Basic Overview of Using Strategies in Thinkorswim
Thinkorswim Strategy Guide
So you have this trading strategy but you have no idea how it performs. Wouldn’t you love to be able to have Thinkorswim automatically test your strategy for you? And wouldn’t it be great if it let you export the trade details so you could analyze them in a spreadsheet? Yeah, it can do that. This video, “Thinkorswim Strategy Guide”, shows you how. The video even includes a link to download a custom strategy that can both long and short entries. The link is embedded within the video so be sure to watch for it. This amazing feature in Thinkorswim is explained step-by-step. If you want to see more videos on this topic just be sure to like the video and leave some comments below.
The following link will take you to the page where you can download the strategy featured in this video:
Strat_PivotRev_SlowDRevSTRATEGY.ts
For Advanced Users Only:
Take this knowledge to the next level and learn how to automate your trades on Thinkorswim
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DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL ADVISOR AND NOTHING IN THIS VIDEO OR TEXT IS AN ADVERTISEMENT OR RECOMMENDATION TO BUY OR SELL ANY FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT. NOR IS THIS VIDEO OR TEXT INTENDED TO INSTRUCT YOU ON HOW TO MAKE BUY OR SELL DECISIONS USING ANY OF THESE INDICATORS.
*Thinkorswim is a chart analysis platform offered by TD Ameritrade: www.tdameritrade.com
TD Ameritrade provides financial services including the trading of Stocks, Futures, Options and Forex.
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Watch the video, Thinkorswim Strategy Guide below:
A viewer requested the lower study version of a strategy demonstrated in this video. The time stamp where this appears is around 11:22 and the study is called “Strat_PivotRev_TrailSqz”. I decided to make this available to everyone right here at the end of this post. The code is displayed below. Just select the text of the code and copy it to your clipboard. Then in the TOS platform go to the edit studies window and click the ‘New” button in the lower left. You can name the study however you like, then paste this code into that window, being sure to first clear away any text that shows up by default. Hope it helps. If you any further questions just leave a comment in the box below.
declare lower;
input direction = {default "Long", "Short"};
input tradeSize = 100;
input KPeriod = 10;
input DPeriod = 10;
input priceH = high;
input priceL = low;
input priceC = close;
input averageType = AverageType.SIMPLE;
def SlowD = reference StochasticFull(80,20,KPeriod,DPeriod,priceH,priceL,priceC,3,averageType).FullD;
def pivotLow = low > low[1] and low[1] < low[2] and low[2] < low[3];
def pivotHigh = high < high[1] and high[1] > high[2];
plot pivotLowReversal = ( pivotLow and close > high[1] ) or ( pivotLow[1] and close > high[2] and low > low[2] and high[1] < high[2] );
plot exitLong = SlowD < SlowD[1] and SlowD[1] < SlowD[2] and highest(pivotLowReversal[0],2) == 0;
def entry;
def exit;
switch (direction) {
case "Long":
entry = pivotLowReversal;
exit = exitLong;
case "Short":
entry = no;
exit = no;
};
It looks difficult to build a strategy. I would like to build one, but have no way of knowing how to do it. I’d like to build one that uses a 10 minute chart where a long position would be triggered if price crosses above the lower Bollinger Band set at 14 and the sell when it touches the 8 EMA. A Short position would have the opposite logic. Short when the price crosses below the upper Bollinger Band set at 14 and close when it touches the 8 EMA. I would also like to see if the closing order can be conditional where it has a stop loss or hits the 8 EMA. Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Keep watching videos. Everything is organized by topic and listed in the menu on the left hand side bar. This one is our most advanced video on this topic: https://www.hahn-tech.com/thinkorswim-autotrade-almost/
Love the video but over time, you will lost money, because it’s not taking into account how strong the trend is.
Lol. Please do NOT loose sight of the intended purpose of this video. Which is to show you how to build your own strategy and backtest it. That disclaimer you saw at the start of the video? That’s not just a disclaimer. It’s a warning. I only write code and teach folks how to get the most out of the platform. I don NOT trade. Examples given in this and other videos are pretty much just picked out of the clear blue sky.
Hello Pete:
Your videos on strategies are very educational and easy to follow. Great work.
One question, is it possible to backtest options with strategies? Thanks.
James
I can’t find any answer to this question. Does anyone know the answer?
Sorry that I missed that question. From the date on that comment I recall I was in the hospital. Back-testing options setups is a completely manual process. I have not yet found any tools available to the general public which makes this a simple process. I have been doing my own back-testing on options setups and will publish instructions on how to do this once I get it mastered. It is the exact opposite of “fun”. It is grueling work of spreadsheets and manually retrieving and recording data. The sort of work that would drive most people totally insane.
Pete,
Thank you for the Strategy Video. I have tried using Chrome and Firefox to view the link at 28:22 in your video and in both browsers no link is visible. What am I doing incorrectly?
try it again. I had to replace all the links because YouTube removed them all. The new method of providing links looks a bit different but should work just fine.
I will try again in 15 minutes or so. Thank you. Is it best to view from the video from within your website or via YouTube directly? By the Hahn-Tech
what if i have a strategy idea i want to test? how can i code it into thinkorswim? can you help with that?
Yes indeed. We assist clients with a very large number of custom projects. You can get all the details here, including rates: https://www.hahn-tech.com/about/
That is also covered under our professional services. Please use the link previously provided if you wish to hire us to complete a custom project for you.
Keep making these videos, Peter. I really like them
I’ve been watching your videos on strategies. They are wonderful. Because you asked I want to say I am very interested in how to create a strategy from a study. I have found that many of the built-in studies generate far more profitable signals if you change the default settings. It would be very useful to be able to quantify the results of the changes. Please do more videos on this topic.
Thank you for all your time and effort you so generously share with the world.
BRAVO ZULU!
HenryB
Thanks for the great feedback. You will find the rest of the videos on this topic listed in the left side-menu. They are listed in the order they should be viewed.
Very kool. Wondering how this would act of we used the pivot with a positive signal from a momentum study? I’m also going to check it with the schaff trend cycle indicator. Great work. Keep it up.