NexusFi: Find Your Edge


Home Menu

 





Multicharts auto trading


Discussion in MultiCharts

Updated
    1. trending_up 3,123 views
    2. thumb_up 3 thanks given
    3. group 3 followers
    1. forum 2 posts
    2. attach_file 0 attachments




 
Search this Thread

Multicharts auto trading

  #1 (permalink)
 FastBull32 
 
Posts: 39 since Oct 2012

After devising a couple of hourly mechanical strategies on the EUR/USD pair, I am now planning to start autotrading them on Multicharts, using Interactive Brokers as the broker (and Tradestation as the data feed).

I have a few questions to point me to the right direction, I would really appreciate anyone's feedback on these. I'd also love to hear about any other issues that you believe are important for a beginner auto-trader to be aware of.


1. As regards synchronous and asynchronous mode in autotrading in Multicharts, is there a commonly acceptable best mode? I did go through the wiki and the relevant forum posts, but I have to admit I am not yet quite clear on what it best for me.


2. My strategies use the built-in functions of powerlanguage of 'setprofittarget', 'setstoploss' etc. Are these functions reliable for autotrading?


3. When a position is opened, I see (when doing my tests) that the stop loss and profit target orders also seem to be sent to IB at the same time. Is this observation correct, or are these orders held locally within MC and sent when the conditions are fulfilled? If indeed the exit orders are sent to the broker upon entry, does this mean that if I lose internet connection at any point while having an open position, this will not affect the exit orders, since they are already at the broker's servers?


4. For interfacing the broker (IB) with Multicharts, I have to choose between using the Interactive Brokers gateway, or the Interactive Brokers TWS. As I understand, the TWS, by design, times out once or twice a day, so a lot of people choose the gateway. Is this correct? Are there some other pros/cons between using either?


5. I am wondering which data feed I should be using on my real-time chart that auto-trades. The Tradestation feed seems more reliable than Interactive Brokers (which seems to have some real-time spikes that are way off - isn't that very strange and worrying for a supposedly good broker?). On the other hand, I am wondering if, for the sake of consistency, it's better to use the broker's feed.


6. Any suggestions on how an auto-trade system should be monitored? My main concerns are to make sure that:
a. The system opens and closes the correct position sizes, at the correct times
b. The system has continuous internet connection


Thank you very much for any feedback
FastBull32

Started this thread Reply With Quote

Can you help answer these questions
from other members on NexusFi?
Build trailing stop for micro index(s)
Psychology and Money Management
Better Renko Gaps
The Elite Circle
The space time continuum and the dynamics of a financial …
Emini and Emicro Index
NexusFi Journal Challenge - April 2024
Feedback and Announcements
Ninja Mobile Trader VPS (ninjamobiletrader.com)
Trading Reviews and Vendors
 
  #2 (permalink)
shanemcdonald28
new york
 
Posts: 355 since Mar 2012
Thanks Given: 665
Thanks Received: 582


moses View Post
After devising a couple of hourly mechanical strategies on the EUR/USD pair, I am now planning to start autotrading them on Multicharts, using Interactive Brokers as the broker (and Tradestation as the data feed).

I have a few questions to point me to the right direction, I would really appreciate anyone's feedback on these. I'd also love to hear about any other issues that you believe are important for a beginner auto-trader to be aware of.


1. As regards synchronous and asynchronous mode in autotrading in Multicharts, is there a commonly acceptable best mode? I did go through the wiki and the relevant forum posts, but I have to admit I am not yet quite clear on what it best for me.


2. My strategies use the built-in functions of powerlanguage of 'setprofittarget', 'setstoploss' etc. Are these functions reliable for autotrading?


3. When a position is opened, I see (when doing my tests) that the stop loss and profit target orders also seem to be sent to IB at the same time. Is this observation correct, or are these orders held locally within MC and sent when the conditions are fulfilled? If indeed the exit orders are sent to the broker upon entry, does this mean that if I lose internet connection at any point while having an open position, this will not affect the exit orders, since they are already at the broker's servers?


4. For interfacing the broker (IB) with Multicharts, I have to choose between using the Interactive Brokers gateway, or the Interactive Brokers TWS. As I understand, the TWS, by design, times out once or twice a day, so a lot of people choose the gateway. Is this correct? Are there some other pros/cons between using either?


5. I am wondering which data feed I should be using on my real-time chart that auto-trades. The Tradestation feed seems more reliable than Interactive Brokers (which seems to have some real-time spikes that are way off - isn't that very strange and worrying for a supposedly good broker?). On the other hand, I am wondering if, for the sake of consistency, it's better to use the broker's feed.


6. Any suggestions on how an auto-trade system should be monitored? My main concerns are to make sure that:
a. The system opens and closes the correct position sizes, at the correct times
b. The system has continuous internet connection


Thank you very much for any feedback
moses


hi

the setprofittarget and setstoploss are reliable in live trading.

the orders work differently with different platforms and at different brokers. With IB, I believe they are residing on the broker server, so the order will remain there after you are disconnected.
An email to multicharts and IB will verify this for you

TWS does reset overnight. That is enough for me not to use it. I cannot comment on the rest of that question.

As far as monitoring, I monitor manually at all times due to frequent disconnects with the internet.
I cannot offer any advice on how to monitor other than manually.

best wishes
shane

Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #3 (permalink)
 ABCTG   is a Vendor
 
Posts: 2,431 since Apr 2013
Thanks Given: 481
Thanks Received: 1,623



moses View Post
After devising a couple of hourly mechanical strategies on the EUR/USD pair, I am now planning to start autotrading them on Multicharts, using Interactive Brokers as the broker (and Tradestation as the data feed).

I have a few questions to point me to the right direction, I would really appreciate anyone's feedback on these. I'd also love to hear about any other issues that you believe are important for a beginner auto-trader to be aware of.


1. As regards synchronous and asynchronous mode in autotrading in Multicharts, is there a commonly acceptable best mode? I did go through the wiki and the relevant forum posts, but I have to admit I am not yet quite clear on what it best for me.


2. My strategies use the built-in functions of powerlanguage of 'setprofittarget', 'setstoploss' etc. Are these functions reliable for autotrading?


3. When a position is opened, I see (when doing my tests) that the stop loss and profit target orders also seem to be sent to IB at the same time. Is this observation correct, or are these orders held locally within MC and sent when the conditions are fulfilled? If indeed the exit orders are sent to the broker upon entry, does this mean that if I lose internet connection at any point while having an open position, this will not affect the exit orders, since they are already at the broker's servers?


4. For interfacing the broker (IB) with Multicharts, I have to choose between using the Interactive Brokers gateway, or the Interactive Brokers TWS. As I understand, the TWS, by design, times out once or twice a day, so a lot of people choose the gateway. Is this correct? Are there some other pros/cons between using either?


5. I am wondering which data feed I should be using on my real-time chart that auto-trades. The Tradestation feed seems more reliable than Interactive Brokers (which seems to have some real-time spikes that are way off - isn't that very strange and worrying for a supposedly good broker?). On the other hand, I am wondering if, for the sake of consistency, it's better to use the broker's feed.


6. Any suggestions on how an auto-trade system should be monitored? My main concerns are to make sure that:
a. The system opens and closes the correct position sizes, at the correct times
b. The system has continuous internet connection


Thank you very much for any feedback
moses

1. I would suggest trying this on a demo account, as both have their use. In case you reboot TWS and MC once a day, it's easier with asynchronous mode in my opinion to "continue where you have left".
2. They are reliable.
3. That should be the case with IB, the orders are at the broker (or exchange).
4. TWS will reset once per day and as far as I recall the gateway does not. I don't know about the differences, though, but I am sure the IB website does.
5. IB is not a datafeed, that's not their business and a datafeed from a data provider will be more reliable. I would always prefer a datafeed, but for Forex you want to check how closely the data is to your broker data.
6. In my opinion the automated trading is more "hands free trading" (which Tradestation even states somewhere on their homepage), so I'd advise against leaving the system unmonitored. If you want to do it, I would create email alerts for issues that can go wrong or things that are going on:
- obviously loss of internet connection makes sending emails problematic, in case you don't have a backup.
- loss of datafeed
- loss of broker connection
- changes in the positions
...

You might want to look into renting a trading server somewhere, as this takes away some problems (while maybe creating new ones).

Hope this helps,
ABCTG

Follow me on Twitter Reply With Quote
Thanked by:




Last Updated on May 16, 2013


© 2024 NexusFi™, s.a., All Rights Reserved.
Av Ricardo J. Alfaro, Century Tower, Panama City, Panama, Ph: +507 833-9432 (Panama and Intl), +1 888-312-3001 (USA and Canada)
All information is for educational use only and is not investment advice. There is a substantial risk of loss in trading commodity futures, stocks, options and foreign exchange products. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
About Us - Contact Us - Site Rules, Acceptable Use, and Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy - Downloads - Top
no new posts