|
Trading Concepts, Inc It's an awesome product that will have you well on your way to success. Plus, it has a money back guarantee...you have nothing to lose and thousands to gain. ">It is self evident that to day trade you are going to need to have a computer, and everyone has their own ideas about what a good computer might be. Keep in mind that you don’t need a high multi-media computer to trade, but there are some areas you may to which you need to pay careful attention. You will not require a high end multi-media computer, as any quality graphics card will suffice nicely, but I would focus on getting a generous amount RAM, as this is an area that charting programs are particularly dependent. I use 4Gb of RAM and find that to be more than adequate and recommend no less than 2 Gb of RAM, at the least. Buy the most RAM you can afford, you will be using it. A nice sized hard drive is a must, somewhere in the area of a SATA 320Gb drive is sufficient and should serve throughout the life of the computer. I am using Vista with no problems, and cannot comment on the compatability of Windows 7 yet, as I have not yet had a chance to use a computer running that particular operating system. I generally like to use 2-3 screens to trade with, and find trading with one screen very cumbersome. You will want your information spread out nicely so the information you are seeking is easily spotted and interpreted. I don’t have any particular preference for monitors, but I am using two Dells and a ViewSonic. I would go to Best Buy, or your local computer store and have a good look at monitors and choose the one you feel looks the best. Not very scientific, I know, but it’s the same way I buy televisions. Laptop computers work for trading, but they do not have the reliability of a desktop and tend to have some problems dispersing heat from the chip and chipset area, so I don’t highly recommend laptops as a good machine on which to trade, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. It is just no the optimal set-up. You are going to want to keep a back-up of your transactions, and most trading programs have a function that will allow you to download you daily transaction onto a spreadsheet. My experience is that most programs prefer Microsoft Excel, and that is the spreadsheet program that I use, but you could do some experimenting and see if the Open Office spreadsheet is has a compatible file type with most chart programs. I also keep a daily trading diary, and I want to emphasize this activity is a “must do.” You can learn much from looking at your old trades, and see many of the mistakes that you made, or lapses in judgment. A trading diary is a great learning tool and I usually report the temperament of the market and the criterion for the trades I made. Of course, I also note whether the trade was a good one or a dog. If you are particularly computer savvy, you could incorporate all of this information into an Access database, or any other database of your preference. There are several commercial trading diaries available, and there is nothing wrong with them, but I find Excel works just fine and don’t need to spend money when I already am using a nice solution. I would venture the most ignored aspect of computing in general and trading specifically is keeping a back-up of your computer data. Computer hard drives are notorious for crashing and your data might well be permanently lost if this happens. There are several solutions to the backup issue. 1. I use an external hard drive to back up all my information and find it quite satisfactory. Most external hard drives are USB and simply plug into your computer. After that, you initiate the backup sequence and you information is safely stored outside your computer. 2. I have been experimenting with on-line back up systems, specifically MozyHome, and found that I may switch to backing my data up to a third party location. This makes good sense to me, as your data is stored on a secured server. If you had a fire in your home, for example, both your computer and external hard drive might well be damaged. So I think Mozy looks like a pretty good idea. This brief article should give you a good idea as to some of the hardware and software components you will need in your trading. I encourage you to buy quality equipment and not the cheapest stuff of the store rack. I have done this on several occasions and found myself replacing the faulty equipment with loss of data. You don’t necessarily need to buy the best computer in the store, but look for quality. I endorse a state of the art trading program for beginners at Trading Concepts, Inc It's an awesome product that will have you well on your way to success. Plus, it has a money back guarantee...you have nothing to lose and thousands to gain.
Related Articles -
day trading, ES, trading computer, back up,
| 
