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Automated trading / platforms etc

  • #1
  • First Post: Edited 6:01pm Sep 14, 2006 5:51pm | Edited 6:01pm
Hey, first off, have to say that this is probably the best trading forum I've come across... just a wealth of information and great people here!


Now, I have been developing a system for quite some time, programming and backtesting in python. I've used 6 years of 1 min intraday tick data from forexite.com. The next step is to find a good automated trading platform, and a good broker, and I also would like a couple of years more intraday data (and more reliable, since there are holes in the forexite data).

Broker: I'm leaning towards oanda.com since from what I understand there is no trading desk and you can have arbitrary lot sizes, which would work great for compounding. But I would need to do more testing in that case, because I have been using fixed spreads to test my system. And what about API/platforms. Any good?
Any other brokers I should be looking at?

Platform: I've started looking at wealthlab, but I'm slightly confused as how to get the minute data in (free data anyway). Also, since I am a programmer I would like a good deal of control and good speed for backtesting, and I don't know which platform is the best in this regard.
Also, are there a lot of differences in automation and backtesting/indikator capabilities between platforms? It seems that a lot of platforms try to be an "all in one" solution...
Oh, also, I would prefer an mac os x platform (perhaps java?) since that's my os of choice.

Historical data: Seems to be a lot of data providers out there, but who is reliable? I would like to have atleast 10 years worth of minute tick data in the major currency pairs... and free if possible. (Obviously I'm willing to pay for reliability.)

end rant

Thx!
  • #2
  • Sep 14, 2006 8:45pm Sep 14, 2006 8:45pm
Can't help you too much with the API to use for the automated trading, but in terms of free historical data for the majors (and others) ... the best I have found is:

http://www.alpari-idc.com/en/dc/databank.php
You can quit and they won't care, but you will always know.
  • #3
  • Sep 15, 2006 4:15am Sep 15, 2006 4:15am
Quoting Akuma99
Can't help you too much with the API to use for the automated trading, but in terms of free historical data for the majors (and others) ... the best I have found is:

http://www.alpari-idc.com/en/dc/databank.php
Yeah, thx, found that one too. Unfortunately it's not as much as I would like. Seems I have to try some quote provider then.
  • #4
  • Sep 15, 2006 10:08am Sep 15, 2006 10:08am
Quoting quathar
Hey, first off, have to say that this is probably the best trading forum I've come across... just a wealth of information and great people here!


Now, I have been developing a system for quite some time, programming and backtesting in python. I've used 6 years of 1 min intraday tick data from forexite.com. The next step is to find a good automated trading platform, and a good broker, and I also would like a couple of years more intraday data (and more reliable, since there are holes in the forexite data).

Broker: I'm leaning towards oanda.com since from what I understand there is no trading desk and you can have arbitrary lot sizes, which would work great for compounding. But I would need to do more testing in that case, because I have been using fixed spreads to test my system. And what about API/platforms. Any good?
Any other brokers I should be looking at?

Platform: I've started looking at wealthlab, but I'm slightly confused as how to get the minute data in (free data anyway). Also, since I am a programmer I would like a good deal of control and good speed for backtesting, and I don't know which platform is the best in this regard.
Also, are there a lot of differences in automation and backtesting/indikator capabilities between platforms? It seems that a lot of platforms try to be an "all in one" solution...
Oh, also, I would prefer an mac os x platform (perhaps java?) since that's my os of choice.

Historical data: Seems to be a lot of data providers out there, but who is reliable? I would like to have atleast 10 years worth of minute tick data in the major currency pairs... and free if possible. (Obviously I'm willing to pay for reliability.)

end rant

Thx!
10 years of FREE tick data will be hard to come by. I was able to get almost 10 years of hourly data and almost 30 years of daily data for free from an InterbankFX demo.

I was able to get 5 years of 1 minute data from a russian site (like forexexite.com or something like that...I don't have the link any more since after I got the data I was already archiving my own tick data).

Besides, why do you need 10 years of data? The Forex market has gone through vast changes in movement since just 2 years ago. As the market opens up and world events change, the movement of the currencies fluctuate wildly. This isn't like stock trading where by people have years and years of experience in doing this. As exploits occur, the market finds a way to compensate rather quickly. Think of it this way, for every year of data you'll get enough cyclical patterns for 5 years of equities data.

You'll find that patterns that work well today weren't so hot only 2 years ago. The market just evolves so quickly.

Good luck, though.
  • #5
  • Last Post: Sep 16, 2006 6:06am Sep 16, 2006 6:06am
Quoting mrmikal
10 years of FREE tick data will be hard to come by. I was able to get almost 10 years of hourly data and almost 30 years of daily data for free from an InterbankFX demo.

I was able to get 5 years of 1 minute data from a russian site (like forexexite.com or something like that...I don't have the link any more since after I got the data I was already archiving my own tick data).

Besides, why do you need 10 years of data? The Forex market has gone through vast changes in movement since just 2 years ago. As the market opens up and world events change, the movement of the currencies fluctuate wildly. This isn't like stock trading where by people have years and years of experience in doing this. As exploits occur, the market finds a way to compensate rather quickly. Think of it this way, for every year of data you'll get enough cyclical patterns for 5 years of equities data.

You'll find that patterns that work well today weren't so hot only 2 years ago. The market just evolves so quickly.

Good luck, though.
Thx, yeah, I've noticed free data is hard to come by.
As far as backtesting is concerned, I have taken the fact that markets change into consideration, so do multiple checks with different timeframes. Although from what I understand, the currency market isn't mainly an investment market such as stocks, bonds, or futures, and retail actors are still a drop in the sea. Therefore, patterns should be more consistant.
But at any rate, since my approach is a cyclical/range one, it should not be dependant on trending or overly dependant on different market situations. Simply put: the more data that the system works with, the more probable it is. And I'm a zealot when it comes to double and triple checking.
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