Strong second on Max's recommendations. Very nice tools. I just started with them. I'm still testing both and trying to decide which to commit to.
Here's an example of my experience with AutoTrader yesterday, while testing...
With one click I entered three orders: an ES short (at 11:03:26), a .75 point stop loss order and a 2 point target limit order. (I also had trailing stop selected.) In other words:
Short (sell) at: 942.75
Buy Stop at: 943.50
Buy Target at: 940.75
At about 11:04:00 the ES price started falling.
At about 11:04:30, when the price moved down .5 points to 942.25, AutoTrader cancelled the 943.50 buy stop and entered a new buy stop at 943.00 (.5 points closer to the current price).
At about 11:05, the price stalled and then started moving back up, wiggled a bit and then took out the buy stop at 943.00.
Because of the trailing stop feature, I exited with a .25 loss instead of a .75 loss.
Since I was testing, I set a tight stop of .75. In real trading, I would probably be a bit more aggressive with my stops (wider). You can set stop and target prices for a variable number of points from the original entry order.
Also, you can adjust the trailing stop to wait for certain number of points move before it moves the stop. For example, I had mine set to .5 points. I.e., the price had to move .5 points before the trailing stop cancelled and reentered a new price.
Another nice feature is that, when either the stop or target order is executed, the opposite order is cancelled. E.g., if stop executes, target is automatically cancelled. Nice cleanup.
Finally, you can close your open order, and cancel the stop and target orders with a single click to the "Close Position" button. (I.e. "GET ME OUTTA THERE.")
BracketTrader has similar features.
Anyway, AutoTrader and BracketTrader are VERY nice front-ends for IB. Lots of power and very easy to use.
Regards,
Dan.
P.s., the price is great too - Free! |
