Picking the RIGHT software

Humpy

Humpy

There is so much software around these days that it is hard to make a good first time choice. I thought sending the e-mail below might clarify the problem. Maybe no software vendors will be willing to take on the challenge. We shall see. I welcome your comments etc.
How about a week of debate and get cracking next weekend.

Dear Sirs,
I am interested in finding and then using good trading software for the financial markets. There are so many companies offering their software these days that it is difficult to make an informed choice. The obvious course of buying and testing lots of software is an extremely expensive option. I think I can offer a better solution.
Please would you consider either:-
1. The preferred method of you writing a journal on Trade2Win or Elite websites using your own software for 2 months.
2. Letting a long standing member of the 2 most prestigious Financial websites on the planet, both having an excess of 60,000 members use your software and with your help keep a daily journal on these sites for 2 months.
thus giving you a HUGE amount of FREE publicity.
However if you feel that this is too much of a challenge etc. for you or your software please e-mail me back and I will publish your letter on the current thread. If I haven't heard from you by this time next week I shall assume you or your software are unable to compete !
Thank you
 
Typical newbie problem which most vendors love and tell right away that "OUR software is the best".

1. There is NO "best" software.
2. "Best" at what? charting? systems? indicators? breadth of markets covered? price? etc, etc, etc.
3. It's not the software that'll make you money.
4. try several and pick whichever 1-2 packages suits your style.
5. Learn to trade and quit expecting software programs to make you money.
 
Question from interested consumer;
"Can your software do xyz, and does it have blah blah?"

Typical response;
"Yes, of course it can "

Translation;

"I think theres a button on there somewhere for it-not really sure-if you happen to be a MIT comp sci grad you might be able to write a plugin or something....maybe........."
 
Quote from risktaker:

Typical newbie problem which most vendors love and tell right away that "OUR software is the best".

1. There is NO "best" software.
2. "Best" at what? charting? systems? indicators? breadth of markets covered? price? etc, etc, etc.
3. It's not the software that'll make you money.
4. try several and pick whichever 1-2 packages suits your style.
5. Learn to trade and quit expecting software programs to make you money.
More...

Good response. You have to define your needs before anyone is able to give you suggestions/information about different programs. I trade EOD (End of Day) and develop simple systems, and I have experience with various programs.

You can typically demo a program for 30 days.

Last sentence above is by far the most important. I worried a lot about which program was right for me when I was just starting. It's a symptom of the condition known as 'analysis paralysis'. Please don't think this is a bad thing. Some people are research-oriented and want all the answers they can get before they start a new task. This is okay, but in trading, you have to start trading, that's the bottom line. Define what kind of trading you are going to be doing (EOD, intraday, both, systematic, discretional), pick a program that will do what you need at the price point you need, define your strategy and just do it. Scan these boards if you have problems, and then try another.

The s/w you are using will not matter much, compared to your ability to trade well. (I should say that this is particularly true of EOD trading; I have a feeling that there is some truth in it for intraday trading too, although scalpers may disagree).
 
Maybe I have made it a bit too personal. The intention is to offer an invitation and bring it to the notice of software sellers to show off their products and for anyone interested to make a better and informed choice. Surely any software company that has a viable product would leap at this GREAT opportunity to exhibit their wares for free to 120,000 traders.
The sad fact of a 95% failure rate of traders may be in direct proportion to the failure rate of software or is it. Making one's own profitable system out of moving averages etc is lets be brutally frank, beyond most of us.
 
Quote from Humpy:

The sad fact of a 95% failure rate of traders may be in direct proportion to the failure rate of software or is it.
More...

No, it isn't. The failure rate for new traders has nothing whatsoever to do with software.
Quote from Humpy:
Making one's own profitable system out of moving averages etc is lets be brutally frank, beyond most of us.
More...

This is the first mention of a 'system'. Do you mean a discretionary 'system', or method (a trading plan), or are you referring to a fully automated mechanical trading system which gets you in and out of trades automatically?

I think what you are actually trying to say in this thread is that you want a systems vendor to come on here and post trades from the system he is selling, is that correct? This has nothing to do with trading software, i.e. programs that allow you to analyze the markets using EOD or real time data.

So is it correct that you are looking for a trading system, i.e. a specific set of rules for entering and exiting the markets, either disclosed or in 'black box' (undisclosed) form?

If this is so, you can find the track records of several systems at

http://www.attaincapital.com

In your own words, let's be brutally frank; most people who are looking to buy a packaged system that will allow them to suddenly start pulling money out of the markets are going to lose and quit.

Not every person, but most of them.
 
From the fairly luke-warm response I suppose everyone is happy with their software.
This being so - not much point in chasing up the vendors really.
:confused:
 
Quote from Humpy:

Maybe I have made it a bit too personal. The intention is to offer an invitation and bring it to the notice of software sellers to show off their products and for anyone interested to make a better and informed choice. Surely any software company that has a viable product would leap at this GREAT opportunity to exhibit their wares for free to 120,000 traders.
The sad fact of a 95% failure rate of traders may be in direct proportion to the failure rate of software or is it. Making one's own profitable system out of moving averages etc is lets be brutally frank, beyond most of us.
More...


u gotta e kiddin' me. if a trader is good, he will make money regardless if he's usin' esignal or just his broker basic feeds. indicators and all that crap are mostly useless, in vogue among newbs still convinced that there's somethin' outside studin' real mkt mechanics and reoccurrences that can aid 'em make the correct decisions. it's all bs.
 
What kind of Trading Software? I guess it's like what kind of car you drive or what type of shoe is comfortable?
For me. All I need is real time 1 minute, 5 minute and 15 minute charting software. It only has to track a few indices. And maybe a simple backtesting of the same.
I don't really need to know the buy and sell signals of 8000 stocks in less than 14 seconds like a CNBC host.
 
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