# Automated Platform Choices



## Zmfb039 (17 March 2017)

Struggling to find a platform that can trade ASX stocks and is fully automatable.  I essentially would like to build my own strategies, back test these strategies and trade live with a fully automated system (for stocks not forex) Does anyone offer this?

MT5 appears to be compatible with stocks, is anyone using this to trade on the ASX with live data?

Is the interactive Broker Trader Workstation (TWS) system fully automatable for ASX stocks?

Does the ProRealTime system with IG offer full automation and can the system be used for stocks?

It would appear TradeStation may be worth a look, is anyone trading live ASX with this system?

I have tested NinjaTrader and think the functionality is reasonable though it’s frustrating that the demo account uses EOD data.  I would prefer to back test with minute data (without having to download GBs), do these desktop platforms allow easy connection to a server for thorough back testing of stock data?

Appreciate people’s comments thoughts.


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## Habakkuk (17 March 2017)

Zmfb039 said:


> Struggling to find a platform that can trade ASX stocks and is fully automatable.  I essentially would like to build my own strategies, back test these strategies and trade live with a fully automated system (for stocks not forex) Does anyone offer this?
> 
> MT5 appears to be compatible with stocks, is anyone using this to trade on the ASX with live data?
> 
> ...




Interactive Brokers offer APIs for Excel and Python. If you're a competent programmer, it's possible to write a fully automatic execution platform.
Similarly, Paritech offer APIs for Excel and Amibroker through Open Markets that can do the same. I'm not sure if ANZ's E*Trade platform lets you place automatic orders through their Excel Add-on. Expensive brokerage, though. To my knowledge, no other brokers offer anything along those lines. Westpac and Amscot have the Excel Add-on which is only for getting data into Excel, not to place orders.

If you're not confident with writing the whole thing yourself, you will have to rely on MT4 or 5 or NT and a broker that lets you trade ASX stocks with it. AFAIK, this means CFDs at best. I've looked into this last year and couldn't find any, but didn't look very hard.

In the meantime I've written a less ambitious application that's using IRESS to grab live data and give me audible and visual alerts when a limit price is reached. I still need to place the trades manually. To be honest, I would be a bit nervous having to rely on my programming skills for unattended operation.
Similarly, don't rely on my information too much. You'll have to ask those brokers directly.


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## DaveDaGr8 (17 March 2017)

The IB API is really good once you get the hang of it.

A few things though
The excel spreadsheet sucks, especially with the later versions of excel and windows 10. Play with it, but i wouldn't recommend using it.

You're going to have to get a handle on event driven programming and sequencing because everything is request/pushed.

Be wary of their data limitations, you can't scan the whole market in real time only 100 stocks unless you buy booster packs. I think the limit is 10, so 1000 stocks simultaneously.

Good luck


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## jon.nermut (18 March 2017)

DaveDaGr8 said:


> The IB API is really good once you get the hang of it.
> 
> A few things though
> The excel spreadsheet sucks, especially with the later versions of excel and windows 10. Play with it, but i wouldn't recommend using it.
> ...




I was trying to work out if you pay for access to the IB API or not?

Also do they have historical data?

I am looking for at least years woth of ASX *intraday* data to test algorithms on, anybody got a source?


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## Trembling Hand (18 March 2017)

IB API is free - data is only for a few months depending on instrument, some you can get more than others and not that great for backtesting.


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## jon.nermut (18 March 2017)

Thanks, Just realised I was confused IB with IG, which also have a http API, and openmarkets.com.au have a http and websocket api, but neither are transparent in t&c's
Will check out IB.



Trembling Hand said:


> IB API is free - data is only for a few months depending on instrument, some you can get more than others and not that great for backtesting.


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## DaveDaGr8 (18 March 2017)

Try premiumdata.com. not free but they do all the adjusting for you. IB or any other brokers core business is not to maintain historical data so there is always errors and variations that will throw systems off. If you want free then you can try Yahoo data.


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## kefa (18 March 2017)

jon.nermut said:


> I am looking for at least years woth of ASX *intraday* data to test algorithms on, anybody got a source?




Good quality ASX intraday data does not come cheap. The cheapest way would be through WebIress they have an excel plugin that you can setup to download 1 minute bar data. It won't be adjusted and you will still need a source for index constituent data.


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## DaveDaGr8 (19 March 2017)

sorry, didn't read that bit about intraday data.

I have used IB with Amibroker in the past. you can store and record intraday data with no programming required. IB does not send tick data though and Amibroker minimum timeperiod is 1 second ( i think ). Also as i mentioned, IB have a 100 ticker limit unless you pay more.


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