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I was just looking at the battle stations post. Awesome setups. My question is do you think that it is or was a key factor in taking your trading to the next level you were seeking? I currently trade three instruments in my mac book. I'm finding myself later to the party than I would like to be as I fumble threw tabs to get to the instrument that was called. (I changed the wave file to call out the instrument when a signal hits.) Thanks for the help.
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
I have 4 monitors and it definitely helps.
There are two things to consider: the power of your PC and the number of monitors that you have.
It all comes down to your trading style.
Multiple monitor considerations:
You have to get the balance right. Too much information and you may as well attempt to translate the Rosetta stone. Too little information and you will miss important cues.
If youre a scalper and are scanning multiple instruments looking for quick entries then multiple monitors is imperative.
If you trade higher timeframes and have the luxury to spend more time analysing the reason for a particular signal then multiple monitors is unnecessary.
The only downside with multiple monitors is that you can be tempted to load up anything and everything because you have so much more real estate. I know this sounds contradictory but the more monitors you have the less you should be looking at. What I mean is that you need to cut back on the amount of indicators you use. Lets consider the popular indicators, MACD, Stoch, RSi and moving average. For every chart you have loaded, you will need to interpret 5 pieces of information (the 5th one is price itself). So if you have 8 charts loaded, then every time you look at your monitors, you have to process a minimum of 40 different pieces of information! A lot of time those signals conflict with each other so you have to find the right balance between useful information and the point at which you are overloading. You really dont want to have to assemble a jigsaw puzzle every time you look at your screens because that leads to frustration which is the gateway to a host of other problems.
The more screens you have the simpler you gotta make it.
Computing power considerations:
Not really much to say about this other than I never see a problem with having too much power. If your budget allows a top end pc then get it, even if you don’t really need it.
Maybe you could just add one monitor to the mac book for a start and see how you get on?
Also I would heed Grants advice, keep things simple or suffer analysis paralysis.
My own personal nirvana is 6 screens per pc as per bigmikes eyefinity setup. I only trade off one timeframe so the only benefit of more screens is more markets. Ideally I would like 22 markets up across 12 screens with one for platform.
Edit, @Grantx put a pic of your rig on the battle stations thread!
the computer,motor set up, IT connection, software , and data feed is not going to take you from a not trader to a good trader. just like better golf clubs will not take you from a week end hacker to the PGA tour.
On the other side of that you wont be winning any grand slam events with a wooden racquet . Good tools are required to exploit a skillset to maximum level .....
ok buy a 5000 fancy computer set up, a 300 a month super fast cable IT, use the super clean I Q feed at 160.00 a month to run your charts and 900 a month CQG super package. or x trader pro at 1000 a month. lets through in a 200 to 300 month news feed.
I run 4 monitors with 2 markets on each monitor. I do however admit to having a 3 monitor brain. Fortunately it isn't unusual to have a couple of markets that aren't doing anything. I do not have the patience to watch one market do nothing all day, but can watch many do nothing all day. You will find that some monitors on your layout are easier to see than others. That is where you put your favorite or best moving markets. Totally agree with simple charts and get one of the best units you can afford. Some platforms won't run correctly unless it is a really good computer. Find out what are the minimum requirements for the platform you are using. Only use my trading computer for trading. Email, and other non trading junk go thru a beater laptop. Feel sorry for platform personnel who have to deal with someone's problems after buying a big box laptop for trading.