Professional Tools for the Individual Investor

A Review of Trade Navigator Trading Software

By Mike Carr, CMT 

Trading for a living requires a unique set of skills, including but not limited to 1) an ability to identify profitable trading opportunities, 2) the psychological ability to handle the pain of extended drawdowns, and 3) the self-discipline to follow a trading plan through good times and bad. 

Easy to use trading software is an indispensable tool for successful traders since the software can take on the task of identifying trading opportunities and increase confidence in the trading plan by detailing historical performance. This allows the trader to focus on the all-important psychological aspects of trading, such as minimizing drawdowns while maximizing profits. Among the easiest, and most powerful is Trade Navigator Platinum from Genesis Financial Technologies. 

Good trading software, in our view, allows you to turn an idea into a test often within moments, provides results that allow you to judge whether or not the idea works, and generates clear trading signals to implement the idea. In this way, the software is a tool of the trader, and not the central focus of trading activity. 

Too many packages require traders to become programmers and learn how to think in terms of computer languages. Ideally, if a trades wanted to know what happens if (s)he buys stocks after they close up, (s)he could writes something as simple as, “If Close > Open, Buy Market at Open.” Of course it would be great if intermarket strategies and detailed indicators were as easy to code, chart and test. Trade Navigator Platinum lets traders trade by providing powerful and simple tools. 

Manufacturer – Genesis Financial Technologies Inc., 425 Windchime Place, Colorado Springs, CO 80919.

Phone – 1-800-808-3282

Web Site – http://www.GenesisFT.com

Version Tested – Trade Navigator Platinum Software Version 3.04, Build 754.

Cost – Software system: Silver version provides basic charting, scanning and filtering capabilities and costs $99.00. Gold version ($495) allows users to create custom indicators and filter criteria. Platinum version provides strategy development and backtesting capability at a cost of $2,495. Data fees start at $25/month. Free trial of Platinum version with full data package available for $9.95. 

Recommended System Requirements:

• IBM or IBM compatible Pentium II-class computer
• 350 MHz or greater
• Windows 98 SE, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP
• 128MB RAM
• CD-ROM drive
• VGA Monitor capable of 800x600 resolution
• Minimum of 100 MB hard disk space
• Minimum 800 MB for full Data install
• Minimum 1.6GB for full Tick history
• 28.8K dial-up Internet connection or better

Using the software

Loading the program requires loading a CD and following the prompts. From there, getting up and running is a function of connection speed. The CD should provide data to within the last day or two, and over a high-speed satellite link, it takes less than 2 minutes to download the 5MB tick data on all stocks and futures contracts. Online videos provide quick start training, and combined with online help manuals ensure that anyone with knowledge of trading can get right to work. That last point is important – this software is for traders. Indicators are all there, the sample strategies show how to program, and charting capabilities are comprehensive. If you understand trading, Trade Navigator brings professional-quality tools into the hands of the individual working from home. 

Let’s look at the software: 

Figure 1 – Screen shot of Trade Navigator showing indicators in main panel, quotes screen on bottom and filtered symbol list on left side. The extensive collection of icons available in top and side menu bars makes it easy to apply trendlines, price projections and other features.

On the left, is a table displaying securities that have been filtered to create today’s list of trading candidates. This takes seconds to set up, and puts all of the needed charts only a click away. Across the bottom is a quote screen that allows traders to keep track of market activity in real time, or through delayed quotes at very affordable prices.

Multiple templates can be saved and loaded with a single click. Trade Navigator offers the ability to create pages which show multiple charts in a single view, enhancing the ability to complete intermarket analysis, assess potential pair-trading opportunities or look for favorable forex pairs. 

Figure 2 – An example of multi-chart viewing in a single window, this prebuilt template allows for a quick check of intermarket relationships, and can easily be used for pairs trading, or applied to Forex. 

While these capabilities are impressive, the real power of trading software is in its backtesting capabilities. In this regard, Trade Navigator stands alone. To illustrate, let’s test a simple idea to see what happens if we buy the DAX when RSI crosses above 20 from below and sell when it falls below 80. RSI, along with nearly 100 other indicators, is preprogrammed. The code is simple to derive from the example strategies and available help: 

Long entry: If RSI (Close, 14, False) > 30 and RSI (Close, 14, False).1 < 30, Buy Next Bar at Open

Short entry: If RSI (Close, 14, False) < 70 and RSI (Close, 14, False).1 > 70, Sell Next Bar at Open

This code might look confusing but Trade Navigator inserted almost everything. All I needed to know was what RSI was and what period I wanted to run the test on. In this case, RSI will be calculated over a 14-day period. The “.1” after the RSI term in the second condition indicates that the software should look at the value one day earlier. 

To develop a full trading strategy, we add in stop loss and profit targets using the built-in Quick Stops function. The results are lackluster, 40% winners and an average trade of about $252, but promising. Changing some numbers to variables will allow us to quickly optimize the system and see if it can be tradable. 

Long entry: If RSI (Close, Buy_PER, False) > RSI_BUY And RSI (Close, Buy_PER, False).1 < RSI_BUY

Short entry: If RSI (Close, Sell_PER, False) > RSI_SELL And RSI (Close, Sell_PER, False).1 < RSI_SELL

Buy_PER is a variable to define the optimal lookback period to for buy signals, and Sell_PER will find the best lookback period for sells. RSI_BUY will be used to optimize the RSI value for long entries, with RSI_SELL finding the nest sells. This is curve fitting, but we’re just testing the software. Within a few minutes, after running through more than 14,000 combinations, we find that there is nothing we’d consider tradable in this idea. Within thirty minutes of installing Trade Navigator, traditional wisdom that an indicator can be used to make money has not withstood rigorous testing. 

Looking at the Genesis web site, you will notice that they have add-ins from a large number of partners, including Larry Williams. We wanted to determine if the DAX could be traded with Larry’s OOPS signal. Larry has observed that when a market gaps open, yesterday’s high or low represents a low risk entry point for short term trades. In other words, if the market gaps lower and opens below the previous day's close, buy at yesterday's low. If the market opens above yesterday's high, sell at yesterday's high. For an exit, we’ll try Larry’s Bailout, closing the trade on the first profitable opening, or we’ll use a stop loss of $1,000. 

The code, again is very simple: 

Long entry: If Next Bar Open < Low, Buy at Low STOP

Short entry: If Next Bar Open > High, Sell at high STOP

Long exit: If Next Bar Open > Entry Price, Sell at Market

Short exit: If Next Bar Open < Entry Price, Buy at Market

Stop losses are added with the built-in Quick Stops feature. 

The results are not bad, from October 1990 through April 2007, the system generated 65.5% winners with an average trade of $211. Profits totaled more than $178,000 on a drawdown of $10,500. Figure 3 shows one of the 23 available analysis reports to study the results. Any trader will be able to trade with increased confidence given this level of detail about performance.

Figure 3 – Performance Report clearly presents a wealth of information to allow the trader to make an informed decision about whether or not to trade an idea with real money.

Conclusion

Trade Navigator Platinum delivers everything the trader needs - powerful, easy-to-use software designed for traders at a reasonable price. The data service includes all US stocks and futures contracts from around the world. Full integration ensures no need for traders to get involved with programming tasks. 

If needed, tech support is available, which we found to be truly superior. They assisted in programming the DeMark Sequential and providing detailed answers to specific questions. Tech support can also remotely troubleshoot problems on your machine if email and phone assistance prove to be inadequate. 

The ability to backtest anything you can imagine, combined with in-depth reporting of the results, allows individuals to trade with the confidence of professionals. Trade Navigator Platinum will work in any time frame, making it the perfect solution for day-traders or long-term traders.

Our Rating – 9.5/10, there is nothing we’d like to do that this software can’t do.