iMac charting software?

[biggles]

Hi, I was wondering if there is any charting software that you can download that works on a Mac. I can only use basic charting on Comsec.

[Fugazi]

The only native Mac software I've found so far is Trade Strategist.

www.trade-strategist.com I think.

It looks like it can do some great stuff, but the learning curve is way too steep for this novice at first glance!!

Anyone found anything in the last year..... please....... I don't want my MacBook Pro to live in a windows world, I have Toshiba's for that!!!

[Shane Baker]

Sadly the best gear is Windows based

Here is a couple from a google search.

http://www.trendsoft.com/
http://www.trade-strategist.com/

Behold is the best MAC backtesting software (not sure if it is still available)

Parallels might be the go allowing you to actively switch between modes without rebooting.If you choose this method I would give Amibroker serious consideration.

Good luck with your search.

Cheers

Shane

[Fugazi]

Oh well, I guess the Mac is going to be purely for music & pics then. Shame, every time I fire up Windows I feel like I'm back in the orifice!!! (I run Windows networks for a living)

[klam]

There's also one called ProTA.

http://www.beesoft.net/

[jezzera]

Does anyone here have any actual experience with mac charting software? Running windows isn't really an option for me, except as an absolutely last resort perhaps.

Beesoft's ProTA looks interesting, though it only does end-of-day analysis. Don't know if this is likely to be a problem? I guess intraday trading isn't really something I'm going to be doing while starting out though, so it's more a question of whether real time data can be useful to fine tune entries/exits.

Trendsetter (trendsoft.com) looks like it's probably more evolved though it's a carbon app so not fully native to OS X. However, the more advanced version does seem to support intraday trading.

Would love to hear anyone's experiences with these programs anyway.

[damok]

Am happy to recommend the ProTA Gold product, as this is what I have been using for some time. No good for intra-day stuff, but very handy. I was trying to write a custom indicator but was having some problems, and the support I received to help me do this was fantastic.

If you go this product you can also buy a separate piece of software called StockXloader which is quite cheap. It downloads data from Yahoo! Finance (hands off Micro$oft) and avoids any further data costs.

These two together with some cunning spreadsheets makeup my trading solution. Let us know what you come up with.

p.s. anyone seen something good for linux?

damo

[jezzera]

Thanks damok. Well I'd certainly rather support a decent mac developer than buy some windows software. Especially when that software requires the purchase of an OS that I'd rather not have along with a license for VMware or Parallels.

As for Linux, there does appear to be at least one solution. I haven't looked at it in any great detail though and it's probably not a priority for me. It looks fairly complex and has a client/server architecture. See:
http://eiffel-mas.sourceforge.net/
(it's actually a cross platform java app so would work on mac and windows as well)

A few other programs are listed here:
http://freshmeat.net/articles/view/269/
Under "Investment Analysis" and again I don't know how good/useful they are.

[eieio]

ProTA Gold is the best for the EOD trader/investor IMO. Beautiful interface with good systems testing capacity if you want this and a very good customisable indicator language that has stood me in good stead over a number of years.

I've tried all the Mac share trading software out there (there are quite a few if you care to look) and this one is the most elegant IMO. Trendsetter Software's offerings comes second on my list - worth a good look.

[Rockhoundnz]

I've heard that quite a few traders are switching to Macs now because they are better engineered. With Boot Camp and Parallels you can easily run Windows-based charts (eg Tradestation) on them. I'll certainly be moving to Mac for my next trading PC.