Worst trade of the week: ES

Entered a trade with no confirmation price was going to break a range and form a new leg.
Certainly don't want to be waiting for too much confirmation (and join the latecomers to the trade)... however there needs to be some evidence to support the trade premise. See chart for trade details.

Click on chart to enlarge

Worst trade of the week: SPI

Allowed the market too move too far against a "paper" profit. The risk to reward ratio had become inverted.
Was initially aware of the entry being late in the sequence, however didn't factor this in when deciding to hold for a possible re-test of the recent low.
The speed of the move was also a give away... capitulation moves often rebound hard and fast.
See last trade on chart below.

Click on chart to enlarge

Desktop audio done right

Premium Powered Desktop Speakers
Audioengine 2's are the perfect upgrade for a home office or trader's workstation. Fitting neatly below a multi-monitor set-up, their compact size doesn't compromise their ability to reproduce an authentic and spatial sound stage with exceptional depth and imaging.

AudioEngine 2 compact powered speakers - click on image to enlarge

"I have never been more impressed with or more stunned by a component I've reviewed for Stereophile than I was with the Audioengine 2. The level of sound quality produced by this uncolored, detailed, articulate, and dynamic speaker, in all situations, was beyond reproach, and its ratio of value to cost borders on the criminal." Stereophile - A2 Review


Dedicated Sound Card
The ASUS Xonar STX sound card brings greater openness, smoother highs, tighter and more extended bass plus a more engaging mid-range to your audio playback.

"Featuring independent power sources for line and headphone outputs, Burr Brown 1792A DAC, swappable OPAMPS, hyper grounding circuitry, professional audio grade capacitors, and EMI shielding, the Xonar Essence STX is made for only one purpose: to output the cleanest, clearest possible sound that captures the whole sonic spectrum so that you can enjoy your music the way it’s meant to be heard."

Suggested Mods to Improve Performance

• Swap the stock buffer stage OPAMP for a Burr Brown OPA2107AP (approx $20)
• Upgrade the audio interconnect that runs from the sound card to the speakers to a QED Performance Graphite Audio 2

CPU and Motherboard Choice

Intel has just released the latest edition of Xeon CPU's based on their "Ivy Bridge" platform.

The short post here discusses the advantage of a Xeon over a regular consumer i7.

Choosing to go for a CPU with "hyper-threading" is explained in the short post here Similarly, if using a dedicated graphics card (for multi monitor use) then savings can be made by purchasing the current Xeon E-1230 V2 over the common retail i7 3770.

Numerous "Ivy Bridge" compatible motherboards from Gigabyte offer support for Xeon CPU's, making for an ideal choice of motherboard manufacturer. In particular the GA-Z77X-UD5H is a high performance board ideally suited to 24/7 operation featuring a massive 12 Phase Power Design. The main advantage to having more phases is that the circuits work less, which (in theory) means a longer life-span for the circuitry and a lower operating temperature. Another advantage is that more phases usually means more stable output voltage, and also the noise level should be lower.

Additional features include:

• Support for Ivy Bridge Xeon CPU's
• Ultra Durable 4 for malfunction prevention and durability
• Intel ethernet controller for greater consistency internet performance compared with lower-cost controllers
• PCIe Generation 3 and SATA 6 to take advantage of the fastest data rate transfers available in SSD's and high-bandwidth dedicated graphics cards
• three year warranty 

Building a Custom Trading PC

The toughest step to building a PC is deciding what components to use. I maintain an updated recommended list of PC components here so you can assemble a reliable, high performance, cool & quiet computer optimised for Trading. The modular approach provides you with the flexibility to upgrade individual components allowing you to keep pace with changes in technology. (No need to replace the entire computer every two to three years)
The hardware posts explain the reasoning behind the chosen components.


Assembling a PC is quite straight forward. The video guide below is a great start

I have provided some hints and recommendations on how to set up your software here.