OT: Mainly for TS users! <g> (When do we set up our own thread? Or should we just wait for TradeStationZone.com to go up?)
Before I voice any complaints, I should probably say that I consider TS Pro indispensable, and pretty terrific, too, BUT:
I sent TradeStation a long contribution to their "Wishlist" mailbox, suggesting a range of new or enhanced features I'd love to see in TS Pro, though I'd really like to see them iron out some remaining bugs in their set-up as is and as envisioned. For instance, something like the symbol list feature you'd like to see actually should be embedded within the current version - you'd create or adapt a symbol list, load it into a "quotes" file, then create charts from each file using a default template. For some reason, however, the default template feature doesn't quite seem to work for me as apparently intended (i.e., recalling last template as default).
There are other alternatives and workarounds to smooth, rationalize, and speed up the whole process, though the ones that work best for you will vary with your trading style. Thus, for me, since there really are at most around 50 or so stocks that I'm interested in trading, I've set up a single workspace with all of them, created and applied a template combining all of the EOD set-up signals I use, and, collect the alerts from a new tracking center window. It's not as cumbersome as it sounds. I also haven't been using trading "strategies" intraday lately - partly because I'm depending on discretionary entries/exits within a systematic workflow rather than true system trading, and equally because loading a chart + strategy takes significantly longer than loading a chart with whatever indicators/paintbars/show-mes/"intelligent" drawing tools.
The most vexing problem I've been encountering of late is a tendency for charts and quotes to "hang" or "freeze" - cease updating entirely. Why this should happen, and whether it was a one- or two-day accident or a looming migraine - with the feed coming from S&P Comstock supposedly, an extra-robust set of server farms, and a belt-and-suspenders double transmission network - isn't quite clear to me. Haven't yet determined the true location of the problem - software limitations, bugs, hardware, connection, TS network, servers... For the moment, the issue has hastened my search for a back-up data + broker set-up, though I'm still a bit in wait-and-see mode. (Any suggestions appreciated.)
I've also heard, btw, that a few people - mostly long-time clients of On-Line Trading - have been trading with beta versions of the d.a. set-up for months. I'm hoping it's even half as good as it looks. |
