I am pretty new to this, currently doing the babypips school for the 2nd time plus some backtesting on a few possible strategies.
After searching this forum, I am unable to find anything with “Apple” or “Mac” on here.
Am I the only Mac user interested in FX trading? Surely not?
Can anyone recommend a platform/broker that is mac friendly?
I am currently trading a practise account with forex.com and have signed up, but not yet tried, Oanda. They both offer Java based platforms which will work on just about any computer.
Any comments on which of these two is better would be appreciated please. Particularly in using their charts too.
I travel a lot and need the flexibility of being able to use my own laptop or even a computer from a hotel business centre or internet cafe. Java seems the best way to do this. Am I right in this deduction?
I use my Macbook Pro for trading since Apple put it on market. A lot of other guys that I know do the same. The problem is… running windows under Parallels Desktop® or Bootcamp. I use GFT Dealbook to trade under Parallels Desktop® and it�s great because I can use all the MACOS X functions (as desktop picture for Trade journal), safari, mail… and the stability of apple�s OS.
The internet connection is shared with it by MacOSX. Even with my cell phone connections I can stil trade with it.
When in home, I got a Mac mini with the same resourses, including Apple�s remote desktop acess form anywhere…
GFT is presenting, also, an web based trading dealbook360. Good Charts and tools, but now it�s just for demo accounts.
If you need some info about it, just contact me, ok?
I am a Mac user but still haven’t upgraded to Intel Mac so I am stuck using Oanda. Oanda’s Java system is not perfect with Mac as it is a bit buggy. I was waiting for Leopard to be released before I upgraded but I am getting impatient with that. There are many tools I can’t access that I need to so I am considering a PC laptop in the very near future. Ultimately you will need Windows, either with a Mac (like Macfx suggests) or PC.
Thanks for the insight to your managing it all, Macfx.
I will check out GFT, and see what the web-based client works like on my iMac (PPC) at home.
Lagunacat, I completely understand your frustration, but I am just not willing to go back to a PC and am determined to find a solution. I was just about to buy a macbook a few days ago, but have decided to wait until WWDC in June and hopefully get Leopard bundled in.
If a windows platform proves to be essential, I will then run something using parallels and winXP.
Besides, that also gives me about 2 more months to spend on educating myself and developing my fx toolbox before trading live!
I was going to get a Macbook last summer but decided to put it off until Leopard was released. This months Macworld has a review of the top 4 Windows platforms for Mac. They all have their drawbacks, though they are all far superior to Virtual PC. Parallels seems like the best choice. However it wasn’t until after I read the article that I considered getting a PC to run Windows. The reason was the writer mentioned a security breach while running Windows on the Mac. Having never owned a PC I have never had any issues with security and one of the reasons I have always loved being a Mac user, along with the ease of use and mostly trouble free use. So I am not sure I want to expose my Mac to security issues.
I am still sorting it out so nothing is set in stone yet. At any rate I do think Windows is essential to be successful in Forex. Willing to listen to any contrary opinions out there though.
I am new to the site and was surfing the forums and wanted to add a comment on trading with the Mac platform. Using the Mac for trading has defiantly presented challenges as the mass trading software vendors is focused on the windows operating systems. I have been trading just over a year now starting with a older imac moving up to a Mac bookpro and the trading software I have been using is from Trendsetter starting with Personal Hotline and six months ago moving up to there HotlineX software, upgrade was to use real-time data for intraday trading. My short time trading has been on futures grain markets then on to the S&P e-mini and now considering forex markets. Information on forex has lead to babypips working my way through the school information.
The broker I have been using is xpresstrade (web based platform) for my trading, Mac safari has worked ok, with the only problem has been with Airport droping my signal from time to time. They also have a website for forex trading I am looking at trying there free demo trading account to get my feet wet.
I wanted to let the mac users out there about the bad lead I recently posted for xpresstrades website for forex trading. There trading station at this time is only for windows users that require a software download, there futures trading website is web based and I have been using with no problems.
Today I signed up to try out Oanda FXGame platform that is web based using safari to access all ok at this time.
Was checkin’ out this post and noticed that GFT is now offering the web-based platform of DealBook for live accounts. Looks pretty slick, says it’s for macs and pcs. If anyone knows anything or has tried it let me know.
I commend it to you, and draw attention to post #7 on the thread where the steps to establish the functions are clearly outlined.
I have the latest iMac Intel core 2 duo on 24" screen. I bought it specifically to trade FX and intended to run Boot Camp to enable the MT4 PC version.
Another method I have heard used is to have a PC computer dedicated solely to MT4 charting (a “mule”), without monitor. Display is via screen-share network, with which I am not yet familiar … getting there.
My new Mac came with Tiger loaded, but they included the Leopard disc, which is a cinch to instal.
iMac have come a very long way in a very long time … or so it seems. But recently I believe they have seen the light and are getting their act together.
Let’s hope they come a very long way further in rapid time now, and catch up to PC in this growing genre of charting FX.
ProRealTime.com is a Java based charting package that works with OS X and allows for custom indicator/system building as well as backtesting. There are several indicators and systems being submitted on their website by other users.
EOD access is free; monthly will run you about $50 USD.
The best part is that it allows both Mac and PC functions to run from dock.
"[B]Already running Windows XP on your Mac using Apple Boot Camp? No problem. VMware Fusion automatically detects your Boot Camp partition and lets you access it as a virtual machine, giving you the flexibility to run Windows XP alone or side-by-side with Mac OS X.
[/B]
Has anyone attempted this?
My main reason to sus this out is to find a way to run MT4 as well as my trading (broker) package side-by-side. I am still looking at the options available, such as the story from:
and heaps more options when you Google " mac windows".
I would love to hear from fellow Mac users who have successfully merged their Windows apps to run alongside Mac apps simultaneously (from dock - on call, without switching systems to achieve it).
This one sounds easy … but may be more complicated than that:
VMWare is your best bet for running windoz on a mac - better than parrallels and it can use your existing bootcamp partition. I use it to trade emini’s (ES, ER2, YM).
For all other trading, including forex I use the Mac end of things - just more intuitive and easier.
Broker: Interactive Brokers (runs on a Mac - no problem). Also they have the best spreads out there. I have run their platform side by side with several other Brokers (Market Makers) and IB consistantly has the best spreads. Also IB is an ECN.
Charting/Analysis Software: Investor/RT (LinnSoft) - (runs on a Mac - no problem) while IB offers charts, their offering is very basic (no candles), so I found it neccessary to use IRT for technical studies.
Automated Trading: AutoTrader - (runs on a Mac - no problem) allows you to get in and out of trades lickety split without getting emotional.
YOU CAN TRADE ON YOUR MAC. All three of the above work with no emulation.
In the absence of an earlier response I opted for Parallels Desktop for Mac, and WIN XP - both of which I found at about 30% of new price on eBay.
MSoft is about to release SP3 for WIN XP as well as SP1 for Vista - just a bit of trivia on the side.
However - it is working well enough in the early stages - still have to get the charting loaded again (that is - migrated across from the old PC) but the less I have to do with MSOFT the better. I am fed up with their monopolistic ways.
Eventually Mac will gain the upper hand because of - in my view - a superior product.
Hopefully the FX brokers who use the franchised MT4 platform will see this happening, and “be the first” to develop “MT4-for-Mac” or put pressure on the MT4 master-centre to provide one…
I find the web-based (java) charting and trading platforms absolutely useless for customising charting to suit my personal needs. I have yet to find a superior product to MT4.
Thanks for feedback EB - and I will keep the thread informed of progress.
I doubt they will develop software for mac computers based on the fact that 99.99% of computers that run business software use windows, why would a company bother programming software that will rarely sell since trading is a business.
btw for those people who love macs because they are less likely to be infected with a virus… many people think its because its a mac and thats why it is less likely to get infected but in reality its because not a lot of people have macs in the first place.
Can’t fault your logic there Pipraider … I simply don’t know.
But I have found that running Parallels Desktop for Mac to be a great option - I get my charting MT4 a/c and the benefits of access to essential software not (yet) available in Mac versions. I run AV software on the Parallels partition.
I would be interested to know your views on what AV software I need to load on the Mac. You are correct in that I assumed I would not have a problem with Viruses - perhaps I have not read widely enough on this yet.
I know Mac have been updating software with patches etc, but this has nothing to do with virus issues - just repair of emerging bugs in the OS. I run Leopard OS and love it.
To answer your question: [B]“why would a company bother programming software that will rarely sell since trading is a business”[/B]I would imagine one answer to be that MSOFT needs competition and Apple is bringing the game to them.
As evidence I note that there is a growing number of Mac users, and Apple products, and a rapidly increasing amount of software coming onto the market which is suitable for Mac/Linux etc OS’s.
In my view MSOFT have really abused their position (evidence the lawsuits) and I support the drive by Apple to match it with them.
The move to Intel Core 2 Duo is the first step.
Watch this space.
I don’t buy the argument that they are not producing software because of a lack of market for it. Any Mac user will tell you that it is precisely this LACK of software that has kept them in the PC world.
As this dearth of software is attended to, i think your figure [B]“the fact that 99.99% of computers that run business software use windows”[/B] will appear a little shaky. I say this because I know business people who use both, and the Mac is their machine-of-choice.
This can only be resolved by the passage of time. But I had to wait 6 weeks for the delivery of my new Mac - something the salespeople told me was unprecedented.
Interactive Brokers is one of the largest brokers in the world. They offer access to more markets (equities, futures, currencies) than anybody. They provide FREE of charge a very functional trading platform (with a seperate FOREX component). So to say companies WILL NOT provide software for the Mac trader is simply not true.
Granted, you may have more options on windoz, but Mac users do have a choice.
I will look at IB and see what their charting can offer. Just now I use MT4 because of the customising available to me, such as constructing MMA’s and Multi-Time Frame indicators in the one window. (When I get the Charts loaded I will post an example of what I am doing).
I can feel the tide turning against MSOFT because now that I am a Mac user, I am seeing more and more product and more and more effort to supply product (software) for Mac.
It’s about choice - and freedom.
In my view MSOFT could do much better - but dollars are coming before service - again just my view.
Enoch - the sharing of information like you are doing is enabling people like myself to go for it, when we want to break out of the MSOFT bondage.
Don’t get me wrong - I have been a happy long time user of MSOFT. But they have “kept ahead” of the market by updating… updating … ad nauseum.
Who can remember the genetic lineage of computers - 186 … 286 … 386 … 486 … Pentium Mark I - II - III - IV and on it goes. Each new release comes with it’s own bucket of software.
Windows versions occupy a whole page of the search engine, from Win 3.1 to Windows Vista. You have to have a suitcase full of discs for the ad-ons.
There isn’t any reason in the first place NOT to have included ALL this software in the original (ie each new version) package … other than perhaps commercial - I am open to other rationale for it.
MSOFT is a large corporation - they deserve to be - and it is a megalith that produces wonderful innovative software.
But why has it come at such a cost to the consumer? In time, when they are dragged kicking and screaming (see previous lawsuits) through the courts they may open up a bit and quit their marketing mentality and get on with providing better service to loyal customers.
If they weren’t examining their share price so closely, they would see a huge market in working with and providing software for their opposition.
There would then be no need for consumers like myself to look over the fence to see if there is something else … something better.
As in trading … “Get the method right and the money looks after itself.”
Sorry for the dummy spit - just a bit cranky about having to go to abnormal lengths to accommodate a decent charting package on the Mac when it need not be this way.
works great on my Macbook pro