The ThinkOrSwim platform from TD Ameritrade has a rather ingenious function that allows you to drag and drop your own custom candlestick pattern together and use it in your trading, getting automatic signals whenever the pattern happens.
Not only can you have the platform automatically alert you to any of the common candlestick patterns, such as Doji, Marubozu, Evening Star, Morning Star, etc., you can also create your own custom candle stick patterns, or even groups of patterns, and have those trigger a signal on your chart to tell you to enter a trade.
I was really surprised when I learned about this feature in the platform. Hats off to the guys over at Think-Or-Swim for adding that feature to the platform for us.
In this video I show you how to create a variation on a micro double bottom candlestick formation, similar to something Al Brooks might talk about. Brooks believes all reversals are double bottoms in some way, even if they don’t look like it. And this candle stick pattern finds micro double bottoms imbedded in the price action that, on a lower timeframe, would look like actual double bottoms.
Hopefully you guys find this feature to be as cool as I do. If this helps, please like & subscribe! And feel free to check out our other videos and our site over at:
Just a quick update here to let everyone know I’ve posted new sale prices on ALL my thinkscript products this month!
I think I’m probably already one of the lowest priced think-or-swim programmers out there, but I just can’t see charging $250+ for a thinkorswim indicator like some of these other guys do.
Let’s face reality: traders get milked for all their worth by the trading industry, with HUGE fees for educational courses, software packages, data feeds, subscriptions, etc. Everybody wants a piece of your pie, and a lot of times they want it every month.
Here at SWIMdicators, I only charge for my work one time, and provide free updates for life. Moreover, I charge LESS up front than almost anyone else.
I also stand behind my work, and try my best to write clean code that is well-organized, efficient (so it doesn’t bog down your system), and is easy to customize without any coding knowledge. Other people give you hard-coded stuff that doesn’t expand or adjust to fit your unique trading needs.
I’m not the super-genius programmer type, but I know ThinkOrSwim, I do a good job at what I do, and I try to do it at a good price.
If you guys have any suggestions for a thinkScript indicator or any scans, columns, or strategies that you would like to see me add to the site, leave me a comment to let me know and I’ll see what I can do about it. If you want to check out the new sale prices for this month, visit the thinkorswim download shop.
It’s a privilege to serve the TOS community, and I appreciate your support and contributions.
TD Ameritrade is an all-inclusive, one-stop-shop-style discount broker for basically every kind of trader and investor out there. Whether you’re a beginner investor just trying to buy some ETFs or mutual funds for your Roth IRA, a swing trader looking to create or hedge complex positions using options contracts, or a high-speed day trader wanting to buy and sell individual stocks, forex pairs, commodities, or futures, TD has basically got you covered. The only thing they don’t really do is algorithmic automated systems trading (though you can accomplish this fairly easily using a TDA account in conjunction with another company called Prodigio — and without any programming knowledge no less!)
To me, TDA’s most compelling features include that they have no minimum balance requirement, excellent free research and news tools, and a choice of three trading platforms (with my favorite, of course, being thinkorswim). I’ve also found their support teams to be extremely easy to reach via phone, email, or even live chat, and the reps seem friendly and accommodative.
To pay for all the freebies and low fees that make Ameritrade so accessible to so wide an audience of investors, the firm has traditionally charged more in commissions than most other discount brokers. Recently at $9.95 per trade, the commissions were getting pretty out of sync with some of the competition out there for awhile, especially for more active traders. But the recent commission price cut to $6.95 per trade for stocks and ETFs has alleviated some of that imbalance. Traders have to realize the trade off is there due to the other free services the company provides, such as a good research and news, a pre-configured data feed, well-supported scriptable platforms, etc. — features which more specialized low-cost brokers charge customers for out of pocket. Still, even with the freebies and the recent price drop, TD may not be the best option for the more active traders among us.
Compare TD Ameritrade
As of 3/6/17
TDA
Fidelity
Schwab
Online equity trades
$6.95
$4.95
$4.95
Minimum opening deposit
$0
($2k for margin/options)
$2,500
$1,000
Access to real-time streaming quotes
Free
Platform conditions apply
Free
Access to Level II quotes
Free
Platform conditions apply
Platform conditions apply
TD Ameritrade’s Commissions & Fees
Stocks: $6.95 per trade
Bonds: $25
Options: $6.95 per trade plus $0.75 per contract
Futures: $2.25 per contract plus exchange and regulatory fees
Forex:
Spread-only pairs: Avg. spread of 1.4 pips EUR/USD as an example
Commission-based (#): $1 min. and/or $0.10 per 1,000 units
ETFs:
100+ ETFs: $0
All others: $6.95
Mutual Funds:
Almost 4000 NTF and Load funds: $0
No Load: $49.95
Account minimum: $0
No annual or inactivity fee; $75 outgoing transfer fee
Promotion: $100 to $600 cash bonus, depending on account size
Where TD Ameritrade Really Shines
Account minimums: TD Ameritrade has a very accessible $0 account minimum for both IRAs and taxable brokerage accounts, so this can make it extremely easy for anyone to start investing. I mean, free is much, much lower than the typical $500 to $2,500 many brokerages want. Another nice add-on to the low account minimums is that TD doesn’t charge account inactivity fees either, and regardless of your balance you still get access to the free tools, news, and research. However, customers trading options or using margin are required to maintain at least a $2,000 account balance to be able to trade.
Curated investments: TD Ameritrade has more than 100 commission-free ETFs and nearly 4,000 no-transaction-fee mutual funds. Moreover, Morningstar, an independent investment research firm, compiles a quarterly “Premier List” of no-transaction-fee mutual funds in 45 different fund categories for TD Ameritrade clients, and customers have free access to that.
Free research: TD Ameritrade provides traders with analysis from Market Edge, S&P Capital IQ, and Credit Suisse, as well as free streaming CNBC news, market heat maps, and free real-time streaming quotes. Another little perk is the online social community myTrade. And if you want input from your local broker, there are over 100 locations around the U.S. that you can call or visit.
Simulated trading: TDA offers some great ways for traders to get started without risking anything. Not only does it offer basic demo trading accounts, called TD Ameritrade Paper Money, but they also offer a fully functional version of their advanced trading platform on demo mode as well. Just download and run the thinkorswim paperMoney platform. You can also demo trade right inside any of the mobile apps by switching the mode as you login.
TD Ameritrade’s Platform Options: TDA has some great options for traders and investors, from your basic mobile app or online web-trading platform, to the more advanced Trade Architect, to the full-fledged all-in-one desktop trading platform thinkorswim.
Trading commissions: Like I mentioned previously, my biggest gripe against TD Ameritrade has always been the commissions. That definitely got a whole lot better in March when the company lowered its base commission rate for stocks, ETFs, and options from $9.99 to $6.95.
But the whole industry reduced commissions at about the same time, including Fidelity, Charles Schwab, and also TradeStation (a big competitor to thinkorswim), among others. This means that TD Ameritrade is still pricier than its peers, but again we have to remember that TDA offers a lot of freebies and lower minimums to offset some of that annoyance.
Broker-assisted trades: TD charges a whopping $44.99 for broker-assisted trades, compared to more typical competitor rates of $25 t0 $35, though this can be reduced by $10 if you choose to place the trade on the interactive voice response phone system (but then you have to ask yourself why you didn’t just go on the mobile app and trade for $6.95 instead!) Broker-assisted trades and the IVR phone system would mostly be useful for closing a position in an emergency if your power goes out or something. And, by the way, it’s always a good idea to keep their number in your phone for that very purpose: 800-669-3900
The Bottom Line
TD Ameritrade does a good job of wearing a lot of hats and covering a lot of bases for different types of investors and traders. From getting portfolio guidance, independent research, commission-free ETFs, no-transaction-fee mutual funds, and your pick of three great multi-product trading platforms in addition to being accessible via the mobile app, they really check a lot of boxes.
When you add to that that these features are all available for free and with no minimum initial deposit, TD’s service becomes a truly compelling offering.
TD Ameritrade is best for:
Beginner investors wanting low fees and minimums.
Advanced traders who don’t want to deal with complex data feeds and software configuration.
Options traders.
Josiah is a stock & futures trader, ThinkScript programmer, Bitcoin maximalist, gold bug, real estate investor, and budding mountaineer. He's also rumored to be an in-shower opera singer. Josiah started Easycators in 2014 and lives with his family near Nashville, TN. xTwitter | YouTube
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TD Ameritrade is an all-inclusive, one-stop-shop-style discount broker for basically every kind of trader and investor out there. Whether you’re a beginner investor just trying to buy some ETFs or mutual funds for your Roth IRA, a swing trader looking to create or hedge complex positions using options contracts, or a high-speed day trader wanting to buy and sell individual stocks, forex pairs, commodities, or futures, TD has basically got you covered. The only thing they don’t really do is algorithmic automated systems trading (though you can accomplish this fairly easily using a TDA account in conjunction with another company called Prodigio — and without any programming knowledge no less!)
