Jump to content

Welcome to the new Traders Laboratory! Please bear with us as we finish the migration over the next few days. If you find any issues, want to leave feedback, get in touch with us, or offer suggestions please post to the Support forum here.

  • Welcome Guests

    Welcome. You are currently viewing the forum as a guest which does not give you access to all the great features at Traders Laboratory such as interacting with members, access to all forums, downloading attachments, and eligibility to win free giveaways. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free. Create a FREE Traders Laboratory account here.

Soultrader

Crisis Control

Recommended Posts

Would like to dedicate this thread to crisis control measures that traders take in case of emergencies. This includes exchange technical issues, broker issues, trade problems, etc... What contracts or markets can you hedge against? What sort of backup plans do you have?

 

Some thoughts;

 

1. Always have more than one brokerage account.

2. Always have a direct number to your broker. I maintain a good relationship with my broker so if anything goes wrong I can always reach him and manage my position. In fact, brokers that call you out of concern are worth keeping.

3. Have more than one internet connection. Also do not use a wireless connection.

4. Use at least 2 PC's. I personally use one for charts and one for order execution but with software installed on both pc's.

5. Have an extra mouse and keyboard ready. Do not use wireless battery types.

6. Know which market to hedge against in case of an emergency; ex: YM and ES, Nikkei and TOPIX, Nikkei and JGB, Futures and options, etc...

7. Do not be cheap when buying a pc. Trading platforms can be quite cpu intensive and the last thing you want is your pc to freeze up in a fast market.

8. Have a drawdown limit set by your broker within their risk control system. I do this primarily to control my own destructive behavior such as revenge trading, over trading, etc.. It also works to protect yourself from any signficant losses.

9. Lastly, deal with a reputable broker. I have seen far too many fraudelent businesses especially here in Japan where commodities are an unregulated market.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

2. Always have a direct number to your broker.

 

 

not just have the number... but write it down on a piece of paper and tape it to the wall in front of you.

 

People always say: I can look up the broker's number on the internet, or I have it in my email...

 

Well, not when the internet is down, or your computer crashed.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

1. Only have one broker (trying to figure out if your position is open/closed/bracketed and then adjusting for that with another broker is a NIGHTMARE).

 

2. Tape the phone number up and keep a copy in your car. No backup computers. Not even a phone (we are now 100% internet with cable only). If, as happens once a year the pc or internet goes down and I don't know whats going on I call IB and get them to cancel everything thats not long term and protected.

 

3. I do keep backup pc images though and can restore operation in 30 minutes on my main or one of my children's pcs.

 

 

If PC reliability was a problem or the internet or power were unreliable I'd do something different but I've had 1 pc failure, 1 power failure, and about 4 internet failures over 10 minutes in the last 5 years. One of the internet failures was a flood which killed the suburb for all providers for 3 days. Also had IB's servers go down once in that period and had to shut down once for a Typhoon in HK (so the exchange was closed).

 

So, if your PC, power, and internet are reliable ... backup is a cellphone with your brokers number on hotkey :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I believe Tokyo Stock Exchange allows you to modify orders from multiple ISV vendors. So if you had a trade on using for example, TT you can cancel or close this out using another ISV platform connected to TSE.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I believe Tokyo Stock Exchange allows you to modify orders from multiple ISV vendors. So if you had a trade on using for example, TT you can cancel or close this out using another ISV platform connected to TSE.

 

What does ISV stand for? Also one thing that I can add is: if you do open another account, don't only fund it with the minimum margin requirements. What I mean is, if your broker requires $500/contract and you trade 10 contracts usually, don't fund the backup account with only $5000. If the trade goes against you, the broker can liquidate the position, which would defeat the purpose of having the backup broker altogether.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks James, this is an interesting topic. If things go well I am planning to go live in Autumn and safety measures are also one of the things I need to solve.

 

So far I have:

Two computers. One desktop PC and one notebook. That should protect me from electricity blackouts (which are not so uncommon here, especially during summer rainstorms) and from PC failures (though my PC's are stable).

Two internet connections. DSL and a wireless connection. I can also set up a connection via my cell phone in 20 minutes or so, if things go really bad.

I have a land line and a cell phone to reach my broker.

 

What I am thinking of is whether I need two brokers. So far I have only one, IB. So I'd like to ask more experienced traders whore are with IB how often IB have problems. Kiwi said once in 5 years.

 

Also had IB's servers go down once in that period...

 

How long did it take to restore the severs? Minutes? hours? days? And were they able to close your position while their servers were down? (Assuming you had a position and called them.)

 

Also I'd like to ask NQ traders how often there are exchange problems and if and how they hedge in those cases.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Place an 'emergency stop' when entering the market. This is not based on money management or market structure it's the 'oh crap the PC is broken' stop.

 

It's a shame that more brokers wont hold OCO orders for stop and target that are contingent on your entry stop/limit order being filled. If your broker does provide this use it...if not pester them to implement it. A failure between broker and exchange is less likely than one between you and the broker. If you enter on stop consider placing the order as late as possible. Problems can occur when you have a resting order at the exchange that is elected whilst your PC/Internet/Phone is broken. This is less practical for limit orders as you will be further back in the queue.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
What does ISV stand for? Also one thing that I can add is: if you do open another account, don't only fund it with the minimum margin requirements. What I mean is, if your broker requires $500/contract and you trade 10 contracts usually, don't fund the backup account with only $5000. If the trade goes against you, the broker can liquidate the position, which would defeat the purpose of having the backup broker altogether.

 

ISV stands for Independent Service Vendor. These are firms like TT, CQG, Pats, GL Trade that provide stand alone trading platforms that are not developed by the brokerage firm. These firms are more widely used amongst institutions as they have different needs that certain ISV's can provide.

 

Some ISV's provide order types not supported by the exchange. For example, if exchange ABC does not support stops an ISV may allow it to be held on their server and when hit will send a market to the exchange.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Be careful who you blame.   I can tell you one thing for sure.   Effective traders don’t blame others when things start to go wrong.   You can hang onto your tendency to play the victim, or the martyr… but if you want to achieve in trading, you have to be prepared to take responsibility.   People assign reasons to outcomes, whether based on internal or external factors.   When traders face losses, it's common for them to blame bad luck, poor advice, or other external factors, rather than reflecting on their own personal attributes like arrogance, fear, or greed.   This is a challenging lesson to grasp in your trading journey, but one that holds immense value.   This is called attribution theory. Taking responsibility for your actions is the key to improving your trading skills. Pause and ask yourself - What role did I play in my financial decisions?   After all, you were the one who listened to that source, and decided to act on that trade based on the rumour. Attributing results solely to external circumstances is what is known as having an ‘external locus of control’.   It's a concept coined by psychologist Julian Rotter in 1954. A trader with an external locus of control might say, "I made a profit because the markets are currently favourable."   Instead, strive to develop an "internal locus of control" and take ownership of your actions.   Assume that all trading results are within your realm of responsibility and actively seek ways to improve your own behaviour.   This is the fastest route to enhancing your trading abilities. A trader with an internal locus of control might proudly state, "My equity curve is rising because I am a disciplined trader who faithfully follows my trading plan." Author: Louise Bedford Source: https://www.tradinggame.com.au/
    • SELF IMPROVEMENT.   The whole self-help industry began when Dale Carnegie published How to Win Friends and Influence People in 1936. Then came other classics like Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins toward the end of the century.   Today, teaching people how to improve themselves is a business. A pure ruthless business where some people sell utter bullshit.   There are broke Instagrammers and YouTubers with literally no solid background teaching men how to be attractive to women, how to begin a start-up, how to become successful — most of these guys speaking nothing more than hollow motivational words and cliche stuff. They waste your time. Some of these people who present themselves as hugely successful also give talks and write books.   There are so many books on financial advice, self-improvement, love, etc and some people actually try to read them. They are a waste of time, mostly.   When you start reading a dozen books on finance you realize that they all say the same stuff.   You are not going to live forever in the learning phase. Don't procrastinate by reading bull-shit or the same good knowledge in 10 books. What we ought to do is choose wisely.   Yes. A good book can change your life, given you do what it asks you to do.   All the books I have named up to now are worthy of reading. Tim Ferriss, Simon Sinek, Robert Greene — these guys are worthy of reading. These guys teach what others don't. Their books are unique and actually, come from relevant and successful people.   When Richard Branson writes a book about entrepreneurship, go read it. Every line in that book is said by one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time.   When a Chinese millionaire( he claims to be) Youtuber who releases a video titled “Why reading books keeps you broke” and a year later another one “My recommendation of books for grand success” you should be wise to tell him to jump from Victoria Falls.   These self-improvement gurus sell you delusions.   They say they have those little tricks that only they know that if you use, everything in your life will be perfect. Those little tricks. We are just “making of a to-do-list before sleeping” away from becoming the next Bill Gates.   There are no little tricks.   There is no success-mantra.   Self-improvement is a trap for 99% of the people. You can't do that unless you are very, very strong.   If you are looking for easy ways, you will only keep wasting your time forgetting that your time on this planet is limited, as alive humans that is.   Also, I feel that people who claim to read like a book a day or promote it are idiots. You retain nothing. When you do read a good book, you read slow, sometimes a whole paragraph, again and again, dwelling on it, trying to internalize its knowledge. You try to understand. You think. It takes time.   It's better to read a good book 10 times than 1000 stupid ones.   So be choosy. Read from the guys who actually know something, not some wannabe ‘influencers’.   Edit: Think And Grow Rich was written as a result of a project assigned to Napoleon Hill by Andrew Carnegie(the 2nd richest man in recent history). He was asked to study the most successful people on the planet and document which characteristics made them great. He did extensive work in studying hundreds of the most successful people of that time. The result was that little book.   Nowadays some people just study Instagram algorithms and think of themselves as a Dale Carnegie or Anthony Robbins. By Nupur Nishant, Quora Profits from free accurate cryptos signals: https://www.predictmag.com/    
    • there is no avoiding loses to be honest, its just how the market is. you win some and hopefully more, but u do lose some. 
    • $CSCO Cisco Systems stock, nice top of range breakout, from Stocks to Watch at https://stockconsultant.com/?CSCOSEPN Septerna stock watch for a bottom breakout, good upside price gap
    • $CSCO Cisco Systems stock, nice top of range breakout, from Stocks to Watch at https://stockconsultant.com/?CSCOSEPN Septerna stock watch for a bottom breakout, good upside price gap
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.