From the January 2016 issue of Stocks & Commodities Magazine
Worden Brothers' new TC2000 Version 16 software was originally developed as a white-label trading platform for TC2000 Brokerage, Inc., the company's new affiliated online brokerage. When the finished product exceeded all of their expectations, brothers Chris and Peter Worden and their staff felt it only fair to release the software to the entire TC2000 family of users, whether they used TC2000 Brokerage or just continued to use the software for analysis.
One of the many new features that first caught my attention was the simulated account component. Several platforms and standalone software programs provide simulated accounts, but TC2000 Version 16 offers by far the most robust of any that I have tried. The feature allows you to establish a cash or margin account, set the opening balance, set buy & sell stops, track your daily and total profits & losses-realized and unrealized-plus all the other features normally available only in live accounts. Of course, if you go to TC2000 Brokerage and open an account, then you'll have the option of trading in real time or executing simulated trades. Multiple layouts, a feature introduced in Version 1 2, enhances the usefulness of the trading platform whether you trade live or use the simulated account. With the multiple layout feature, you can set up a trading layout with a window to track your portfolio, a window for orders, and a window for trades. The windows in your layout can be pinned anywhere on the screen, hidden, or left free-floating.
In your trading layout there are multiple ways to enter orders. The detailed order ticket is available at the top of the chart and can be set up as a template, or even as multiple templates. An abbreviated trade window is also available and can be set up as one or more templates. A buy or sell-stop order can also be established using a trendline by first drawing the trendline and right-clicking to bring up a dropdown menu and then clicking on buy limit or sell stop, which immediately turns the trendline into an order and displays the order box on the chart. When the trendline is turned into a sell-stop order, the line changes to a dotted line and the abbreviated order box appears with your completed order. Once your trading layout is established, you can create additional layouts with watchlists, charts, news, and scans to use for research and analysis.
Upcoming earnings dates is another new feature and can be applied to any watchlist. Bring up the S&P 500. watchlist, add the upcoming earnings date column, sort, and there you have all the earning dates, starting with the most current. In my trading, I personally don't like to hold positions over earnings dates, and with Version 16, I can simply take my trading portfolio, add the earnings date column, sort, and I can see which positions have upcoming earnings dates.
Version 16 now allows customization of the chart tool bars. The top row is the factory toolbar and cannot be edited, but now you can add a second, third; and fourth row with any of the buttons, data, and so on, that suit your trading or analysis style.
Notes and News dropdown has recently added a feature that allows you to automatically link the active symbol with major financial websites such as Google and Yahoo Finance pages, MarketWatch, StockTwits, and so on.
Since Bruce Faber's review in this magazine of TC2000 Version 12.2 in 2012, Worden Brothers has added a reports button that allows you to open either a prebuilt fundamentals report or a price & volume report. Or you can create your own custom report, allowing you to check the edit box to add, delete, and move fields. Recently, Worden Brothers added an optional service-the newsfeed from MT Newswires, which offers a wide variety of news announcements on a real-time basis.
Worried about the learning curve with a new platform? Don't be. When you click on the help button and then on tutorial videos, links to more than 60 videos appear. The videos average three to seven minutes each, covering every aspect of the program. Speaking of videos, if you want help with your trading, you can go to www.worden.com to view a myriad of videos on various subjects related to trading and then go down to the bottom of the page to see the entire webinar archive dating back to 2009.
Still need help? In the past, the Worden Brothers training guru, Michael Thompson, put on live seminars around the country. He took a brief sabbatical from traveling in 2015 but plans on scheduling a series of live webinars in 2016, so keep an eye on your email if you're already a member of the TC2000 user family, or go to the website to see upcoming seminars. In addition to the tutorial videos, webinar archives, and soon-to-come live seminars, TC2000 has a superb support team available six days a week via phone or email.