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Old 08-22-2018, 07:34 PM   #1
highnote
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Tradestation -- any users here?

Does anyone use Tradestation?

Can you give a review or critique?
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Old 08-22-2018, 07:45 PM   #2
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I've used it, but it's been a number of years. I liked it a lot, especially for writing my own automated trading programs.

But I stopped trading futures for a few years and wanted to re-fund my account, but they told me I had to open a new account and deposit the new account minimum, which I didn't want to do because I didn't want to put that much money at risk. So I went to NinjaTrader...which is also pretty good.

I would give TradeStation a thumbs up based on my experiences.
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Old 08-22-2018, 07:55 PM   #3
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I've used it, but it's been a number of years. I liked it a lot, especially for writing my own automated trading programs.

But I stopped trading futures for a few years and wanted to re-fund my account, but they told me I had to open a new account and deposit the new account minimum, which I didn't want to do because I didn't want to put that much money at risk. So I went to NinjaTrader...which is also pretty good.

I would give TradeStation a thumbs up based on my experiences.
I didn't see anything on their website about minimums, but I found a fool.com review that says the minimum deposit for option trading is $500 for a cash account and $2000 for a margin account.

I will check out NinjaTrader.

I had optionsxpress.com for years and could sell naked calls with very little margin. Then Schwab bought them and now they require 25k in a margin account in order to sell naked calls. I didn't bother completing the paperwork to move from optionsxpress to Schwab.
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Old 08-23-2018, 01:03 AM   #4
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I didn't see anything on their website about minimums, but I found a fool.com review that says the minimum deposit for option trading is $500 for a cash account and $2000 for a margin account.

I will check out NinjaTrader.

I had optionsxpress.com for years and could sell naked calls with very little margin. Then Schwab bought them and now they require 25k in a margin account in order to sell naked calls. I didn't bother completing the paperwork to move from optionsxpress to Schwab.
I'm pretty certain a futures account was at least $5,000 minimum...I didn't have enough confidence at that time to risk $5k on some ideas I wanted to test out in real time.
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Old 08-23-2018, 08:58 AM   #5
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could sell naked calls with very little margin


Isn't that like skydiving without a parachute? The falling's a thrill, but the landing's a bitch!
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Old 08-23-2018, 12:10 PM   #6
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Mr. President.

Have you used Robinhood? Gold account for $2000 min, and no points or fee's on Margin money.. free money.

I only use the mobile app, I've never even logged into the website, that's how good the app is.

I play with some small time discretionary money. Crypto's and fast moving equities.


I've been buying into industries that Trump is deregulating, mining stocks, and I was buying banks because I expected Dodd-Frank to be repealed. Then I'd see big bumps in the regional banks as potential take over targets.

Got hurt a few times but winners to..

Worst Hurt: I bet on Citizens Bank ,CFG, double my normal bet size. February 21st, 2018.

Its a Northeast well run bank, figured they would be bought up at 65. I bought February 21st at $45.98

This was the headline on February 24th.
R.I.-based Citizens Bank entangled in new Paul Manafort indictment

Its been at 40'ish since and I want my money back.

Trump giveth, and Trump taketh.
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Old 08-23-2018, 12:27 PM   #7
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Never heard of Robinhood...I've only been into two things, trading-wise...Index Futures and stock options...
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Old 08-23-2018, 12:37 PM   #8
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I went and grabbed this to add more,

August 15, 2018 4:15 PM ET money.com reviews robinhood.

Quote:
When asked for comment, a Robinhood spokesperson wrote, “Robinhood’s entire platform offers U.S. stocks, ETFs, options, as well as six different cryptocurrencies, allowing customers to create diverse investment portfolios.”

But unless you’re looking to trade stocks, cryptocurrencies and options — a practice that MONEY generally doesn’t recommend — you should understand Robinhood’s major pitfalls


interesting promise: make money in the stock market without paying a single cent in commissions.

If this sounds too good to be true, well, it probably is.


Robinhood’s main audience — young investors with little experience in the market — has driven its success. Its valuation has recently ballooned above $5 billion while its user base is larger than the number of brokerage accounts at E*Trade Financial (the company says it currently has 5 million users).

Yes, it offers some benefits, including ease of use as well as the ability to gain access to certain investments without paying commissions. The app also provides a way to purchase exchange-traded funds (ETFs) — baskets of stocks and bonds that can be the basic buildings blocks of a diversified low-cost portfolio — although you have to dig a bit to find them.



But make no mistake: Robinhood is simply day trading for the mobile era, and its design could actually hurt young investors who don’t recognize the risks. The Robinhood app encourages stock-picking and frequent trading and profits from this behavior.
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Old 08-23-2018, 06:36 PM   #9
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Isn't that like skydiving without a parachute? The falling's a thrill, but the landing's a bitch!
Not the way I do it. Of course, there is always a risk, but it is minimal.

For example, I do ratio hedging. I might buy two calls long and sell three short at different strike prices. In this trade money is deposit to my account for the sale of the one option. The other two that I sell are offset by the ones I buy.

The stock can move in a fairly wide range without incurring a loss.

I did get burned once. My software found a good trade. I put on a ratio hedge using Herbalife stock options. The next day Bill Ackman said the company was a multi level marketing scam. The stock tanked and broke through my downside breakeven points. Rather than ride out the trade I closed it at a loss -- maybe $500?

A few days later Carl Icahn said Herbalife wasn't a scam. The stock rallied and my trade would have worked out fine in the end.

There is a lot of manipulation in the markets. I bought wheat futures long once because my model said it was underpriced. The day after I bought it Russia made some kind of announcement that caused the price to crash, so I sold at a loss. A week later Russia made an announcement saying they were reversing their previous announcement. The price rallied and continued to rise to new highs -- just like I thought it would.

The moral of the story is that if you believe you are right then you have to be willing to ride out the ups and downs.
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Old 08-23-2018, 06:40 PM   #10
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I went and grabbed this to add more,

August 15, 2018 4:15 PM ET money.com reviews robinhood.





interesting promise: make money in the stock market without paying a single cent in commissions.

If this sounds too good to be true, well, it probably is.


Robinhood’s main audience — young investors with little experience in the market — has driven its success. Its valuation has recently ballooned above $5 billion while its user base is larger than the number of brokerage accounts at E*Trade Financial (the company says it currently has 5 million users).

Yes, it offers some benefits, including ease of use as well as the ability to gain access to certain investments without paying commissions. The app also provides a way to purchase exchange-traded funds (ETFs) — baskets of stocks and bonds that can be the basic buildings blocks of a diversified low-cost portfolio — although you have to dig a bit to find them.



But make no mistake: Robinhood is simply day trading for the mobile era, and its design could actually hurt young investors who don’t recognize the risks. The Robinhood app encourages stock-picking and frequent trading and profits from this behavior.
I don't understand Robinhood's model. I have an account with them, but have never used it because they require me to enter my bank account's username and password for my bank's online banking service.

I might set up an account with another bank with just enough money in it to fund the robinhood account. But that's a pain in the ass and has prevented me from using robinhood. They don't accept wires, ach, or checks by mail. They only allow you to fund it if you give them the username and password to your online banking. That's too risky for me.

So I'm researching other brokers.
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Old 08-23-2018, 06:54 PM   #11
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they require me to enter my bank account's username and password for my bank's online banking service.

.
Only for new accounts.

The username / password is for verification of account ownership. If you don't want to do that, you can use routing number + account number to get the same transaction done.

Once you're verified, funds you deposit can be used right away.

If you don't want to Verify.

Select "more banks"
Type in a few random letters and choose "I don't see my bank".

After that you are prompted for checking or savings account.

From there you should be able to enter in a routing number and account number.


When you use your username/password your account is immediately verified. If you enter in your routing number and account number you have to wait for a verification deposit to show up and verify the deposit amount.
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Old 08-23-2018, 08:36 PM   #12
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Only for new accounts.

The username / password is for verification of account ownership. If you don't want to do that, you can use routing number + account number to get the same transaction done.

Once you're verified, funds you deposit can be used right away.

If you don't want to Verify.

Select "more banks"
Type in a few random letters and choose "I don't see my bank".

After that you are prompted for checking or savings account.

From there you should be able to enter in a routing number and account number.


When you use your username/password your account is immediately verified. If you enter in your routing number and account number you have to wait for a verification deposit to show up and verify the deposit amount.
Thanks for the info! Very helpful! It's hard to beat no fee trading!
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Old 08-23-2018, 08:39 PM   #13
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But make no mistake: Robinhood is simply day trading for the mobile era, and its design could actually hurt young investors who don’t recognize the risks. The Robinhood app encourages stock-picking and frequent trading and profits from this behavior.
How does robinhood profit from frequent trading if they charge no fees?

Are they front running?
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Old 08-23-2018, 09:31 PM   #14
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How does robinhood profit from frequent trading if they charge no fees?

Are they front running?
The only money they are making is interest on non-invested funds. Where a traditional brokerage might put your uninvested in money market 2%.

And the interest free margin money is only available to Gold Accounts that's $120 a year. Every 2000 at ameritrade is $180 (9.25%). so if you use more than 2k its cheaper.

Also, in this new economy, companies like this get valued on active users. Eventually they'll monetize them somewhere, Somehow. Venmo, Zelle, the money transfer applications are the same model.
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Old 08-23-2018, 09:46 PM   #15
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The only money they are making is interest on non-invested funds. Where a traditional brokerage might put your uninvested in money market 2%.

And the interest free margin money is only available to Gold Accounts that's $120 a year. Every 2000 at ameritrade is $180 (9.25%). so if you use more than 2k its cheaper.

Also, in this new economy, companies like this get valued on active users. Eventually they'll monetize them somewhere, Somehow. Venmo, Zelle, the money transfer applications are the same model.

All that makes sense. Thanks!
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