Software – VBA for Excel
- My Software Solution
- VBA for Excel
My Software Solution
For trading I use the following;
- Software: VBA for Excel for developing strategies & producing orders.
– I use Office 2003 … yes, I know its old, but it works for me.
- Data: Premium Data/Data tools for my end of day data.
– https://www.premiumdata.net/
- Broker: Interactive Broker for trading futures. I manually enter my orders.
– https://www.interactivebrokers.com
Although I use VBA for Excel I didn’t set out to do so.
I started off with a third party charting package before I bought TradeStation 4(?) in the 1990s.
I can still remember how excited I was when I bought it.
At the time Trade Station was regarded as the number one cutting edge trading package available.
And I can still remember how deflated I felt when I realised after opening it that Easy Language didn’t look so easy!
I really felt deflated.
Talk about taking the wind out of my sails.
But then I came to a sensible realisation.
I realised that if I was going to learn a script coding language I might as well put some extra effort into learning a language that would have more application.
Application in not only helping me to investigate/develop/review/validate trading ideas, but learn a coding language that would have a wider use in other areas, like work.
So I decided I should learn VBA for Excel.
I attended two weekend courses.
The first one was an introductory course on VBA for Excel and the second an intermediate weekend course.
After that I haven’t looked back.
VBA for Excel
Using VBA for excel, once learnt, is relatively straight forward.
It commences with a spreadsheet, or workbook.
To access VBA for Excel you just need to press “Alt & F11”. This will open the VBA Editor.
Once the VBA Editor is open it allows me to commencing coding.
Coding in VBA for Excel allows me to create and chart patterns and ideas.
It allows me to create and chart my Introductory Course “The Truth About Trading’s” Universal Trend tool;
It allows me to create and chart my Introductory Course “The Truth About Trading’s” Universal Support and Resistance tool;
It allows me to create and chart my Introductory Course “The Truth About Trading’s” Universal Cycle tool;
It also allows me to create and test trading systems where I can display and review their entry, exit and stop levels like my Intermediate Course “The Pathway to Sustainable Trading’s” Short-term Pattern 1 strategy;
And it not only allows me to visually chart my ideas but it also allows me to code and create a backend engine for back-testing strategies such as my Advance Course “Strategy Building’s” Universal Bandit methodology;
That’s it.
After completing two weekend VBA courses I was off and running.
However it wasn’t without speed bumps and continuous learning.
There was a lot of frustration, but through effort, trial and error I’ve been independent doing my own coding now for over 25 years.
It’s all I use, VBA for Excel. All the charts, performance metrics on this site and in my books is courtesy of VBA for Excel.
I think my ability to become independent and personally verify every trading idea I have ever wanted to consider for trading has been singularly, after learning the importance and implication of ROR, the most important foundation stone to my trading success.
Now this is the path I followed.
I’m not advocating others do the same.
I’m only sharing what I do to give you an insight into my journey.