Patricio

Thanks @krisbee I was thinking of doing a personal guide for symbols to watch and this makes things a lot easier, it really is a complete overview of the year and give us a great perspective. Thanks to @Kim @Yowster @krisbee and all the SO community, is fun to sail the market's sea with you.

@kimI like this name the most, but I do think it should go with the steady prefix since that is your trade mark and quality seal.

I want to start a thread for all the linux users who have been struggling to get TOS and other trading platforms to run smooth in their computers. This topic came out from other thread and since it was not relevant to that one I decided to start a new one. As @Ringandpinion pointed out the problem arises from the Java platform and its use of the graphics card in linux where by default Java apps use the main cpu to render the interface and it is not hardware accelerated. So that left me thinking and I did my research on Google to try and find a solution for this matter, that research led me to the following two links: 1. Link1 2. Link2 The instructions are kind of old but they do work in the newer versions of Java, TOS and Linux. I also find that you don't have to edit the launcher file for TOS there is a file called "thinkorswim.vmoptions" You just need to append the options to that file as follows: -Dsun.java2d.noddraw=true -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true -Dsun.java2d.d3d=false I also tried this options with TastyWorks, for that edit the file named tastyworks.cfg which is normally in the following route /usr/lib/tastyworks/tastyworks.cfg but it may be in other route. ... [JavaOptions] ... -Ddxscheme.wide=true -Dsun.java2d.noddraw=true -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true -Dsun.java2d.d3d=false [ArgOptions] I have tested this setup in KDE and Xfce and it works better with Xfce so I guess for gnome would be the same, also as the original threads mark this could also be used to tune TWS as it is also based in Java but since I don't have an account with IB I didn't tested on that platform. Finally, I'm able to have both TOS and TW open at the same time and every thing run smooth even on a machine with 8 Gb of RAM. Hope this becomes useful for the rest of my fellow linux traders, if you find other tuning options pleas drop my a line. Wish you luck and happy trading and happy linuxing.

I can't speak about how it was 3 years ago but I haven't had any issues with TastyWorks in this time, their platform is fast enough and has been all this time, including the days that the market sold of in early march this year. I also use TOS for analysis and other investment strategies but it is horribly slow at last in my Operating System since I don't use windows a don't know if its any better in that operating system.

At this point as @DubMcDub has said the conversation has become absolutely pointless. I'm neither a SO blind fan nor a detractor, results are what they are and for some are good and for some are bad as with any other thing in life I haven't seen any product or service in my life that everybody thinks is the best, there will be happy and not so happy clients what matters is that the first ones are more. Sorry @Tniko and @yalgaar to hear your experience hasn't been good.

I think this post is going in the wrong direction, the OP was looking for advice to become a better trader and it all resumes in the following: 1. Read and learn. 2. Practice (live or paper) 3. Be patient, trading is 90% having the right mental state. In the other hand I think that if you are not satisfied we the service you can always close your account and put your money for better use or find another trading system that suits you better. Also, options trading is not the only way to invest, there are people who is not suited for this. Like choosing a career not everyone could be a doctor, some people are good with their social skills etc etc. Find what you excel at.

Hello @yalgaar First of all, this post is not to contradict you or criticize in any way, most of all is to describe my personal experience with the service. I subscribed in September last year after two years of trying to be profitable at my options trading and did not went live until late January of this year. So far I've been profitable (not by a great amount) but at least is much better than my previous two years. I've had have no trouble getting in trades at official prices but some of my exists had not been as good also, I've missed a couple of alerts that made my profits be not as good. What I am trying to say is that experience has a lot to do in the options trading business and that if you expect to be proficient in your first year, even using SO, that expectation is a little to high. Many books and people I've read suggest paper trading for at least 6 months before putting real money on this business also, read as much as you can because knowledge is your main advantage in this game. Finally, what has worked for me is: 1. Don't chase trades. 2. Set GTC orders to get out. 3. Try to make at least one trade a week on your own, If you fell that you are at a dead end and really frustrated, take a break from live trading and start from scratch on paper trading until you get used to trade the strategies. Is better to not make money because you are paper trading than loose real money out frustration at the markets. Best.

Commisions are exactly the same as in the US.

Hello @Kim I'm in Mexico and can say that both TD Ameritrade and TastyWorks are eligible for us and that setting up an account is easy. It's easier for TW since all can be done online, TD Ameritrade requires to send physical copies of signed documents. Both of the brokers mentioned before have no minimum deposit required. I've seen that Trdier also affers accounts for international clients but I have no experience with them.