Also, just some feedback, your
program is very good but a little complicated. I think many people do not
use all the features it has and may be a little intimidated trying to figure
out what everything does (I know I was). I think if you had a simplified
version like IB's tower that a user can add complexity to as they get more
comfortable with the features, then you may get more users.
I know FT is complicated for
someone using it for the first time.
And I'm sorry, that this is the case, but FT is the trading platform I
myself use for my daily trading.
I'm a trader first and a software developper second.
There are a few easy to use trading platforms and frontends for IB available,
and these are the ones most users prefer.
I understand this, and it was never my intention to compete with these
platforms.
FT has unique features not found on other platforms and I will continue to
implement new ideas I have, which might give me an edge in this very
competitive business in my real trading. Some of these might be dead ends
for me, but they remain in the program, as someone else might use them for
his/her trading, even if I no longer use it. So the program gets more and
more complex, but as everything is put into different windows, it takes no
processing power to have it in, if you don't use it.
EG: The spreadtrade function sure can give you an edge, but it's not my way
of trading, so I don't use it. But I know, there are some very successfully
scalping using the spreadtrade function.
On the other hand I rely heavily on knowing where the cash market is, when I
trade currency futures and FT has a whole bunch of features available
supporting me here, which goes from a FX cash window to showing me the
corresponding cash prices when I place limit orders in the futures or
showing me, when cash and futures diverge from one another creating
arbitrage opportunities.
The latest project in development is the linking of my chartsignals into FT
to be able to trade signals when they appear on the chart.
And right now I'm developping a module which will follow these tradesignals
in realtime, so I can have the necessary statistic which will tell me,
whether and how far my chartsignals are to be trusted or not.
I don't think backtesting has any value at all. History is history and
repeats itself only when it does. But following a real market tick by tick
and building the statistics necessary for evaluation of a tradesystem by
following the tradesignals in realtime, that's something different
altogether. Sure it will give you just a statistic valid for certain market
conditions only, but to tell you if an intraday-tradesystem is working
that's sufficient for me.
I'm a discretionary trader in that I don't trade every signal I see for
different reasons. But if I had a statistic, which showed me, that trade
management would take good care of each and every tradesignal sent to FT, I
would consider taking a lot more signals actually starting to use a monkey
doing the trading for me. It's just one additional button, which will turn
the Chart Signal receiver (Chart Alarm window) into a fully automated
trading system, but as long as I have no statistic, that I can do it, this
button will not be added.
Sure if there are FT users which know already that they have a good trading
system and they ask me now to enable FT for automatic trading, I have no
problem with that and would add this button earlier. Or someone steps
forward and tells me, Chris why don't you try this or that approach, change
the Layout here to make it a lot more user friendly. Of course the filter
which every idea has to pass through is my thinking, that the idea has
merits, that it makes sense, that it simplifies my trading. But that's the
same process I do with my own ideas as well.
Latest change to the Layout was a change in the multi tradedesk after I hit
the wrong button in the heat of the battle. As I always trade real, this
cost me and it told me, Chris, the Layout has to be changed, as it is
confusing. And that's what I did. And this change was published on the
website just hours later, after I had tested it to work here in real trading.
My main business is not software development or selling more copies of FT,
my business is trading and I want a software supporting me totally in my
trading. If I have an idea during the day, which looks promising, I often
start implementing them after markets. This makes FT complex, but noone
needs to use everything. Sometimes I myself start using new features months
after I actually implemented them, because only then I made the necessary
step in my development as trader to be able to use a functionality. That's
the way I do things here. FT users always get the same build I use for my
own trading. This means if I made an error or introduced a bug and you
updated to this build you have the same bug, but once I know about a problem
I see to solve it asap, if possible or find a workaround until the bug is
fixed.
Relaxed trading to you,
Chris
"Ton of
features, great support" -
karabugla
