The next generation of great traders will have the knowledge of coding at their disposal. This will add a great deal of functionality to their trading setups. Many of the old-school traders are either scrambling to learn the code, or hiring people similar to us to code for them. One common myth is that you need to be a Microsoft level developer to be able to code systems for automation and signaling trades. The truth is that anyone can learn it, and it doesn't take that much skill in the way of math either. However, a higher math skill is very beneficial. Logic is really the basic principle that guides scripting for trading platforms. We will be offering free tidbits in our blog to help with some of the scripts. Then, we will also be offering a subscription to our scripting videos that teach the basics of language writing and chart making.
Here is an example of some of the abilities one can grasp with a lower than expected knowledge of Excel. Through services like Yahoo, and Thinkorswim, or Interactive Brokers you can get real-time data pumped into a spreadsheet. And that can give you a powerful radar screen that is completely custom. Below is a sheet showing the stocks and ETFs that were trading above their volume average today, all pumped in every second.
Do you draw trend lines on your charts often? Perhaps you are looking for ways to have the platform that you use to draw them automatically. In some cases, a platform may contain that ability already. In the case of Thinkorswim, it does not. That is where SCRIPTaCHART comes in. If you know how you prefer to draw trend lines, we can likely help automate that in a script. You are now able to order our version of automatic trendline drawing, which looks at the peaks and valleys of the chart to determine where to draw the trend lines automatically.