stock market trading software

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33cl

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i've been spreadbetting some of the US/UK/commodity markets for a couple years part time but wanted to get more involved. At the moment I'm just reading various market-related online forums or newspapers to get ideas on what to long or short. Mostly I choose shares, etc by technical analysis thus I need some kind of software w/ daily data feed & good charts that may also alert as to possible entry points (I'm not asking for much, am I!!!).

There seems to be tons of these on the web, mostly american. Is there any good local (Irish/UK/European) software out there? I'd go for a US one as well if it included a fair amnt of global markets (HK, Jpn, Europe, etc).
 
Maybe you want something like stockfetcher.com
basically what you can do is create filters for various technical events
(you can also screen for some fundamentals).
Then each day before the market opens, run your filters to give you a list of stocks to target for the day/week/whatever.
you can also backtest your filters.
 
33cl

Just curious as to which technical indicators you have found useful in your own experience in the areas you mentioned? Just finished reading a book on technical analysis.

Also do you or have you used Delta Index? If so how have you found them?

Cheers
 
Hi all,

I apologise in advance for deviating from the initial question.

Also do you or have you used Delta Index? If so how have you found them?
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Was with Delta Index until recently due to their marketing and "ireland's best" etc etc. My own stupidity i know - recently moved to igindex and have found them great - much larger variety of markets and tighter spreads. margin requirements are much smaller depending on what stop losses you use.

Just finished reading a book on technical analysis
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what book did you read? 33cl could you recommend some books?


I would be interested in hearing views on the software 33cl is enquiring about.
 
Hi Dave,

Got a link from Delta Index for the simulator and also was surprised how limited their choice of shares, indices and commodities was. Quite disappointed.

Technical analysis book was technical analysis for dummies ordered from Amazon. May not be the most sophisticated book ever written in the area but for someone new to the suject you could do alot worse. Easy to read with good examples, would definitely recommend it.

What other issues did you have with Delta?

Cheeers
 
IG Index has a raft of excellent charting and other research resources which are free for account holders to use.
 
I found Delta Index good to deal with and was happy until i looked around. IG index has a huge choice of markets (i was impressed with the low liquidity irish shares they offered prices on e.g. Blackrock, Newcourt etc. I could find almost anything i went looking for)

Margin requirements were much lower also. IG Index allows a controlled risk trade so, for example, you open a position and put a stop loss at such a level that you are willing to lose, then margin requirment is set accordingly. e.g. you go long on dax sept at €10 per point and set your stop loss 60 points below current price then your margin tied up will be €600. With delta index IMR is 350 per point so that you are would need to have €700 of margin just to open a €2 position. Now, I know that there are risks with the IG index option i.e. tight margins mean positions don't get much room to move and high volatility can close out positions very quickly. Also the tempation is there to open very large positions!!

As gonk said they have good research options and charting options.
 
Got a link from Delta Index for the simulator and also was surprised how limited their choice of shares, indices and commodities was. Quite disappointed
Click to expand...
In fairness the real account has more products available than the simulator. But for me, it is not enough.

What other issues did you have with Delta?
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Some shares that i have traded on Delta before have been removed for some reason. This messes things up if you waste time researching a stock for example and then go to trade it and it has disappeared!

Thanks alot to the guys who mentioned IG Index cos I have checked them out and it looks great. All transactions can be done in euro too.
 
croker said:
Thanks alot to the guys who mentioned IG Index cos I have checked them out and it looks great. All transactions can be done in euro too.
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A lot of markets are available from IG Index for Euro bets, but not all. For example, silver and crude oil aren't.
 
daveccork said:
e.g. you go long on dax sept at €10 per point and set your stop loss 60 points below current price then your margin tied up will be €600. . . . Now, I know that there are risks with the IG index option i.e. tight margins mean positions don't get much room to move and high volatility can close out positions very quickly. Also the tempation is there to open very large positions!!
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You're not kidding! The above scenario would result in you being stopped out and losing all your margin by a mere 0.75% fall in the index. That's way too tight IMHO . . .
 
gonk said:
You're not kidding! The above scenario would result in you being stopped out and losing all your margin by a mere 0.75% fall in the index. That's way too tight IMHO . . .
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agreed - used purely as an example of how the thing works. one of the major dangers
 
Thanks for the information lads.

Have any you guys applied Mark shipman theories
i.e. buying when the closing weekly high is the highest of the last 12 weeks, its above the 40 week moving avearge and this average is trending upwards etc.
on the whole field of commodities (stock, indices, commodities) through spread betting? If so any comments good bad or indifferent?
 
Paul d said:
Have any you guys applied Mark shipman theories
Click to expand...

I've read the book and it makes good sense as far as it goes, but there are noticeable gaps, especially in how to decide when to exit a position.

I'm looking at a couple of markets at the minute with a view to trying out his strategy and I've reviewed a couple of open positions in light of his book.
 
Gonk,

Agree with you on him not giving great depth to or time to exit strategies. A bit vague really.

Thats why I got the technical analysis for dummies book as a starting point to gaining greater insight in the whole area.

The general thrust of his book on demand from the far east does appear to make sense though.

Just had a quick look at the IG site.

Did any of you lads try their "tradsense trial" for 6 weeks, if so any comments?

What was involved in setting up an account with them?
 
Paul d said:
Gonk,
The general thrust of his book on demand from the far east does appear to make sense though.
Click to expand...

If you have a look at his website, though, you'll see seven out of nine open investment positions listed are in equity indices, with only two in commodities.

Doesn't invalidate his arguments as to why commodities may see large price increases in the coming years, but would certainly suggest that he sees greater potential in equities in the near term.

http://www.trend-follower.com
 
Although two of his investments are directly in commodities, can you not argue that the nifty fifty index is indirectly related to commodites.
Some of niftys stocks are coca cola, avon, pepsi, various drug companies (walt disney is in there,) general electric and so on.... So am I right in saying that his Index investments is investing directly in companies?
and that commodities are all raw materials? ?
 
Elphaba,

By investing in the indices like the Nikkei and Hang Seng he is indirectly tracking what is happening in that part of the world but not investing directly in companies themselves. He comments in his book that by investing in indices like these you are not as open to some of the shocks that you get with individual companies like reduced earnings, stikes etc.

It is interesting looking at his site and I have been like yourself Gonk that he has recently opened a position on gold, one of the commodities he talks up in the book. I havent looked at the chart for gold in a number of days but dont remember it following his rules, maybe it has started to move upward and shares of companies in this area may start to rise aslo.

He also recently opened a position on the FTSE. I'm new to this lark but thought the FTSE had already been rising for a number of years and may be due some level of a drop?

Also interesting that he is backing the DAX so seems to think the German economy is on the move and is probably why we in Ireland are getting consecutive interest rate hikes.

33 cl the author at the end of technical analysis for dummies book says "the most user friendly software is Metastock by equis (www.equis.com). It comes with preset indicators, user guide and data to get you started. At the equis web site, you can also download a free copy of the book by Steve Achelis, Technical Analysis from A to Z".
 
Elphaba said:
Although two of his investments are directly in commodities, can you not argue that the nifty fifty index is indirectly related to commodites.
Some of niftys stocks are coca cola, avon, pepsi, various drug companies (walt disney is in there,) general electric and so on.... So am I right in saying that his Index investments is investing directly in companies?
and that commodities are all raw materials?
Click to expand...

Firstly, your wires are crossed there - the Nifty Fifty Shipman is referring to is an index of major Indian stocks.

Secondly, while all companies are affected to a greater or lesser extent by commodity prices, energy in particular, I wouldn't regard an equity investment as being equivalent to a commodity investment.

Effectively, yes commodities are all raw materials (with the possible exception of precious metals).
 
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