Automatic trading

[swoop07]

Hello all, this is my first post on T2W.

I have been trading forex for almost a year now and am starting to be consistently profitable using a trend following strategy on a variety of timeframes. I come from a computer programming background and have recently tried writing backtesting programs using IGIndex's probacktest package that look quite promising in terms of equity curve. So far I have only used IGIndex but want to change to a broker or spreadbetting company that allows you to write programs that will execute automatically on a five minute timeframe. I have a few questions:

1. Can anybody recommend a broker/ spreadbetting company that allows you to do this?
2. So far with IGIndex I only have to deal with a 2 or 3 pip spread. If I switch to a professional broker how will this effect cost per trade? (I read about contracts and commissions but don't really know what this means.)
3. After some initial losses (£1-2k) I have been trading mostly 50p a point. What is the minimum size that you can bet with a professional broker?
4. Are there any issues with this kind of trading and lower timeframes?
5. Are there any other warnings or tips for this kind of trading from someone who has done it?

Many thanks.

 

[rnicoll]

1. Can anybody recommend a broker/ spreadbetting company that allows you to do this?
2. So far with IGIndex I only have to deal with a 2 or 3 pip spread. If I switch to a professional broker how will this effect cost per trade? (I read about contracts and commissions but don't really know what this means.)
3. After some initial losses (£1-2k) I have been trading mostly 50p a point. What is the minimum size that you can bet with a professional broker?
4. Are there any issues with this kind of trading and lower timeframes?
5. Are there any other warnings or tips for this kind of trading from someone who has done it?

1. I believe IG Markets (IG Index's CFD wing) have an API for trading some things, available. FuturesBetting - Financial Spread Betting Homepage have an API, and are a spread betting firm. I use http://www.interactivebrokers.com/ibg/main.php for my current auto-trading tests, but you have to have a minimum of $10k (or equivalent) to open an account.

2. I'd need to know what you're trading. Generally I would expect costs to go down, however.

3. Index futures, £5-10. Currencies, £2-ish. Shares, about as little as you like, AFAIK.

4 & 5. Your main hurdle is going to be getting the whole thing to trade well. I've got strategies that backtest fantastically, but trying to get them to trade live is... challenging. If you got with Interactive Brokers, have a look at the JBookTrader project ( jbooktrader - Google Code ) - they're a long way towards making real profit, and are open source. Apart from that, NinjaTrader is a good start for automated trading, but is non-free for trading live.

 

[swoop07]

Thanks for your reply I am going to follow up on this. I phoned IGIndex today to ask about IGMarkets and I need to open a separate account.

I mainly trade EUR/USD and GBP/USD.

I respect your advice that it is going to be difficult to trade well. My backtest program has a glorious equity curve and doubles my account in three weeks when run against EUR/USD and GBP/USD, but run against USD/JPY it produces a shocking loss. On other major pairs it more or less breaks even.

Regarding Interactive Broker I tried to open an account with them but it is not accepting my 1 year+ experience and 100+ trades in forex as sufficient to open the account. I have traded equities as well but probably not 100+. Do they require evidence of trades? I've tried to call them but cannot get through. Maybe it is a busy time for them...