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Registered User
Joined: 9/6/2005
Posts: 22
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hi everyone,
i am a newbie to the stock market. I have been investing for a while but not actively trading and now I am dedicated to learning and testing different strategies. my question is has tc2000 really benefited your learning curve about techn. analysis and the markets? is it possible to paper trade/backtest in the sense of keeping track of your entry and exit in a position? if someone could share their story of working with tc2000 i would really appreciate it. Thanks.
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Registered User
Joined: 5/17/2005
Posts: 221
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sukh.
There is not really any back testing availbale in tc 2000 that I know of ...you have to do that manually. I thiknk that mostactive tradres run TC2000 in conjunction with other charting software like esignal etc (nore for intraday trading than TC2000). Where TC2000 shines is in it's ability to make custom scans and sorts. I love the charts as they are easy to read.
If you want a an easy to use charting software that has lots of very cool features then tc2000 is it.
As to benefiting the learning curve on the technical analysis there is no magic box that is going to help you on that. You should paper trade and getused to a couple of indicators that you like and that work for you ...even these will only provide profitable trades 50% of the time.
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Registered User
Joined: 10/26/2005
Posts: 238
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I started learning how to trade stocks in February. I started using TC in November and found it to be a great tool for my trading style. My trades are three days to two weeks average, TC saves me from information OVERLOAD and I like the notes feature. I do about ten paper trades a day and place the best setup about one a week, through SCOTTRADE. Instead of having a big pile of paper to sort through I just add trading notes straight to the chart. Makes it easy for me to track how my setups are doing. The thing that helped me the most is the guys comments and discussions on Worden Studios you can only learn so much from a book, it is nice to have real world information from other traders on how they trade. My best advice for a newbie like me, is to set your stop losses, although my percent profit is going up, as I am still recovering from the trades where I either did not set a stop or pulled a stop.  AB
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Registered User
Joined: 12/2/2004
Posts: 1,775
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I hear a lot of folks advising paper trading for new traders. But I've also heard of a few pros who advise to jump right in and skip the paper trades. Pretty sure Alan Farley is one of the well known pros who advises to forego paper trading. His take is that you won't really learn how to trade in a disciplined manner unless real money is at risk, which also brings in real emotions and anxiety that are absent with paper trades. But of course if you do this you start off trading small and then gradually icrease position sizes as confidence and discipline mature. However, if you are so greeen to trading that you are confused over the differences between limit and market, stop limit and stop market orders, and the pros/cons of each then yes, paper trade first.
You betcha TC2005 helps! Before Telechart I was using slow web based charting programs, newsletters via online and hard mail. TC is unbelieveably fast, and like malcolmb says its custom pcf scan feature rocks.
You already know this and it's easy to say, but sometimes psychologically harder than you may think: Do NOT pull your stops.
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 Gold Customer
Joined: 5/4/2005
Posts: 74
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sukhtejs:
Plenty of good newbie advice above. Regarding backtesting ... there is a "kluge" approach. Assuming you can describe your desired "signal " in a PCF form, use "percent true" to identify past points in charts to examine how your "signal" behaved. Cumbersome ... but better than visual searching.
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Worden Trainer
Joined: 10/1/2004
Posts: 18,819
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If you find markacz's idea interesting, check out this video:
Visually Backtesting Specific Symbols
- Craig
Here to Help!
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Registered User
Joined: 9/6/2005
Posts: 22
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thanks for all your tips everyone. i have read David Nassar Mark Douglas, and Jack Schwagers books on trading. can anyone recommend trading books that have sample trading systems/technical analysis and how to create them. I know there are tons but I think most are terrible. thanks.
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Registered User
Joined: 12/8/2004
Posts: 30
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Something I posted back in February might help .....
I personally have worked from the angle of what am I trying to do, ie short, intermediate or long term. For short time frame, I roll back time on the chart and look at where I would have wanted buy signals and note them then install TSV over the price and starting at 9 tweak it until I get it to "call" 75% of my previous buy signals. Now your actual signal could be crossing up through the zero line or crossing it MA that is up to you. Then when I get it where I want it I move it to its own window. Sounds like a lot of work and it sure would be easier if backtesting was part of TC, but when you get it to "call 75% of your buy signals and then combine it with a positively divergent MS and is transitioning from a negative or nuetral BOP it is a great combination. I have not worked with MACD much so I will not comment on it. The trick is to go through your chart without any indicators, and with the particular mindset of short, medium or long timeframes and make a decision purely on price points THEN adjust TSV to go along with those. Hope that helps.
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Registered User
Joined: 11/29/2005
Posts: 11
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sukhtejs,
I am also somewhat new to trading (not investing) and have found myself overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge to learn. However, I think that is a good thing as I am over coming many myths and biases that I picked up as an investor. As for books, have you read "Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom" by Van Tharp? By all accounts it is THE must read book on trading. There are several suggestions on other books in that one.
I evaluated many software apps before I chose TC. The thing I miss most is back testing and perhaps some canned screens that offer products offer. However, TC allows you to download the data and I am considering writing my own back testing application... While it will be rather crude, it should serve my purpose. In the end, TC was the best app for the money. If anyone has others, I'd like to hear about them.
awellman
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Registered User
Joined: 9/6/2005
Posts: 22
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awellman,
i haven't read Van Tharp's book yet. I am getting bogged down by the amount of information and different tech. indicators one can use when evaluating a stock. I know I need to choose a 2-3 that fit my strategy. Any good books on tech. indicators or anyone experience on how they find their fit please share. Thanks. 
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Registered User
Joined: 12/2/2004
Posts: 1,775
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Hi sukhtejs. Call me the ultimate dummy of trading if you wish; all I use most of the time on my charts are 2 to 3 indicators. Most often 50 & 200 SMAs in top pane with daily candle bars. On the bottom pane with volume I have money stream. Now and then I throw a couple more on the screen...maybe OBV or BOP. I've played with 'em all I think and like you allude to it can be quite confusing with too many. I guess all you can do is to continue to experiment with all different indicators until you become comfortable with a style that suits you. For me with an uncluttered chart I can concentrate more on the overall pattern of the chart and get what I think is a good feel. It also helps when a scan produces say 100 or more charts...since my charts are so basic I can quickly sort through them and mentally discard the overall patterns that I don't like. That's one of the absolute super advantages of Telechart imo...since the charts are on your hard drive you can sort through them as fast as you can tap the space bar. Mr. Worden had a new CD out in which he shows how he goes through a scan, so maybe check it out. FWIW.
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Registered User
Joined: 9/6/2005
Posts: 22
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feptry,
thanks for all your advice. are the OBV, BOP and TSV indicators included in the tc2000 gold package? would you recommend any techn. indicator books i can read and get familiar with?
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Worden Trainer
Joined: 10/1/2004
Posts: 4,308
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All of the indicators you mentioned are part of TeleChart Gold.
Check out this link for a list of books recommended by Don Worden:
Beginner Training
- Doug
Teaching Online!
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Registered User
Joined: 2/21/2005
Posts: 24
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sukhtejs,
Interactive Brokers now offers a free paper trading platform that is identical to their real money platform. It is great.
www.interactivebrokers.com
James
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