Page 260 - THE MARKET WHISPERER

256 PART 9 - The Trading Platform

The first was from “Ameritrade,” an online platform that required no
installation, but did not provide the performance speed needed for
trading. As a web-based platform, it was ideal for long-term investors,
but was far from supporting the intraday high speed execution needs of
a day trader. The second platform I used was the wonderful CyberTrader,
which unfortunately was bought out by Charles Schwab, a company that
specializes more in investment than active trading, and therefore killed
the platform.

My next choice was a top-of-the-line technology called Trade Station.
It was advanced and smart, containing endless “toys,” but it created a “too
many trees to see the forest” situation and was unsuited to day trading.
Three months later, I realized I needed to be like racecar drivers, who can’t
compete in a luxury Mercedes model. I set out to look for the next platform.

My fourth choice was an excellent one, but it had no charts. Its execution
performance system was excellent and fast, but to check charts I needed
to link with an external program. The charting program was also excellent.
However, needing to integrate two platforms required not only an
additional payment of several hundred dollars per month to the charting
company, but it was unwieldy. Even though I really liked the platform, I
realized it was worth letting that one go as well.

My fifth attempt lasted no longer than two weeks. The platform was
slow as a turtle and highly sensitive to my Internet speed. It would crash,
get stuck, and stutter several times a day. When I sought service for it,
I came up against a stone wall in the form of an employee in New York
named Chang with a service awareness that left much to be desired.

I finally reached a good “resting place” when I began using the COLMEX
Pro platform, which adapts well to novice traders and experienced traders
alike. At last, I had found a real “cockpit” for stock trading, with a few
extras, but no bells and whistles.

Choosing a Trading Platform

In Chapter Two, I detailed the characteristics required of a trading platform,
and therefore I will only repeat the main points:
• The platform must be of the Direct Access type, allowing the trader to

buy and sell shares directly for every target according to the trader’s
choice or an effective automatic router.
• The platform must be installed on your computer and not web-based,
since only the installed programs are fast, reliable, and can be personally
configured.