What is thinkorswim?

thinkorswim is a trading platform designed to provide traders with a powerful, fully customizable tool for engaging in various types of financial trading. It allows users to trade a diverse range of instruments such as equities, options, options on futures, ETFs, futures, and forex, catering to the needs of different trading preferences and strategies.

The platform is enriched with a wealth of features, including over 400 technical studies for detailed stock analysis, a condition wizard jumpstart tool, and a thinkScript tool for creating bespoke order execution and strategic testing algorithms. Additionally, thinkorswim provides a stock hacker tool to scan for stocks meeting specific criteria, in-platform chat rooms for connecting with other traders, and an analyze section to test trading ideas.

Apart from these robust tools, thinkorswim incorporates a range of analytic capabilities such as economic data from the Fed, company profiles, options statistics, and advanced features like the Probability Analysis interface, which utilizes probability curves and price slices for assessing trade potential and managing risks. It also offers a strategy roller for automating options strategies, a Market Maker Move tool for predicting stock price movement, and a Market Monitor tool for visualizing market data.

Available on desktop, web, and mobile, thinkorswim is backed by insights, education, and a trade desk, offering 24/5 trading, custom alerts, and social sentiment analysis. Additionally, it provides an extensive learning center to help users familiarize themselves with the platform's capabilities, ensuring traders have the resources to trade effectively and efficiently.

Thinkorswim Plugins for Excel

Real Time Data (RTD) Integration

Thinkorswim plugins allow for seamless integration with Excel by utilizing RTD functions. This integration enables users to pull real time market data directly from the thinkorswim trading platform into Excel spreadsheets, ensuring that the information updates every second for the most accurate and current data.

Data Manipulation and Analysis

Once the data is in Excel, users have the flexibility to manipulate it according to their needs. This capability is crucial for traders who wish to create and refine financial algorithms. The dynamic nature of the data means that traders can see how their algorithms perform in real time, making adjustments as market conditions change.

Algorithm Development and Strategy Testing

With thinkorswim plugins, Excel becomes a powerful tool for developing trading strategies. Users can construct financial algorithms within Excel using the real time market data provided by thinkorswim. Additionally, Excel's computational functions allow traders to calculate the profitability of trading strategies, offering insights into their effectiveness.

Common Use Cases

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  Creating a custom watchlist and open positions monitor
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  Tracking and analyzing vertical spreads and covered calls
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  Developing and testing financial algorithms for trading strategies
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  Streaming and exporting market data for advanced analysis
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  Monitoring specific data points such as volume and weighted back volume for options or tickers

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the Thinkorswim platform integrate with Excel?

Yes, the Thinkorswim platform can connect with Excel using RTD functions to pull real-time data.

Does the RTD function work on the Mac version of Thinkorswim?

Users have experienced issues with the RTD function on Excel for Mac, resulting in a #N/A error.

Do both Thinkorswim and Excel need to be running for data retrieval?

Yes, both Thinkorswim and Excel must be running simultaneously for the RTD function to retrieve live data.

How can I pull data from Thinkorswim into Excel?

You can use the RTD function in Excel with the syntax \"=RTD(“tos.rtd”,, “ [COMMAND] “,” [TICKER] “)\" to pull data from Thinkorswim.

Can I retrieve my personal Ameritrade account information through RTD in Thinkorswim?

Personal account information from Ameritrade may not be available through RTD in Thinkorswim.