Building Winning Trading Systems with Tradestation, + Website

The stock market is constantly evolving, and coupled with the new global economic landscape, traders need to radically rethink the way they do business at home and abroad. Enter Building Winning Trading Systems, Second Edition, the all-new incarnation of the established text on getting the most out of the trading world. With technology now a pervasive element of every aspect of trading, the issue has become how to create a new system that meets the demands of the altered financial climate, and how to make it work.

Giving voice to the question on every trader and investor's lips, the book asks, "How can we build a trading system that will be paramount for our increasingly stressed markets?" The answer? Establish mechanical trading systems that remove human emotion from the equation and form the cornerstone of a complete trading plan and with greater agility, characteristics that are more important than ever given the kinetic pace of the markets.

• Presents an all-new strategy for trading systems that will show traders how to create systems that will work in the twenty first century
• Expert advice from highly respected trading authority, George Pruitt
• Includes a new website featuring updated TradeStation code and shows how to use the world's best investment software platform to develop and utilize trading systems that really work

Once again paving the way for traders who want to adapt to their environment, Building Winning Trading Systems, Second Edition combines expertise in indicator design and system building in one indispensable volume.

Foreword xi

Preface xvii

Acknowledgments xix

Chapter 1 Fundamentals—What is EasyLanguage? 1

Variables and Data Types 2

Operators and Expressions 4

TradeStation 2000i vs TradeStation 9.0 7

Conclusions 32

Chapter 2 EasyLanguage Program Structure 33

Structured Programming 33

Program Header 34

Calculation Module: MyRSIsystem 35

Conclusions 40

Chapter 3 Program Control Structures 41

Conditional Branching with If-Then 41

Conditional Branching with If-Then-Else 45

Repetitive Control Structures 50

Conclusions 53

Chapter 4 TradeStation Analysis Techniques 55

Indicators 55

PaintBar and ShowMe Studies 62

Functions 68

Strategies 72

Conclusions 77

Chapter 5 Measuring Trading System Performance and System Optimization 79

TradeStation’s Summary Report 80

Trade Analysis 90

Optimization Old School Style 95

Conclusions 126

Chapter 6 Trading Strategies That Work (or the Big Damn Chapter on Trading Strategies) 127

The King Keltner Trading Strategy 128

The Bollinger Bandit Trading Strategy 131

The Thermostat Trading Strategy 134

The Dynamic Break Out II Strategy 141

The Super Combo Day Trading Strategy 147

The Ghost Trader Trading Strategy 165

The Money Manager Trading Strategy 168

Bonus Trading Strategies 171

Conclusions 174

Chapter 7 Debugging and Output 175

Logical versus Syntax Errors 176

Debugging with the Print Statement and the Print Log 176

Debugging with the Built-In Debugger 178

Table Creator 184

Conclusions 190

Chapter 8 TradeStation as a Research Tool 191

Commitment of Traders Report 191

Conclusions 210

Chapter 9 Using TradeStation’s Percent Change Charts to Track Relative Performance 211

Working with Percent Change Charts 213

Conclusions 217

Chapter 10 Options: Introduction and Strategies 219

Part A: Getting Started with Options Trading 219

Part B: Real-Life Options Strategies and Trades 242

Conclusions 250

Chapter 11 Interviews with Developers 251

Appendix A TradeStation 2000i Source Code of Select Programs 295

Bollinger Bandit 295

Dynamic Break Out II by George Pruitt 296

DBS II Fade by George Pruitt 297

King Keltner Program by George Pruitt 298

MyAdxSys 299

MyMomRsi 300

MyMovAvgSys 301

MyTrailPrcntStop 302

Seasonal Soybean 303

Super Combo by George Pruitt 304

Thermostat by George Pruitt 307

The Ghost Trader by George Pruitt 309

The Money Manager by George Pruitt 311

Appendix B Reserved Words Quick Reference 313

About the Website 389

Index 391

GEORGE PRUITT is Director of Research for Futures Truth magazine. He has written for Futures magazine and has had his research published by the Wall Street Journal and Barron's. Pruitt holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Asheville and co- programmed the Excalibur testing software. He has coded over 1,000 different trading methodologies and is the coauthor of The Ultimate Trading Guide (Wiley).

JOHN R. HILL is President and founder of Futures Truth magazine, a leading periodical that analyzes and rates trading systems. He holds a master's degree in chemical engineering from The Ohio State University and is the coauthor of The Ultimate Trading Guide (Wiley).

Given the increasingly frenetic pace at which the stock market is changing, traders are turning to new and ever more powerful tools to help them better manage their investments. Chief among these is TradeStation^®, the premier investment software on the market today. In Building Winning Trading Systems with TradeStation^® + Website, Second Edition, systems experts George Pruitt and John Hill walk you through the ins and outs of this remarkable platform, giving you the tools, expertise, and advice you need to put it to work for you.

A user's manual for anyone looking to learn the fundamentals of creating and utilizing trading systems with TradeStation, the book explains EasyLanguage^®, the proprietary, easy-to-use programming language that allows you to build customized trading strategies. Covering the essentials of successful programming, the book addresses program structures, how to measure trading system performance, and much more.

Filled with practical examples, including the code you need to put them to use, this Second Edition of Building Winning Trading Systems with TradeStation^® + Website covers the key topics—from debugging and output to analysis techniques—that you need to master in order to trade in the stock, futures, commodities, and other major markets. Also exploring how to use TradeStation as a research tool, and offering insightful interviews with some of the top developers in the trading industry, the book is a truly comprehensive manual to using the TradeStation platform.

In addition, in-depth appendices and a supplemental website featuring updated code make this fully revised and updated edition of Building Winning Trading Systems with TradeStation^® + Website the ultimate guide to using the world's best investment software to develop and utilize trading systems that are nimble enough to help you profit in today's fast-moving markets.

Given the increasingly frenetic pace at which the stock market is changing, traders are turning to new and ever more powerful tools to help them better manage their investments. Chief among these is TradeStation^®, the premier investment software on the market today. In Building Winning Trading Systems with TradeStation^® + Website, Second Edition, systems experts George Pruitt and John Hill walk you through the ins and outs of this remarkable platform, giving you the tools, expertise, and advice you need to put it to work for you.

A user's manual for anyone looking to learn the fundamentals of creating and utilizing trading systems with TradeStation, the book explains EasyLanguage^®, the proprietary, easy-to-use programming language that allows you to build customized trading strategies. Covering the essentials of successful programming, the book addresses program structures, how to measure trading system performance, and much more.

Filled with practical examples, including the code you need to put them to use, this Second Edition of Building Winning Trading Systems with TradeStation^® + Website covers the key topics—from debugging and output to analysis techniques—that you need to master in order to trade in the stock, futures, commodities, and other major markets. Also exploring how to use TradeStation as a research tool, and offering insightful interviews with some of the top developers in the trading industry, the book is a truly comprehensive manual to using the TradeStation platform.

In addition, in-depth appendices and a supplemental website featuring updated code make this fully revised and updated edition of Building Winning Trading Systems with TradeStation^® + Website the ultimate guide to using the world's best investment software to develop and utilize trading systems that are nimble enough to help you profit in today's fast-moving markets.