniques the programmer could write a code that derives and develops strategy of trade based on a selected set of indicators and historical data. In that case the trade system itself derives regularities from historical trade data and uses them for B/S prediction. At least that approach can help trader to verify how efficient is selected set of indicators that he uses. If it isn't good then trader can change and examine a new set of indicators.
More is at http://avis-c.gluk.org
But it would if you look at the problem from another side? Instead of hard-coding trading techniques the programmer could write a code that derives and develops strategy of trade based on a selected set of indicators and historical data. In that case the trade system itself derives regularities from historical trade data and uses them for B/S prediction. At least that approach can help trader to verify how efficient is selected set of indicators that he uses. If it isn't good then trader can change and examine a new set of indicators.
More is at http://avis-c.gluk.org
I did not run into any technological problems as the applicatoin is looking and running great.... and continuining to get better everyday.
I did run into several delays however. One delay is I need to incoporate to do this thing right and I have been dragging my feet on that, mostly due to monetary problems at the moment.
The second Issue I have run into was my schedule unexpectactly became extremly busy. Several new products got droped onto my plate at work. The time issue will be gone around the 2nd week of december and will no longer be an issue.
The last issue I ran into, is I am planning on entering into the collegiate olympiad at IB, so a lot of the changes I have been making is getting the system robust enough for this competition, and a LOT Of work has been done lately on backtesting strategies and getting my strategy ready for this competion.
Good news is progress is going great still, bad news is release is not going to be as soon as I first expected. Howerver, the program will be MUCH further along when its first release comes than I had planned as well. So although the program will not be in your hands as soon, the quality of the product will not miss a beat compared to where it WOULD have been by the time it comes out.
Also, using the application in the competion should go a long ways in showing how capable the trading platform is for real time use. A competion I am FAIRLY confident I will place very highly in.
I did run into several delays however. One delay is I need to incoporate to do this thing right and I have been dragging my feet on that, mostly due to monetary problems at the moment.
The second Issue I have run into was my schedule unexpectactly became extremly busy. Several new products got droped onto my plate at work. The time issue will be gone around the 2nd week of december and will no longer be an issue.
The last issue I ran into, is I am planning on entering into the collegiate olympiad at IB, so a lot of the changes I have been making is getting the system robust enough for this competition, and a LOT Of work has been done lately on backtesting strategies and getting my strategy ready for this competion.
Good news is progress is going great still, bad news is release is not going to be as soon as I first expected. Howerver, the program will be MUCH further along when its first release comes than I had planned as well. So although the program will not be in your hands as soon, the quality of the product will not miss a beat compared to where it WOULD have been by the time it comes out.
Also, using the application in the competion should go a long ways in showing how capable the trading platform is for real time use. A competion I am FAIRLY confident I will place very highly in.
foible, if all you're looking for is a trading bot for free, then take a look at JSystemTrader. There's an active development of it on the Interactive Brokers API forum. Its creator, nonlinear, also posts version updates on Elite Trader.
Good luck trying to autotrade the stock market though. Computer programs don't learn. People do. Learn how to trade the markets by your own hand successfully, THEN see if you can teach your "bot" how to do it the same way.
Remember, frostengine is just a college kid (or fresh out of it) whose chosen career path (to put food on the table) is computer programming. If he could trade, he wouldn't need to do that for a living.
Don't ever put your hopes and dreams of market success into a dumb computer program. Invest in yourself. Learn how to trade. If anyone who reads these trading forums thinks that all that primarily stands between you and the life you would like to have is due to emotional duress brought on by having to experience wins and losses in a live market...think again.
Good luck trying to autotrade the stock market though. Computer programs don't learn. People do. Learn how to trade the markets by your own hand successfully, THEN see if you can teach your "bot" how to do it the same way.
Remember, frostengine is just a college kid (or fresh out of it) whose chosen career path (to put food on the table) is computer programming. If he could trade, he wouldn't need to do that for a living.
Don't ever put your hopes and dreams of market success into a dumb computer program. Invest in yourself. Learn how to trade. If anyone who reads these trading forums thinks that all that primarily stands between you and the life you would like to have is due to emotional duress brought on by having to experience wins and losses in a live market...think again.