Steve, Re IRA investing - you might wanna read this: http://www.tradersaccounting.com/product.php?productid=16149&cat=249&page=1
d On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 9:54 PM, Steve Dugas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Thank you Dennis, just shrinking the paperwork is a pretty good reason to > switch. 8 - ) > BTW, would you happen to know about trading futures in an IRA? Can it be > done? Can one somehow use futures to go short in an IRA? Thanks again! > > Steve > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Dennis Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Tuesday, October 21, 2008 5:57 PM > *Subject:* Re: [amibroker] Semi-OT: Portfolio Manager for frequent Swing > Trading > > Steve, > With stocks and options, you have to reconcile and show every transaction > in your account during the year on Schedule-D. For an active trader, this > can amount to a lot of work matching trades and figuring out special > situations like mergers. With futures (commodities in IRS speak), the > broker just gives you a statement that says you made x dollars in the year > on Y commodity (like the S&P 500 or Silver)... end of story. You fill out a > different one page schedule --not Schedule-D. Stocks are considered > individual investments. Futures are considered a hedge for real stuff as a > business need for producers. Futures speculators help keep the commodities > prices liquid and at a fair price which helps the economy run smoothly. > > BR, > Dennis > > > On Oct 21, 2008, at 5:18 PM, Steve Dugas wrote: > > Hi Dennis - I have been thinking about trying futures lately, I know they > get the beneficial 60/40 tax treatment but I never knew the paperwork was so > much easier...could you briefly explain what the IRS requires for > futures? Thanks! > > Steve > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Dennis Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Tuesday, October 21, 2008 3:19 PM > *Subject:* Re: [amibroker] Semi-OT: Portfolio Manager for frequent Swing > Trading > > Hello Ken, > I am a frequent trader. I use thinkorswim as a broker. I use their > built-in tools for all actual trade accounting, including tax prep. > Actually tax accounting is such a pain, that I prefer to trade futures > because it eliminates 99.9% of the tax paperwork in the US. To get an > equity curve, I input my account basis and liquidation value in a > spreadsheet each night. It only takes about 5 minutes. I also keep a trade > log of my trades each day for my own learning purposes. > > There is no connection between TOS and AmiBroker programs. > > Best regards, > Dennis > > On Oct 21, 2008, at 3:47 AM, Ken Close wrote: > > Google searches produce nothing useful, so I would like to ask this > question of frequent swing and day traders: what software do you use to > track trade results (closed trades especially but also open trades)? Does > it include calculation and display of a total resulting equity curve? Does > it help in any way for collecting and exporting reports for use at tax > time? Does it integrate with Amibroker or is standalone? Please note that > I am not asking about the backtesting and resulting listing of trades and > their statistics in Amibroker, but rather the recording of real trades made > and closed over time. > > As background to the questions, as I consider a more frequent trading > system compared to mutual funds and positions held for many weeks if not > multiple months, one that might make trades lasting weeks at most and > perhaps only days, my mind boggles at the recordkeeping involved. With > potential trade volumes in the 10 to 30 per week, the data entry starts to > seem formidible. Surely some (many?) on this list do this all the time, and > I would appreciate knowing something about your recordkeeping system(s), not > your timing systems (:-o). > > Now before TJ jumps in here, I just reviewed the AB Account Manager Help > page. This seems like it is what I am asking for, but I wonder if anyone > uses it for their real work, and if its "limitations" (one level of undo, > chronological entry order, not clear whether reports can be exported or not) > inhibit it for the purpose I am asking about. If you use something else, it > must offer benefits pveer the built-in Account Manager---what are they? > > Is this enough information for you to respond? Thanks for sharing. > > Ken > > > > >
