IB's New Java Platform
- Thread starter mjt
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After the addition of hotkeys I've taken a second look at the new JTS and while I think that this improvement narrows the feature gap compared to the old TWS I believe that there's still a number of shortcomings that will need to be adressed to make a switch worthwhile.
- The hotkey implementation of price changes only allows prices to be adjusted at a fixed interval of 1/32 or 1/16 for NASDAQ and listed stocks, respectively. Even the old TWS provided a mechanism to adjust prices at two differently sized intervals (left-click and right-click). There should be a second pair of hotkeys added to adjust price at a larger interval and unlike the old TWS those price intervals should be configurable by the user.
- JTS uses the standard system sound event to signal executions. This can cause confusion since a lot of other Windows applications make use of that sound event as well. I believe that the user should be able to specify a specific WAV file to be played on executions and there should be a choice of having a separate sound for partial executions. In addition the signalling of new bulletins should use a sound of its own as well.
- The old TWS used to display the exchange codes of exchanges quoting the inside market on BE market data lines. This feature seems to have been removed in JTS and should be reintroduced.
- There should be an indication of the AutoEx status of each options exchange on the market data line
- Unfortunately, there has been no improvement whatsoever in the area of page and market data line management over the old TWS even though the availability of modern GUI elements should have made this relatively easy to implement in JTS. It is still impossible to rearrange the sequence of pages and market data lines without deleting the lines (and even that can't be done using the logical DEL key) and reinserting it. And unlike the old TWS JTS does not even preserve blank lines in between market data lines.
- It is not possible to export the execution log which is an essential feature.
Dave
- The hotkey implementation of price changes only allows prices to be adjusted at a fixed interval of 1/32 or 1/16 for NASDAQ and listed stocks, respectively. Even the old TWS provided a mechanism to adjust prices at two differently sized intervals (left-click and right-click). There should be a second pair of hotkeys added to adjust price at a larger interval and unlike the old TWS those price intervals should be configurable by the user.
- JTS uses the standard system sound event to signal executions. This can cause confusion since a lot of other Windows applications make use of that sound event as well. I believe that the user should be able to specify a specific WAV file to be played on executions and there should be a choice of having a separate sound for partial executions. In addition the signalling of new bulletins should use a sound of its own as well.
- The old TWS used to display the exchange codes of exchanges quoting the inside market on BE market data lines. This feature seems to have been removed in JTS and should be reintroduced.
- There should be an indication of the AutoEx status of each options exchange on the market data line
- Unfortunately, there has been no improvement whatsoever in the area of page and market data line management over the old TWS even though the availability of modern GUI elements should have made this relatively easy to implement in JTS. It is still impossible to rearrange the sequence of pages and market data lines without deleting the lines (and even that can't be done using the logical DEL key) and reinserting it. And unlike the old TWS JTS does not even preserve blank lines in between market data lines.
- It is not possible to export the execution log which is an essential feature.
Dave
Another important issue I forgot to include in the above post:
- There should be a configurable option to have the price on initiation of an order default to the inside market price (as quoted on the BE market data line) instead of the best price on the particular ECN chosen. Especially in the common situation where the closest order on the book of the ECN chosen is far outside of the current market this could tremendously speed up order entry.
Dave
- There should be a configurable option to have the price on initiation of an order default to the inside market price (as quoted on the BE market data line) instead of the best price on the particular ECN chosen. Especially in the common situation where the closest order on the book of the ECN chosen is far outside of the current market this could tremendously speed up order entry.
Dave
Hello Ed ,
thinking about switching from Cyber to IB ? ;-)
recommended Hot-key assignments are :
Buy Limit B
Sell Limit S
Buy market Ctrl+B
Sell market Ctrl+S
Price up U
Price down D
Size up Ctrl U
Size down Ctrl D
Transmit T
Cancel C
I use the Function-keys
Buy Limit F1
Buy market F2
Sell Limit F3
Sell market F4
other keys as recommended - at least for now.
Maybe I'll use F5 - F8 for Price up/ down and Size up/down
Once you have assigned the hotkeys, a small line will be displayed in the TWS showing the assignments - fool proof I'd say.
Best regards, a merry xmas and a happy new year for you.
thinking about switching from Cyber to IB ? ;-)
recommended Hot-key assignments are :
Buy Limit B
Sell Limit S
Buy market Ctrl+B
Sell market Ctrl+S
Price up U
Price down D
Size up Ctrl U
Size down Ctrl D
Transmit T
Cancel C
I use the Function-keys
Buy Limit F1
Buy market F2
Sell Limit F3
Sell market F4
other keys as recommended - at least for now.
Maybe I'll use F5 - F8 for Price up/ down and Size up/down
Once you have assigned the hotkeys, a small line will be displayed in the TWS showing the assignments - fool proof I'd say.
Best regards, a merry xmas and a happy new year for you.
Privateer
You said before you do not have any problems with IB. It happens to me every second trade that I cannot get out of position. I know it happened to others too. Function keys do not work, I have to use default values. It happens with both versions so I don't think it's a bad download.
Def
How can I test the software before I commit any money. So far I have been more than lucky.
You said before you do not have any problems with IB. It happens to me every second trade that I cannot get out of position. I know it happened to others too. Function keys do not work, I have to use default values. It happens with both versions so I don't think it's a bad download.
Def
How can I test the software before I commit any money. So far I have been more than lucky.
Hi Cesko,
New Java TWS :
I just entered orders, cancels, sells by using only the hotkeyes as defined above F1 - F4 for buys and sells,F5 - F8 for price & size up/dn
T for transmit
C for cancel.
After hitting T ,orders appear on the pending page 'till executed.
After hitting C, the order stays on the pending orders page, 'till canceled.
Just as it should be.
No problems so far.
I must admit, and I said this many times here, I am not a scalper doing a hundred trades a day and I trade only in round lots from 100 shares upward.
As I mentioned already in my broker rating for IB, I don't consider this broker as a first choice for scalpers.
But for my style of trading it's ok and I haven't had any serious problems with them.
I know about the limited capabilities of the TWS, which are by no way any better with the new version. Besides that I can size the window now according to my needs.
I agree to many posters here saying, that the new TWS is in some points even a step backward rather than a progress compared to Version 3.0 .
But :
1. I use other services for RT quotes & charts ( qcharts )
2. I don't have to keep track-records of 100 trades a day, so I do my tracking of trades on the weekend, based on the daily statements of IB ( or Datek or my other accounts )
3. I trade in round lots of 100 - 300 shares a trade, no odd lots like 43 shares of XYZ and 161 shares of ABCD, which would be hard to fill fast by almost any broker I guess.
4. I rarely trade the usual NASDAQ volume suspects.
5. I use only best execution. When I want in a trade, I want in now and I don't care which ECN might fill my order. In about 10% of all orders I got filled better than my limit. Same is for trade exits.
5. Occasionally, I do option trades. IB is about the fastest in executing option-trades - not to mention the low commissions also on option trades.
In summary, I can live very well with the TWS and enjoy the low commissions of IB.
Only thing which really disturbs me is, that I cannnot acces my IB account from my office through a network ( proxy servers ). TWS doesn't support connections with address-translation and our admin does not like to change his servers settings ( for security reasons ).
So I have to maintain an account with Datek for certain types of trades. This account is accessible from every PC/laptop in the world with Internet connection.
Same is true for my other accounts at german brokers and mutual fund companies.
New Java TWS :
I just entered orders, cancels, sells by using only the hotkeyes as defined above F1 - F4 for buys and sells,F5 - F8 for price & size up/dn
T for transmit
C for cancel.
After hitting T ,orders appear on the pending page 'till executed.
After hitting C, the order stays on the pending orders page, 'till canceled.
Just as it should be.
No problems so far.
I must admit, and I said this many times here, I am not a scalper doing a hundred trades a day and I trade only in round lots from 100 shares upward.
As I mentioned already in my broker rating for IB, I don't consider this broker as a first choice for scalpers.
But for my style of trading it's ok and I haven't had any serious problems with them.
I know about the limited capabilities of the TWS, which are by no way any better with the new version. Besides that I can size the window now according to my needs.
I agree to many posters here saying, that the new TWS is in some points even a step backward rather than a progress compared to Version 3.0 .
But :
1. I use other services for RT quotes & charts ( qcharts )
2. I don't have to keep track-records of 100 trades a day, so I do my tracking of trades on the weekend, based on the daily statements of IB ( or Datek or my other accounts )
3. I trade in round lots of 100 - 300 shares a trade, no odd lots like 43 shares of XYZ and 161 shares of ABCD, which would be hard to fill fast by almost any broker I guess.
4. I rarely trade the usual NASDAQ volume suspects.
5. I use only best execution. When I want in a trade, I want in now and I don't care which ECN might fill my order. In about 10% of all orders I got filled better than my limit. Same is for trade exits.
5. Occasionally, I do option trades. IB is about the fastest in executing option-trades - not to mention the low commissions also on option trades.
In summary, I can live very well with the TWS and enjoy the low commissions of IB.
Only thing which really disturbs me is, that I cannnot acces my IB account from my office through a network ( proxy servers ). TWS doesn't support connections with address-translation and our admin does not like to change his servers settings ( for security reasons ).
So I have to maintain an account with Datek for certain types of trades. This account is accessible from every PC/laptop in the world with Internet connection.
Same is true for my other accounts at german brokers and mutual fund companies.
What do you mean by :"They just disappear"?
Please explain what exactly what you do and what exactly happens afterwards.
Normally, orders disappear from the line below the quoteline when executed or when cancelled and cancellation has been executed.
Executed orders can be found in the exec.log and, of course, in your account status ?
Have you checked your "pending" page ?
I have noticed, with the new Java TWS, that there's always a small delay of a few seconds after execution before the order finally disappears from the line below the quoteline.
Therefore, I keep my exec. window open during trading.
So i can see right away, when an order has been executed.
Please explain what exactly what you do and what exactly happens afterwards.
Normally, orders disappear from the line below the quoteline when executed or when cancelled and cancellation has been executed.
Executed orders can be found in the exec.log and, of course, in your account status ?
Have you checked your "pending" page ?
I have noticed, with the new Java TWS, that there's always a small delay of a few seconds after execution before the order finally disappears from the line below the quoteline.
Therefore, I keep my exec. window open during trading.
So i can see right away, when an order has been executed.
Privateer. Thx for the reply. Actually, I'm keeping cyber. I'm looking for an ETRADE replacement, where I do options, mutuals and some long term positions (aka mistakes). Have just started the investigation process.
I'll give your suggestions a whirl. My needs seem to be very similar to yours.
Any feedback on your experience with option assignments at IB?
As always, looking forward to your response.
Thanks in advance.
I'll give your suggestions a whirl. My needs seem to be very similar to yours.
Any feedback on your experience with option assignments at IB?
As always, looking forward to your response.
Thanks in advance.
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