Sharpshorts Day Trading : SOFTWARE -- APEXTRADER

ApexFutures - ApexTrader

This is the best trading software package I have ever used!

ApexTrader beats them all - in terms of the software's reliability, its adjust-ability, its trade execution speed and the quality of order fills...Its response is almost instantaneous, even when loading up to 10 tick charts. Customer service is quick to reply, either by phone or email and is very helpful.

it can store as many different trade station layouts and chart templates etc. as you can create. Switching chart templates and layouts is very quick and easy. Open orders are held on Apex's 'cloud' so there's no problem if/when your machine or connection goes down. The ApexTrader software is available for downloading to either 32-bit or for 64-bit operating systems (recommended). Other than reasonable commissions it is free of charges to account holders, as is the e-mini data feed**.

** As of 2015 CBOT, CME and some other exchange's fees will be passed along to account holders.

Every open chart (10 maximum at a time) has a double arrow on the top right for preferences adjustments - things like showing the bid/ask flags, adding the day's high/low line, background color, scale text size/color, the type of bar (OHLC or HLC bars, candlestick, etc). Saving and naming the finished chart will keep all these adjustments for that template...You can set up layouts with differing windows and chart templates, arrange them on your workspace then save and name that layout...

Market Replay
This feature allows you to record any part of a session and play it back at a later time....it records the live data.
When Market Replay is enabled, your layout will change to a fully functional simulation playback mode.
Demo
This feature will open your layout and run it as a fully functional simulation in real time.

Importing chart templates
For those of you running ApexTrader software, my chart template's .xml code can be downloaded directly
or I can email individual files to you...sharpshorts2000@yahoo.com.

They will open and run on your machine's ApexTrader program exactly as shown throughout the blog. Follow the
directions on this page to view some of the charts I use and to download their .xml files for installing on your machine.

Other features and configurations

ApexTrader has many great features I find very useful - some examples : Drawing tools can be shown on each chart, indicator scales can be set to be on the left and/or on the right and are individually scrollable. You can add indicator studies to the price pane (not just moving averages or PSAR). Color choices include a transparency adjustment...both the scaling and transparency features can can be especially helpful when adding multiple indicators to the same study pane. Below are examples of some of the tools used to personalize chart templates.
Your saved chart templates can be applied to any chart on your layout.

Along with most of the "normal" indicators there are Custom Indicators available too - Show Cases and Coloring are great tools
for personalizing your charts. Example templates with further explanations of how to create them continues below.

Another template set with indicator explanations...Two different period TRIX indicators
are set to show in the price pane with Stochastic and MACD in the bottom pane.

Similar to the above template but with an 'extra' Custom Coloring indicator applied to the positive histogram of the faster TRIX...

by using the right click menu Series you can change which TRIX indicator is in the foreground...

Using "Custom Indicators"

An example chart with many different Coloring and Show Cases applied...

Below is a 2-hour candle chart example with the tool bars showing... some of the drawing tools are applied and a combined indicator study including Fast Stochastic with MACD and two MACD histograms are shown, which I find makes it easier to see divergence setups...

There are plenty of ways to customize your charts...

Get familiar with the available Menu's

Right Margin Adjustments

This feature is available on every chart...the amount of space between the current bar and the right hand edge of the chart

(or the price scale if you elect to have it on the RH side)

is dependent on how wide your chart is relative to your monitor's screen size...

You can also 'fine tune' the amount of right margin that shows by using the Custom Indicators/Show Case indicator...

Custom Show Case indicators can be merged with other indicators in those study panes.

Or have them print in a separate study pane.

In this example, the white stars and green triangle in the narrower study pane print

when either MACD EMA line changes direction.

Chart Template set up Instructions:

Click on any picture to enlarge and to view in slide show mode.

Right click, select "Open in new tab" for full sized pictures
Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

The next chart is set up so that I did not need 2 separate templates when switching between OHLC bars and Candlesticks.

This link takes you to an unpublished page on my other blog

with some more of my chart templates and their active indicator lists...

The following is a chart I'm using as of March 2015. The next 3 show how to set up the indicators...

Set up Notes: Beware

You may need to close ApexTrader to permanently save your Layout and Templates after doing extensive modifications to charts... I have found that

sometimes my ApexTrader program will become unresponsive after many modifications were made and has to be shut down from the Task Manager.

I would lose all mods made since opening the program.

So I've gotten into the habit of shutting down and re-opening after making substantial changes in order to avoid having to do the new stuff over again...

This may be unique to my set up; I may be pushing the limits of my machine's capabilities...8 monitors, 10 different multi-indicator charts open along with several other trader windows plus other programs running simultaneously.

Custom Charts

A small sample of the tools and features available

Scale adjustments using the scroll wheel

The extensive listing of available items is accessible by right clicking any chart or via the main window menu bar.

Indicator property box set up and custom easy language "Showcase" indicators are also available

"My Custom Indicators" with modified simple formulas...applied to indicators and/or price...

The custom 'Coloring' indicator can be used on price bars or on other indicators in a myriad of ways.
Below is an example of it used on the MACD histogram...

Further examples of the custom 'Coloring' indicator which can be applied to price, to indicator histograms or lines.

Multiple indicators can be applied to the same study pane or placed in the price pane.

You can also use certain indicators to replace other indicators: - here I've applied a 5 period Weighted Moving Average

to replace the MACD EMA line...

The blue WMA line is 'smoother' than the main MACD EMA line (its color was changed to 'Transparent').

Clicking on an indicator will temporarily turn it red - then right click to open it's property box.

Trade Mode

Orders can be placed on the DOM by clicking any level in the green and maroon columns.

I 'm more comfortable placing my orders via point-and-click on the price chart.

In addition to a great Depth Of Market order entry set up, the Trade Mode on-chart-order-entry system works beautifully.

Turn on this feature by clicking its icon from the toolbar.

You can also add the Trade Arrow feature to any chart or chart template.

You can also use Trade Mode with or without the toolbars showing. These snapshots show
a template that hides the price and time scales (...the set up is described further below...)

Customizing Indicators
All indicator colors, thicknesses and parameters are adjustable. There are also tools for creating custom formulas...
Any can be added as separate study panes - Most of them can be combined with other indicators or placed in the price pane.
Select from an extensive range of tools...(picture/listings are shown at the bottom of this page)
Plus there are special indicators that can be applied to any chart.

Customizing the Drawing Tools
Create custom GRID lines using these drawing tools ...(on the general preferences menu, turn the Grids/Show horizontal Off )

Here's how to set up the NQ extensions properties for 10 point horizontal lines.

FIBONACCI RETRACEMENT TOOL

The following are some of the ways I use the available drawing tools for annotations on my charts.

This is just a standard Fibonacci Retracement grid, set up for the levels I use...

I use the Fibonacci Retracements for defining Brach Zone levels

(Brach Zone 61.8% and 78.6%)

You can also set up the Fibonacci Retracement drawing tool to combine two types of GRIDs ---
1) Brach Zone Grids .............(similar to what's shown in the Fibonacci Retracement set up above)
2) Entry-Stop-Target Grids....(similar to what's explained in the Fibonacci Extension section below)

FIBONACCI EXTENSION TOOL

One of the ways I set up Fibonacci Extensions is to use it to define target and stop-loss levels.

The green is the entry level, the yellow is the protective stop-loss (-4 ticks) and

a target line (+10 ticks).

If you want you can add additional target lines by adjusting the Fibonacci # levels and colors...
The example below has target lines every +10 ticks.

When I change markets, I use different bracket Stops and Targets...

YM & RLM -4 ticks and +10 ticks, ES -3 ticks and +8 ticks etc.

It can be a bit of a pain to have to re-adjust the level numbers to fit the symbol I'm currently trading...

The FIB EXT tool can be set up for drawing a single horizontal line too, great for marking trailing stops.
It's faster/easier to use than having to change the properties on the 'normal' horizontal line tool when you want a different color or whatever.

FIB EXT GRID Level lines
Another use for the Fibonacci Extension tool is for setting up a set of predefined price level grids.

The example below shows a set of 10 point levels for the YM. I set one grid up as shown in the properties box.

Then I copy/paste it to cover a few hundred points above and below the current price...

(after pasting and moving a set to an even number price level, set properties/Locked to true to keep it in place)

If you trade more than one symbol, change the symbol and do the same thing for its price grid levels.

(you will have to adjust the properties/Levels for each new symbol used...see the properties picture below)

Remember to save and name this template...the grids will remain saved for each symbol, every time you apply the template.

For the YM and RUT I use a 10 point grid (10 ticks), applied mainly on my shorter term trading charts.
They help me get a feel for how large the price runs have been after reversals. These also help in deciding whether
or not to take trades and where to set reasonable stops and targets.

Sometimes I'll change to a longer time frame to see what they look like

over a half session or the entire session.
For the ES and NQ I use an 2 point grid (8 ticks between grid levels).

Each market needs to have its own FIB EXT GRID properties set...below are the property settings
I use for the ES , for the YM and for the RUT. Once the grids are drawn for one market, save the template
then switch the symbol to the next market, draw its grids and save the template...and so on for each market.
Doing this will keep all grid lines saved for that template so when you change markets, its grid lines will be retained.
Make sure you do not delete these...If you do delete any of them, reapplying the template will restore all of them.

Adjusting the grid level numbers needs to be done only one time per market**.
Once you have all eight levels set to your specifications, continue to apply it above and below the current price.
Then save the chart template - all drawing tool annotations will be saved...
(For the YM I initially did this for a couple hundred points in either direction)
Now switch the chart's symbol to another market.
Again, adjust the FIB EXT price levels to your liking and do the copy/paste work one more time -
Save the template once more. You now have grids for two different markets...(you can add more markets)
The grids will show at the proper levels for each symbol whenever you apply that template.
** FIB EXT GRID notes:
1) Each set of grid lines should be set to 'Locked True' in the properties box once they are pasted and positioned
at their proper levels. This prevents them from moving when you are adjusting other drawing tool lines.
2) As time goes by and prices rise or fall enough to reach the last grid set you had pasted in before
just copy an existing grid and paste some more to the chart (save the template again when done).
This saves you from having to readjust the FIB EXT Level numbers again.