Hello all. What an awesome forum!
I am considering purchasing Trading Blox. I currently use Tradestaion for system development and backtesting. My question is this...what advantages are there in using TB vs TS?
I can see two straight away.
1. The ability to backtest a portfolio.
2. A nice assortment of included systems.
Any thoughts, comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Dave
Trading Blox vs Tradestation
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zacharyoxman
- Roundtable Knight
- Posts: 137
- Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2004 11:19 am
- Location: California
Dave,
There are many, and you have highlighted two biggies. My favorites:
- Parameter Stepping (the ability to test multiple parameter sets with one click), which is one of the biggest benefits
- Ability to easily figure in real world costs (commissions AND slippage AND roll slippage/cost) and earned interest
- Ability to easily create and mold systems to your unique needs
- Ease of backup since all major system files are stored in a single directory. It's portable and light
- From the broker side, it's relatively easy for a client to give me a system to trade on their behalf
- All reports are easily exported to Excel
There are many more, but this gives you a nice list. From the standpoint of someone who has used numerous platforms, I highly recommend using Blox above most everything out there.
There are many, and you have highlighted two biggies. My favorites:
- Parameter Stepping (the ability to test multiple parameter sets with one click), which is one of the biggest benefits
- Ability to easily figure in real world costs (commissions AND slippage AND roll slippage/cost) and earned interest
- Ability to easily create and mold systems to your unique needs
- Ease of backup since all major system files are stored in a single directory. It's portable and light
- From the broker side, it's relatively easy for a client to give me a system to trade on their behalf
- All reports are easily exported to Excel
There are many more, but this gives you a nice list. From the standpoint of someone who has used numerous platforms, I highly recommend using Blox above most everything out there.
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Eric Winchell
- Senior Member
- Posts: 38
- Joined: Wed May 28, 2003 2:17 am
TradeStation's portfolio management and conditional abilities don't compare to TB's modular approach. TradeStation was once an innovative and competitive testing environment (one of the first retail packages) but they started to go downhill when the software became a sales platform for the brokerage. For trend followers Trading Recipes has had an edge on TS for over a decade and that gap still hasn't been filled. Don't quote me but I think the founders of the company have also cashed out since it went public.
Thank you for the input.
That said, which version should I purchase? Based on the experience of users, which of the included trading systems are the most robust and a good starting point for my own research? I realize that this is a vendor sponsored forum, but I have been around long enough to recognize that many of you that post to this forum are not trying to sell anything.
The hardest part for me is finding ideas for trading systems. However, I find it quite easy to trade the system after I finish it. This is good.
I am the worlds worst discretionary trader! I am sure that I have provided many of you a stable income stream in the past LOL. That's just my personality. I could spend thousands on a therapist to overcome my character defects, but I found it cheaper to simply trade mechanical systems.
I am growing tired of Tradestation (AKA SlipStation, FeeStation).
That said, which version should I purchase? Based on the experience of users, which of the included trading systems are the most robust and a good starting point for my own research? I realize that this is a vendor sponsored forum, but I have been around long enough to recognize that many of you that post to this forum are not trying to sell anything.
The hardest part for me is finding ideas for trading systems. However, I find it quite easy to trade the system after I finish it. This is good.
I am the worlds worst discretionary trader! I am sure that I have provided many of you a stable income stream in the past LOL. That's just my personality. I could spend thousands on a therapist to overcome my character defects, but I found it cheaper to simply trade mechanical systems.
I am growing tired of Tradestation (AKA SlipStation, FeeStation).
Blox is used by (extremely short term traders), (short term traders), (intermediate term traders), (long term traders), and (extremely long term traders).
Blox is used by (stock traders), (ETF-and-or-mutual fund traders), (forex traders), (futures traders), and (multi asset class traders).
Each of them has different favorite systems. For some people, one or more of the presupplied systems that comes "free" when you buy Blox, is just stupendously great for their tradeables and their timeframe. (Read the posts of user "Chris67" for a shining example of such a person.) For other people, the presupplied systems are mediocre and/or awful for their tradeables and their timeframe (Read the posts of user "Dallas").
So it's hard to predict whether you'll love or hate the presupplied systems. It depends on whether you're more like user Chris67 or like user Dallas. In other words, it depends on you.
You may also find it enjoyable to read the posts of user "Roger Rines". He developed some trading systems using Tradestation, that he likes very much and that he still trades with real money. He "trans ported" these systems from TS into Blox, so he could get the speed benefits, and the portfolio-level benefits, and the simul-traded multi-system "Suite" benefits of Blox. But he isn't using the Blox presupplied systems, hardly at all.
Blox is used by (stock traders), (ETF-and-or-mutual fund traders), (forex traders), (futures traders), and (multi asset class traders).
Each of them has different favorite systems. For some people, one or more of the presupplied systems that comes "free" when you buy Blox, is just stupendously great for their tradeables and their timeframe. (Read the posts of user "Chris67" for a shining example of such a person.) For other people, the presupplied systems are mediocre and/or awful for their tradeables and their timeframe (Read the posts of user "Dallas").
So it's hard to predict whether you'll love or hate the presupplied systems. It depends on whether you're more like user Chris67 or like user Dallas. In other words, it depends on you.
You may also find it enjoyable to read the posts of user "Roger Rines". He developed some trading systems using Tradestation, that he likes very much and that he still trades with real money. He "trans ported" these systems from TS into Blox, so he could get the speed benefits, and the portfolio-level benefits, and the simul-traded multi-system "Suite" benefits of Blox. But he isn't using the Blox presupplied systems, hardly at all.
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AFJ Garner
- Roundtable Knight
- Posts: 2071
- Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2003 3:33 pm
- Location: London
- Contact:
There is no question in my mind that whatever the level of your skills, you should purchase the top of the range, fully programmable version.
Even for a math-o-phobe and non-programming moron such as myself, the question has become "what can I not do" with TB, rather than "what can I do".
To borrow a phrase from the Sage of Incline Village, life with TB becomes a series of "aha" moments. Not forgetting my all too frequent "oh my God" moments when I realise I have made serious errors in my reasoning and/or my coding.
Given the systems which are built in and the add-ons and coding examples provided by the likes of Roger Rines, Sluggo, svquant, solong and many others, it is very hard not to pick up a few skills of your own along the way.
Even for a math-o-phobe and non-programming moron such as myself, the question has become "what can I not do" with TB, rather than "what can I do".
To borrow a phrase from the Sage of Incline Village, life with TB becomes a series of "aha" moments. Not forgetting my all too frequent "oh my God" moments when I realise I have made serious errors in my reasoning and/or my coding.
Given the systems which are built in and the add-ons and coding examples provided by the likes of Roger Rines, Sluggo, svquant, solong and many others, it is very hard not to pick up a few skills of your own along the way.