MonsieurGonzo, Re: I'd kinda like to hear how they set up their rigs.
Thanks for the trading setup details.
Well, for simplicity, I have all my accounts(individual, ira, roth-ira(soon), and non-ira retirement) at E*Trade. I live a few miles from their Palo Alto, CA office so I can make a deposit and trade with it the next day. 99% of my trading are position or long term. I'm not set-up for daytrading. I tried it, but not nibble enough...yet...
Equipment: P233 w/64mb running WinNT4.0, 28.8 modem(56k soon), 17"monitor (1280x1024). Sometime this year I will upgrade to a 19" monitor running 1600x1200.
I now only use free services.
Setup:
Window1: MyYahoo completely customized will all indexes and stocks I track and customized news. They also recently added a currency converter with is handy.
Window2: Quote.com's Java chart. RT indexes, RT gain/loss stocks, volume leaders, etc. Delayed stocks. Only site I know of with option charting.
Window3: www.foxmarketwire.com, 50 free RT stock quotes per-day per-account. I have a number of accounts. <g> You have to fax them an exchange agreement so it takes a couple of days to setup.
Window4: : www.foxmarketwire.com, logged into different account.
Window5: E*Trade account, briefing.com screen
Window6: E*Trade account, trading screen. Always setup for the next trade and ready to go except limit price (99% of my trades are limit orders)
Window7:www.cboe.com, market quote screen. Delayed options prices I always display full chain for comparison shopping. :-)
Window8:E*Trade account, misc functions. The only way I know to get the current bid/ask on an option is on Etrade's confirmation screen will do this before placing limit order for options. (Hey, I know I'm cheap :-)
Other windows.. As needed. For surfing or whatever. One is usually SI others are various news sites usually CMP for tech news, etc.I end up with 5-7 more windows of misc news or CBOE options screens.
Accounts:
The IRA and Roth Ira(soon) are small so I buy and hold non-marginable small caps.
Individual account: Mostly LEAPS, some stocks(no/low dividend, marginable only) and options trading. As a general rule, if it has a LEAP I buy the LEAP not the stock. I just finished converting to 'LEAP based' investing last month. I like the leverage. Looking forward to cycle 1 - 2001 LEAPS starting after may expiration.
Non-Ira Retirement account(Tax-deferred): Mix of long term and short term stocks and options/LEAPS plus any high-dividend stocks.
My homebase is Yahoo and Quote.com. I quick check Yahoo for any 'big picture' news then briefing for specifics then back to yahoo for company specific news/press releases.
I used Datek for a while, but quickly gave up last year during one of their many 'slow' periods. I tried PC Quote for RT Trades, but they kept screwing up my exchange subscriptions at the beginning of each month.
E*Trade is good at filling my limit orders and occasionally surprises me by beating my limit price. Their telephone staff is useless unless you are talking to one of their 'traders'. That is the only time I have received any useful info about my trades or detailed trading/margin/options questions. Their customer service staff is just too new to be helpful on trading issues. It is not that I know much. I just ask detailed questions..
--Chris |
