Trading Office Requirements and Suggestions

Trading Office Requirements and Suggestions
Version 2008-04-16a (Last Checked 2010-09)

Computer with Windows, 1G or better processor and 1G+ RAM, XP, Vista or Windows 7
High-speed Internet connection
TradeStation charting application and trading platform; see TradeStation
Datafeeds: OPRA, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ, CME Globex/CME Globex Market Depth, Standard & Poors (S&P) Indices, and optionally, the AMEX

On setup, TradeStation will ask for completion of online exchange agreement forms

Email account
Telephone (with broker contact information readily at hand)
CNBC via either TV or Internet connection
Multiple monitors are very helpful - two monitors work well
In TradeStation, change the Fib tools under “Drawing”, “Fibonacci Tools and “Price Extension lines” add a 127% and a 27% box then select “Default” so all future tool use has the correct Fib “27” values
Rhythm TradeStation indicators; to obtain these custom indicators contact Stan Moore; setup instructions provided on the ROM web site

Ed Fib MD71 (multi-day Fib drawing indicator)

Ed Fib YD 71 (long term Fib drawing indicator)

Ed CROSS with Avg 71, the Oscillator with ‘Update value intra-bar’ on

Set all TradeStation workspaces to Eastern Standard Time (recommended)
TradeStation Rhythm workspaces and basic configuration (see web site for specifics)

‘OM 1 Min’ workspace (optional for entry or exit purposes)

@SP.P
Ed CROSS with Avg 71, the Oscillator with ‘Update value intra-bar’ on
Ed Fib YD 71 (retracement lines) (Video 1)

‘OM 5 Min’ workspace (2 days showing, 10 days of data)

@SP.P
Ed CROSS with Avg 71, the Oscillator with ‘Update value intra-bar’ on
Ed Fib YD 71 (retracement lines)
20 EMA (exponential moving average)
27s (-27%/127%) Fibonacci levels as needed

‘OM 30 Min’ workspace (5 days showing, 30 days of data)

@SP.P
Ed CROSS with Avg 71, the Oscillator with ‘Update value intra-bar’ on
Ed Fib YD 71 (retracement lines)
Ed UNI High 71 (upper UNI line, includes the mid Uni, U4 set .89)
Ed UNI Low 71 (lower UNI line, U4 set .89)

‘OM 60 Min’ workspace (20 days showing, 60 days of data)

@SP.P
Ed CROSS with Avg 71, the Oscillator with ‘Update value intra-bar’ on
Fibonacci lines from High to Low.

‘OM 135 Min’ workspace (3 months days showing, 1 year of data)

@SP.P
Ed CROSS with Avg 71, the Oscillator -> No Osc per data above
Fibonacci lines from High to Low

‘OM Daily’ workspace (6 months showing, 2 years of data)

$SPX.X (Cash index)
Ed CROSS with Avg 71, the Oscillator with ‘Update value intra-bar’ on
20 Day Moving Average
50 Day Moving Average
200 Moving Average
Edit the Daily workspace to larger weekly or monthly view if larger time frames are needed
Option Quotes (see Sample Tradestation Option Quotes)
OEX Weekly ATM and next 2 OTM strike prices
OEX Monthly ATM and next 2 OTM strike prices

‘Quote Page’ workspace (see Sample Quotes Option page sample)

$TICK, Tick Index
$ADV, NYSE Advancing Issues
$DECL, NYSE Declining Issues
TLT, iShares Lehman 20 Year Treasury Fund
@SP.P, full S&P500 Future Contract; alternatively use @ES.D for the S&P E-mini
$DJI, Dow Jones Industrials Cash Index
$COMPX, NASDAQ Composite Index
$SPX.X, S&P 500 Cash Index
$OEX.X, S&P 100 Cash Index
$IUX, Russell 2000 Cash Index
QQQQ, NASDAQ 100 Unit Trust ETF
USO, US Oil Fund
$VIX.X, CBOE Volatility Index
Other stocks (helpful, not necessary); 20 high beta stocks for Trading

Broker(s) which can quote and trade the following securities preferably in one account

OEX index options
S&P E-mini futures
Stocks
(Optionally) Forex currency pairs

Background financial TV is helpful, try CNBC and pay attention between 8:30-10:00 AM EST; this information reinforces comments on the 12:00 PM Rhythm chart.
Use TradeStation’s Fibonacci extension tool for determining OM ABC profit targets; located under ‘Drawing’ -> ‘Fibonacci Tools’ -> ‘Price Extension Lines’.

Use the full S&P, contract symbol @SP.P, for charting purposes but trade the E-mini, symbol base ES. These two TradeStation symbols track almost identically.