The world is evolving at a steady pace and automation is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Talking about evolution, the world of trading has equally been undergoing significant transformation paving the way for a revolution like no other. Thanks to this, traders can now easily execute their analysis and even open/close trades without lifting a finger.
You see, the beauty about automated trading is that it is highly precise and also designed to help keep emotions out of the game. With this type of trading, one can keep up with the markets even while traveling the world, taking care of family, or even attending to a busy 9 to 5 job.
This write-up discusses everything you need to know about popular trade automation tools and also reviews some of the best-automated trading platforms available out there currently.
Trade Ideas
Trade Ideas provides advanced stock scanning and trading tools with AI-driven alerts to help traders identify profitable opportunities in real-time.
TrendSpider
TrendSpider offers an automated technical analysis platform that utilizes AI and machine learning to enhance charting, scanning, and backtesting for traders.
TradingView
TradingView is a versatile financial visualization platform that provides real-time market data, advanced charting tools, and a social network for traders and investors.
Tickeron
Tickeron combines algorithmic trading signals with AI-driven pattern recognition to offer personalized and actionable investment insights.
TradeStation
TradeStation delivers a fully-integrated brokerage platform with sophisticated charting, trading tools, and extensive market data for active traders and institutional investors.
Scanz
Scanz is a powerful real-time scanning and news platform designed to give traders an edge with comprehensive stock data, alerts, and scanning capabilities.
Top 6 Platforms For Automated Trading in 2024
Thanks to the rapid advancements made in the world of technology, particularly with regard to artificial intelligence (AI) there are tens if not hundreds of automated trading platforms out there. These include:
1. Trade Ideas
Trade Ideas is one of the best-known automated trading platforms out there currently. Created in 2013, the platform is renowned for its pioneering role in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the world of trading.
Their bot called Holly has been beating the market year on year, averaging a return of 20% annually. This is thanks to the fact that it runs a series of backtests on a daily basis and integrates the same with tens of algorithmic strategies.
The beauty about this kind of advanced technology is that AI never goes to sleep. It's always scouring the markets, evaluating statistics, and taking note of various statistical patterns. This proactive approach to trading means the system always has trade suggestions available sometimes even before the day begins.
And the best part? Trade Ideas provides brokerage integration with both Interactive Brokers and E*Trade both of which are among the leading stock brokerage firms in the game. With this approach, you get to use Holly to directly open trades in the markets even when you're away. Simply tell the system what you expect it to do, train it about your risk appetite, and leave it to do the heavy lifting for you. How cool is that?
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2. TrendSpider
If you are a trader who focuses on technical analysis, it is crucial to go for high-quality software as a means to help you develop a winning strategy. TrendSpider, which prides itself as one of the best all-in-one automated platforms, is a powerful solution worth considering.
The platform provides advanced functionalities suitable for beginner and advanced users alike ranging from quality charting to backtesting tools.
While it is not as advanced as Trade Ideas in terms of automating the entire trading cycle (from analysis to opening and closing of trades), this system automates most tasks making for a perfect deal for anyone with a busy schedule.
TrendSpider comes with rich pre-built watchlists that allow you to keep up with the prevailing price movements. What’s more, as a user you also get room to build your very own watchlists. Pair this with the services of a real-time source of news like Benzinga and you pretty much can stay updated on any positions that capture your interests.
And the best part? The system offers unfettered access to data from a fairly wide selection of instruments ranging from futures, forex, to crypto, ETFs, and stocks to mention but a few. Unfortunately, bonds are still missing on the TrenSpider menu, making it difficult for traders to lay their hands on strategies related to bonds and other instruments.
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3. TradingView
Founded in 2011, TradingView is a respected platform that offers advanced charting functionalities coupled with the best perks in the world of social trading. Just like its rival TrendSpider, TradingView bets big on automating the market analysis bit of trading.
You see, most traders waste way too much time scouring through tons of data on a daily basis. TradingView aims to eliminate that kind of hassle and to free you up so you get to focus more on what matters the most to your trading journey – i.e. closing in on profitable opportunities.
The icing on the cake is that TradingView is a social trading platform, perfect for traders who are willing to interact and learn. So, whether you’re in it for the live charts or to simply build your networks, this platform has all the perks you need to transform your trading journey.
The “alerts department” is where TradingView does really well too. The system allows you to track multiple securities at a go without having to switch from chart to chart or asset to asset. Once the system detects an opportunity (based on your trading criteria), it sends the same to you in good time enabling you to enter or exit the market. That way, you don't have to keep your eyes on the screens all day long.
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4. Tickeron
Tickeron is yet another interactive trading analysis platform that heavily relies on algorithms and artificial intelligence in general. The service focuses on three asset categories namely forex, crypto, and stocks.
What we love about Tickeron is the fact that it’s an all-in-one suite that clearly demonstrates the power of automatic recognition of trading patterns. You simply need to select your preferred parameters and the system will automatically analyze the specified graph for you.
What’s more, the AI bots running behind Tickeron don’t just identify patterns on charts. They do some background analysis based on historical data to identify high-potential targets. As such, many advanced traders turn to this platform to get optimal deal entry points.
As you would expect, the company has never clearly explained how its robots work. What is clear, however, is that it adopts the basis of more than 100 algorithms and highlights the most effective one at any particular time.
What we, however, like is that everything on Tickeron is highly simplified for the convenience of all users. You simply need to specify your criteria using the available filters and also choose your preferred strategy – upon clicking the “Follow” button, the system automatically does the rest of the process for you.
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5. TradeStation
This is yet another top pick for active traders thanks to its powerful collection of tools. And while it is not exactly built to come up with the kind of in-depth research you’d expect from a Wall Street stock report, it is fantastic for identifying trading signals in real-time.
You can use this system to perform advanced backtests, develop trading rules, and also load custom indicators. There are also a bunch of built-in and preconfigured tools for you designed to analyze the markets on the basis of volatility, time, volume, and even price.
TradeStation also runs a fully-fledged learning center with links to education content being dished out on a regular basis. We indeed like the fact that this platform lays emphasis on learning as this is a key part of sharpening one’s skills.
With its more than 3 decades of experience in the brokerage world, TradeStation stands out as a good platform for automated trading and a gold standard, particularly for hardcore traders.
But let's face it, at the end of the day, TradeStation is a brokerage firm meaning you may still need to services of a fully-fledged screener to catch some of those elusive trade opportunities.
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6. Scanz
What if you could find a platform that offers pretty much everything you’d need to take your trading strategy to a whole new level? Home to a wide selection of filters (including custom ones), tabbed windows, and breakout alerts, Scanz stands out as a must-have for savvy traders.
Scanz is primarily a stock screener and it comes with pretty much all the features you'd expect from a cutting-edge service including liquidity filters, technical filters, and even fundamental filters. You can set all these to track things like new highs, new lows, prices, and even volume breakouts.
What’s more, the scanner is built in such a manner that it supports drawing tools, allowing you to keep up with information from specific stocks – plus it also makes it possible for you to export data into a CSV file where you can undertake further technical analysis.
Yet another awesome feature you’ll find with Scanz is brokerage integration which is integral in enabling you to undertake your trades directly from your scanner. As of the time of publishing this, the platform supported brokerage integration to Interactive Brokers and TD Ameritrade.
Lastly, the system comes with built-in premarket analysis functionalities, all meant to help you make moves beyond conventional trading hours.
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What Are Automated Trading Platforms?
These are computer programs that enable traders to interact with the financial markets using predefined parameters. The programs are renowned for their speed and efficiency reducing the need for constant human intervention in the world of trading. What’s more, automated trading platforms can be used to handle repetitive tasks thereby breaking monotony and improving the trader’s productivity.
Normally, these trading programs are hosted in remote servers or cloud-based servers making them accessible to folks either through computers or mobile devices in some cases, these platforms are integrated with certain brokerages through API making them useful not only for analyzing the markets but also for opening and closing trades.
There is normally a fee charged for these services although the actual figure varies from one provider to the next.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are some of the key benefits of automated trading?
A: Automated trading comes with a bunch of inherent benefits among them faster trading speeds, reduced emotional burden, backtesting functionalities, and the ability to trade across multiple markets at a go.
Q: Are there risks associated with automated trading?
A: Like any other tool, automated trading bots come with their fair share of vulnerabilities. These include an elevated risk of technical failure, market liquidity issues, the risk of over-optimization, and the potential risk of making significant losses in case the algorithm malfunctions.
Q: How legal is automated trading?
A: Well, automated trading is legal in most jurisdictions including in the US. However, some critics argue that this kind of trading tends to create an unfair situation that may negatively affect the markets. That said, there is no single law in the US and most countries that prohibits it.
Conclusion
To sum it up, finding the best-automated trading platform requires you to consider things like the range of features provided, the type of data available, and user-friendliness among others. The reviewed platforms – Trade Ideas, Trend Spider, Trading View, Tickeron, TradeStation, and Scanz – each come with notable strengths, making them ideal for different styles of trading.
One thing is for sure though – as the financial and technology markets evolve, automated trading platforms are becoming wildly popular, offering prime opportunities for traders to improve their trading outcomes.