Auto Place Buy And Sell Orders In ThinkOrSwim

[CBV2025]

I would recommend paper trading until you are comfortable with how the chart and indicators work. Automation is up to thinkorswim and I hope they will come up with a plan soon as other platforms are moving in that direction?

I have been paper trading this strategy with some success! I am trying to look into platforms to automate it - I am not a coder. I already use some bots from Options Alpha and with the help of AI I am trying to write this code in Pine Script for TradingView so I can send it to OA via a webhook to test it out. As I understand TOS does not have automated trading capabilities; have you been looking into platforms to automate trading for this strategy, or any other platform for that matter? I would love to hear your recommendations. Thanks once again for putting in time and effort to make trading less "scary"!!

 

[rad14733]

I have been paper trading this strategy with some success! I am trying to look into platforms to automate it - I am not a coder. I already use some bots from Options Alpha and with the help of AI I am trying to write this code in Pine Script for TradingView so I can send it to OA via a webhook to test it out. As I understand TOS does not have automated trading capabilities; have you been looking into platforms to automate trading for this strategy, or any other platform for that matter? I would love to hear your recommendations. Thanks once again for putting in time and effort to make trading less "scary"!!

Thinkorswim does have quasi automated trading via Conditional Orders which can be saved and reused but they are one-and-done trades... You may want t do real time testing in that fashion before attempting to go full automated with an algo that could quickly destroy your trade account balance... I have used Conditional Orders more than a few times over the years and they do work if coded properly... If your coding is wrong you'll only lose the number of times you attempt the flawed logic... Schwab also has an API that can be used for automated trading, it just isn't tied into the platform itself...

 

[CBV2025]

Thinkorswim does have quasi automated trading via Conditional Orders which can be saved and reused but they are one-and-done trades... You may want t do real time testing in that fashion before attempting to go full automated with an algo that could quickly destroy your trade account balance... I have used Conditional Orders more than a few times over the years and they do work if coded properly... If your coding is wrong you'll only lose the number of times you attempt the flawed logic... Schwab also has an API that can be used for automated trading, it just isn't tied into the platform itself...

Hi Rad, I did not know about Conditional Orders in TOS. I am paper trading for now and will continue to do so until I gather more data. The "problem" I see using Options Alpha for testing is that I cannot back test only forward-test strategies that have parameters received via a webhook and not variables from the platform itself. I appreciate your reply and information.

 

[rad14733]

Hi Rad, I did not know about Conditional Orders in TOS. I am paper trading for now and will continue to do so until I gather more data. The "problem" I see using Options Alpha for testing is that I cannot back test only forward-test strategies that have parameters received via a webhook and not variables from the platform itself. I appreciate your reply and information.

In actuality, backtesting is NOT an accurate method of testing a trading strategy... Why, you ask...??? Because backtesting doesn't include price action throughout each candle/bar, it is based on the fully closed candle/bar... Testing in TOS Paper Trading is a far more accurate way to test and practice because you are working with the same real time price action as live trading... In all of the many many attempts to use TOS Strategies to backtest, not once has live trading come anywhere near what the Strategies produced... No backtester will use real time data so they are ALL inaccurate and falsely get your hopes up, only to be dashed when you try trading live... Take this as a stern warning as an effort to save your valuable money...

Edited to add: If you can't trade in Paper Trading successfully, and then in subsequent manual live trading, there is virtually zero chance that starting off with automated trading will be successful...