Should I move to Tradestation ?

[toucan]

I've used tradestation for more than 15 years now and was there during all the tough times.
They have gotten better and I have used them for automated daytrading for about 9 years.

The platform executes what I have automated without problems but I don't need quick transaction processing. I enter a trade and the trade management of enter/cancel/place new/exit transactions, etc is far enough apart that both the tradestation software and the exchange can process the transactions without something crossing and requiring manual intervention.

If you are going to be entering/exiting/cancelling/reentering trades really quickly ( like within a few ticks), then often, either the tradestation software or the exchange software/response time will be to slow for automation without manual intervention. And yes, I could figure out all of those problems and solve them with additional programming, but I prefer to keep my software simple.

my 2 cents
toucan

 

[viruscore1]

I've used tradestation for more than 15 years now and was there during all the tough times.
They have gotten better and I have used them for automated daytrading for about 9 years.

The platform executes what I have automated without problems but I don't need quick transaction processing. I enter a trade and the trade management of enter/cancel/place new/exit transactions, etc is far enough apart that both the tradestation software and the exchange can process the transactions without something crossing and requiring manual intervention.

If you are going to be entering/exiting/cancelling/reentering trades really quickly ( like within a few ticks), then often, either the tradestation software or the exchange software/response time will be to slow for automation without manual intervention. And yes, I could figure out all of those problems and solve them with additional programming, but I prefer to keep my software simple.

my 2 cents
toucan

I like TS but the app will lockup after a few hours. Required to shutdown and restart the app. It's written in C, seems like programmers forgot to clean up garbage. Called in and complained, they fixed it for a few weeks and now the problem is back. It's been like this for years. Their trading matrix is very visual and works well when the app doesn't lockup.

 

[KeLo]

I called TS about an erroneous order that sticks out position size wise. I have never submitted an order that size.

They said the usual. The computer says you did the order (tough luck).

Any suggestions on protecting myself from TS server errors. How can I prove I did not do something?
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Very versatile platform with beautiful graphics.
Watch their bookkeeping and 1099-Bs like a hawk. 4 or 5 years in a row of totally erroneous 1099-Bs.
Mostly decent trade servers but I seem to get better fills with IB.
Some time-stamps showed exits before entries from different TS trade servers on a couple trades.

I am going to stop trading with them except as a back-up broker.

 

[toucan]

I like TS but the app will lockup after a few hours. Required to shutdown and restart the app. It's written in C, seems like programmers forgot to clean up garbage. Called in and complained, they fixed it for a few weeks and now the problem is back. It's been like this for years. Their trading matrix is very visual and works well when the app doesn't lockup.

i'm on 9.5, most current production version and have 2 computers that run tradestation and have experienced a "lockup" type of problem. not very often though and I can't replicate the problem.

 

[viruscore1]

i'm on 9.5, most current production version and have 2 computers that run tradestation and have experienced a "lockup" type of problem. not very often though and I can't replicate the problem.

My workstation lockup occurs after running for about hour. I am running 4 workspaces and total of 7 charts. and maybe 8 other windows. Dual quad core processors, 20 gb ram. I reboot and the problem will reappear in about 1 hour. Tried just 1 workspace, same thing...

 

[toucan]

My workstation lockup occurs after running for about hour. I am running 4 workspaces and total of 7 charts. and maybe 8 other windows. Dual quad core processors, 20 gb ram. I reboot and the problem will reappear in about 1 hour. Tried just 1 workspace, same thing...

some traders have said that the 9.5 version in beta testing is more stable than the production version of 9.5..... my other computer has 9.1 and it works without problems. on my 9.5 computer I run 5 desktops, 11 workspaces, 19 charts and 19 matrix windows. I think its the software and not the amount of work we are doing. My problem is random and doesn't happen very often so I can live with it until the next version.

toucan

 

[viruscore1]

some traders have said that the 9.5 version in beta testing is more stable than the production version of 9.5..... my other computer has 9.1 and it works without problems. on my 9.5 computer I run 5 desktops, 11 workspaces, 19 charts and 19 matrix windows. I think its the software and not the amount of work we are doing. My problem is random and doesn't happen very often so I can live with it until the next version.

toucan

I just had to restart my system while tradestation was still running, couldn't shutdown tradestation properly because of no response. Although the radarscreen was still updating. I also notice extremely high CPU usage at 80-99%, on 2 xeon quad processors. I am about to drop TS. The pattern starts right after the bell. Sometimes it works after the ball and sometimes it just bogs down like this morning. I called in and tech took some files on wed but haven't heard back yet...

 

[toucan]

I just had to restart my system while tradestation was still running, couldn't shutdown tradestation properly because of no response. Although the radarscreen was still updating. I also notice extremely high CPU usage at 80-99%, on 2 xeon quad processors. I am about to drop TS. The pattern starts right after the bell. Sometimes it works after the ball and sometimes it just bogs down like this morning. I called in and tech took some files on wed but haven't heard back yet...

in the short term you might do what I do... I keep the task manager up and if tradestation freezes, I locate the tradestation tasks in the task manager and delete them... it saves the time to reboot your computer, but you have to know all the tradestation tasks... if you miss one then tradestation will not load again.

 

[Collagen]

You are welcome Syswizard.

I use IB for data as well. Everyday I scan with Tradestation first. Then, I set-up 5 to 20 charts with Multicharts. I add 1 strategy per chart (no indicators). With Multicharts, my trading is short term (between 1 and 5 days) and I use daily charts (221 bars per charts). I usually avoid the IB data request limits... And wait few minutes when that happens, specially if I didn't respect the 15 sec. between requests (not great).
interactivebrokers.com/en/software/api/apiguide/api/historical%20data%20limitations

I use Tradestation for anything more demanding, which is most of the time for research.
I do have RT strategies open in 3 charts (minutes and ticks) with Tradestation.

If the quality of data is very important to you, you should avoid any broker data (IB or Tradestation) and use a RT data provider like CQG and DTN.
I tried in the past a tick by tick RT data provider, and that didn't add anything to the profitability of my trading, probably because of my style and strategies. On the other hand, a good broker for executions (fast with low fees) helped me a lot. And for my Tradestation strategies, being able to trade futures from down town Chicago (with a VPS) helped as well to reduce my slippage.

How can a VPS in Chicago helps with the fills at TS when its data provider (and broker) is located in NJ ?

 

[KeLo]

in the short term you might do what I do... I keep the task manager up and if tradestation freezes, I locate the tradestation tasks in the task manager and delete them... it saves the time to reboot your computer, but you have to know all the tradestation tasks... if you miss one then tradestation will not load again.

Hi toucan:
Just use "TSKill.exe" from TS forums. Run as Admin and it will kill all TS processes with one click. It is much faster and easier than the Task Manager.
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Lylec305:

Your CPU usage is way too high. Something is wrong. Too much data crunching?