exchange trading. StockSharp

Interactive Brokers API-what you need to know.

2019-11-07T12:22:52Z

For any trader who wants to play big, there comes a time when he needs to enter the international trading markets and, in particular, one of the largest markets – the US market. The abundance of brokers providing their services to the trader is not always beneficial, as various offers and conditions often put the trader at a standstill.
Let's look at the largest by the number of transactions per trading day company Interactive Brokers. Today, we can safely say that this company is the most technologically advanced company in the States in its field providing users with various types of connection to work through Interactive Brokers API.
It is very important that the broker works not only with US citizens, but also foreigners and tries to fully provide all technical support to foreign users.
A little history about Interactive Brokers. This broker has been working in the US market since the late 70s. For all the time of its work, the broker has established itself as a reliable, advanced in information technology partner. An important fact is that the broker is the only one in its field in the US market has its own clearing company. From 2010 to 2017, according to experts, Barron's Interactive Brokers was awarded the title of leader among online brokers. The broker is among the top ten, according to the resource www.stockbrokers.com, among online brokers. To date, the equity of the broker amounted to more than $6 billion, the market value ranges from $16 billion.

One of the important aspects to get started is opening an account with a broker. What are the positive aspects of broker account registration at Interactive Brokers:
- Registration takes place online, in which you fill out the necessary forms to open;
- Copies of documents for opening a brokerage account must be provided in electronic form.
After a few days, after the verification your account will be activated. Do not rush to transfer money before the end of the test, as you will not be able to use them until the documents are checked.

After it became available for the management of a brokerage account in the personal Cabinet you need to create a request for replenishment of funds.
Different currencies can be used to replenish the account, which simplifies the task for users.
Let's look at what types of platforms Interactive Brokers offers for trading:
- Mobile version of the platform, which enables online trading through mobile gadgets with iOS and Android operating systems;
- Desktop version of the platform Trader Workstation (TWS), which is a full-fledged terminal for work

- WEB application - WebTrader, built on HTML, allowing online use of trading functions and tools.
The Interactive Brokers API requires special attention. With all the positive reviews about Interactive Brokers, there is a very important point. The broker provides open source code to create its own application based on its API.
Many users who first open Trader Workstation, the desktop version of the terminal, are confused. The abundance of seemingly different related information on the screen leads to confusion. Quite a long time design, makes use of the terminal is very inconvenient and causing a large number of questions.
In order to correct the situation, the broker provided access to the Interactive Brokers API libraries, so that each user would have the opportunity to create their own terminal.

Applications that are created using Interactive Brokers API have full functionality, have access to the user's open accounts, access to market data and trading charts.
A wide range of programming languages is limited only by the choice of operating system for some of them:

Having the ability to create their own application, the user creates a convenient environment for work. For the convenience of creating your application, we recommend using our S#.API.
This program allows you to use libraries to create the necessary software product for the trader – terminal, using the C#. The library's own API, allows you to expand the capabilities of the created terminal. The integrated ability to connect through the necessary Protocol, such as FIX Protocol, through our connectors, allows you to simplify the user's work, thereby reducing the time for the development and adaptation of the application to work on the trading floor.

Trading for beginners. Stock market.

2020-04-21T21:51:00Z

Today's article will not be quite ordinary.
We often write articles relying on the fact that most users have experience in trading on the exchange. However, among our readers, there are more and more people who do not have knowledge about the exchange, brokers, the market and trading in General.
We would like to change this and tell you a little bit about the structure of trading, so that everyone, even a beginner, has an idea of what they might face.
This will not be a manual for dummies, it will be an article that helps the user who first came to trade navigate.

First, let's tell you what the exchange is and how it works.

The exchange is a fundamental link in market trading.
It, like any commercial enterprise, is a legal entity and its activities are regulated by regulations and legal acts established by the state.
An exchange is a mechanism through which various market participants interact, which are consumers of various financial instruments, such as: currencies, raw materials, and securities.

As mentioned earlier, the exchange's work is strictly regulated, so we can firmly say that its work is strictly ordered, namely:
- Trading is not chaotic, but orderly, strictly at a set time, with strictly set instruments,
- Trades are held strictly in a designated place or on a strictly approved virtual trading platform (electronic exchange),
- The requirements and terms of trade for each exchange are unified, which makes it possible to comply with the procedure for transactions, requirements for the quality of goods or services provided, depending on the type of exchange,
- The trading mechanism is carried out through counter offers of purchase and sale by interested market participants.
The purpose of the exchange is to organize and regulate the markets of the financial instruments that it represents. The exchange regulates the supply and demand process in order to equalize prices and protect the interests of all trading participants from various negative price changes.

Today, there are a huge number of exchanges, each of which trades various financial instruments. You can see the choice of a variety of trading platforms when working with trading programs. For example, S#.Terminal allows you to select the trading platform that the user needs, including a large number of electronic exchanges.

This abundance is both positive, as it leads to increased trading opportunities, and negative in terms of the complexity of the choice for the novice, although the latter is rather subjective, since later, the trader understands the trading technique, gets the opportunity for more flexible trading.

The emergence of the first exchange in the XV century, we owe the Belgian city of Bruges. It was on its Central square that the first auctions of securities – bills were held.
Not far from the place of trade, the house of the Van der Beurse family was located. Later, these trades were taught the name Borsa, which over the years was transformed into the word "stock market" or "exchange". .
What are the rules for trading on the stock exchange:
- Transparency and openness of operations,
- Free pricing
- The state does not interfere in the course of the auction, but the auction is regulated by law.
- Along with manual trading, it is possible to use automated trading systems. For example, such as S#.Shell, MT and others,
- The exchange receives income from Commission on transactions.

Trading opens up great opportunities for the participant to earn money.
Today, both an experienced trader and a novice can become a market participant.
The abundance of trading exchanges allows you to choose what and where to trade. The largest exchanges include: Chicago, Tokyo and Sydney commodity exchanges, the new York cotton exchange, the London metal exchange, the German futures (Frankfurt) and Singapore currency exchanges, the European-American NYSE-Euronext, the St. Petersburg and Moscow stock exchanges.

Becoming a trader is not always as easy as the advertising brochures promise, the player's path is thorny and inevitably involves losses and winnings. Of course, with experience and knowledge, a trader acquires a stable income, but at the same time does not stop learning and improving.
A trader studies the market, various trading terminals, and SOFTWARE.
Becoming a trader is real, but it is not always as easy as it seems.
Therefore, we have developed a training course for creating trading systems, which is designed for both knowledgeable traders and beginners. We have included a full range of training in algorithmic trading and the creation of trading systems, programs and examples of trading strategies.
The goal of the course is to make trading more accessible and understandable, to teach anyone to trade, and success now depends only on the trader and his desire.
In the following articles, we will tell you how to choose a reliable broker and what a trader may face while trading. We will be happy if you share your experience and ask questions. Thanks

Interactive Brokers FAQ. INTERACTIVE BROKERS-who are they?

2019-12-11T15:35:11Z

Interactive Brokers is the largest broker in the United States, based on the volume of average daily transactions with profit. Interactive Brokers is a leading electronic Forex broker.

Electronic brokers are focused on trading strategies or trading robots that work in the sector of trading with commodities [nerd], this allows us to say that this broker is among the five Prime brokers.
Interactive Brokers is fully regulated by the financial industry Regulatory authority, the securities and exchange Commission, the new York stock exchange, the financial conduct Authority, and other self-regulatory organizations.
To get the data, use the API connection via the IB TWS terminal.

To work with this program, StockSharp has created its own API library, which allows you to create your own connection.
What can this give the trader? There are several advantages:
-The fastest quotes
-The average receiving speed is 4 MS
- Work with real and demo accounts
Accordingly, the use of Interactive Brokers with the help of API libraries opens up new opportunities for the trader, allowing him to expand the expansion of his trading operations.

FAQ on FIX Protocol. Limit orders FOK and IOC (FAK).

2019-11-15T18:04:12Z

Earlier, we said that the FIX Protocol not only increased the speed of traders in the market, but also provided an opportunity for market participants to use limit orders, which reduced the risks of trading. Let's take a closer look at two types of limit orders.
Let's start with the FOK order.
Literally, its name stands for - 'Fill Or Kill'. The essence of this order is that it is executed immediately and in full at the stated price, or will not be executed at all, which eliminates the possibility of slippage. Thus, if your order cannot be executed in full, then the order is simply rejected, if the order can be executed in full, then the order is executed in full at the specified price. [nerd] This type of order is very convenient for scalping or arbitrage strategies, as they eliminate the risk of slippage. In fact, we can say that the "Edward – Scissorhands" arbitrage strategy from StockSharp eliminates risks. Below is an example of the rejection of the FOK order in the CME system, due to the fact that the order size is 20, and the book contains only 19, so the order can not be executed completely, and the system cancels it.

The next type of limit orders are IOC orders.
The name 'Immediate OR Cancel' means that the order is executed in whole or in part at the set price, otherwise the order will be canceled. For example, if the order size is 100 units, only 50 units can be sold at the set price. If we use an order of type FOK, the system will cancel it, as it can not be fully executed. When using the IOC limit order, the order will be executed for 50 units, and the remaining ones will be canceled. IOC also has another name FAK, which stands for 'Fill And Kill', executed and discarded the remainder.[nerd]
For example, an IOC order will be partially executed (in the CME system, its name is FAK). If we buy 15, and the book contains only 10, then we buy 10, and the remaining 5 are rejected, so this order can be called partially executable:

Limit orders when working through the FIX Protocol allow the trader to reduce risks, and in some cases, especially when working with arbitrage strategies to reduce them to zero. Our company provides a range of programs to work in the market through FIX connect, such as: designer trading strategies Designer, trading program Terminal. We also provide a full range of connectors for connection to trades, including FIX. Flexible system of discounts and reliability of connection, makes us one of leaders in the market. The full range of connectors and software can be found on our website.