OmniTrader 2008 Review
Posted on April 11, 2008
Filed Under Trading Software, Trading Tools |
OmniTrader 2008 is Nirvana Systems latest and greatest version of their popular OmniTrader program and like prior releases this version is chocked full of new features.
My first experience with OmniTrader was the OmniTrader 2001 version. I was new to trading having decided to switch from being an investor where others make my financial decisions to being a trader where I make my own decisions.
I spent quite a few hours over several weeks trying to get the software to produce profitable trading signals. Frustrated, I asked for and received a prompt refund and that was it.
Looking back I see what I did wrong…
Despite Nirvana’s constant reminder that OmniTrader is a prospecting tool that you use to find trading candidates for further analysis I tried to make it into a trading system that produced buy and sell signals that could be taken without any further signal confirmation.
In other words, OmniTrader 2001 and subsequent releases was a prospecting tool that produced a list of trading candidates that you further analyze using your favorite technical analysis methods to make buy and sell decisions.
This is known as discretionary trading as opposed to systematic trading which is what I wanted to do.
I did find some comfort in knowing that I was not alone in my misuse of OmniTrader as many people bought the program thinking it was a trading system when it was not and then were dissatisfied with the program because “it didn’t work”.
Luckily, I learned from my mistake as my trading skills developed and when OmniTrader 2002 became available I bought it and have been using OmniTrader ever since.
Now the good news for those wanting to be system traders is that unlike some trading software Nirvana is committed to constantly improving their product and they have a major release each year with great new features that have slowly evolved the product to the point where it can now be used for system or mechanical trading if desired.
You see, besides adding new features to OmniTrader Nirvana has developed some major enhancements to the program that allows for the addition of optional plug-ins.
Some of these provide capabilities not found in any other trading software and include an innovative Chart Pattern Recognition System, an implementation of the Darvas Box method and a complete implementation of the Turtle Trading System.
There are quite a few others available and each one is easily installed so you can mix and match plug-ins with no adverse effects.
What’s more exciting is that Nirvana now sells two mechanical trading systems named NSP-31 and NSP-33 that have some pretty impressive backtest results and are reasonably priced compared to other lesser trading systems on the market today.
OmniTrader also allows you to build your own trading systems with the optional Strategy Builder Module and you can even write your own indicators, stops, etc. with the OmniTrader Professional version.
This makes OmniTrader 2008 one of the most powerful and complete trading software packages on the market today while still remaining very affordable.
With this tremendous power comes a learning curve so be prepared to spend some time learning the program.
The good news is OmniTrader 2008 now has a full set of help videos that are available at all times to walk you through the program and they also produce some of the best trading seminars you can buy that are also very reasonably priced and will give you an excellent education in how to use OmniTrader to its full potential as well as how to be a better trader overall.
I have personally met with most of the Nirvana staff at the annual “Bash” which is held for Nirvana Club members (more on that in another post) each year and I find them to be a very sincere, honest and open group of people that really care about their customers.
Nirvana Systems founder Ed Downs is probably one of the nicest people you will ever meet in this business and he is a class act as are the other Nirvana personnel.
If I had to choose one trading software package to use right now it would be OmniTrader 2008 hands down. Actually, it is the only one I am using along with TradeStation which I use primarily as a broker/trading platform.
My only criticism of OmniTrader is that over the years Nirvana has had a habit of releasing versions with minor bugs in them that I feel should have been caught during QA testing.
While all computer software has bugs it seems like Nirvana sometimes takes a few releases to fix a reported bug and the user forums show that others have similar opinions.
As an example, limit buy orders in trade plans not working correctly has been an ongoing issue that has not been fixed as I write this review.
Despite this criticism I would not let this dissuade you from taking a serious look at OmniTrader 2008 as your primary trading software package especially given their generous 30 day return policy.
Discretionary and system traders alike will find OmniTrader 2008 to be robust enough to handle pretty much any trading methodology and with proper use can be an indispensable part of your trading toolbox.
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14 Responses to “OmniTrader 2008 Review”
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Question: can OmniTrader 2008 automatically enter trades, initiate stop loss, profit targets and adjust trailing stops . . .do you use TradeStation brokerage/datafeed service and is ther a plug in that can take Omnitrader entry signals and initiate the trades in TradeStation???
Hi Spencer,
Great question!
First, OmniTrader 2009 is out and has some nice improvements like the ability to automatically install your OT plugins when you upgrade. If you have many plugins like I do this is a real handy feature.
OmniTrader does have brokerage capabilities but I don’t use them currently. I believe they interface with Interactive Brokers (great discount brokerage for active traders) and can run automated strategies like TradeStation.
Yes, I use Tradestation as well because I like to have several trading accounts and I have a few proprietary systems that will only run on TradeStation.
I do not know of any tool that can take OmniTrader signals and execute them in Tradestation. It’s probably possible to do though if you have the programming skills but I think it would be kind of challenging.
Both programs are great in their own right. TradeStation is very robust but is focused on single stocks, etc. even though they now have a way to scan all stocks based on criteria you can setup but for testing a portfolio of stocks instead of one for performance you still need 3rd party tools that are kind of pricey.
OmniTrader takes a different approach and scans a set of stocks and can apply many systems to them to give you signals.
Of course TradeStation has a monthly fee that is steep for many unless you meet their trading minimums and then it is free while OmniTrader is a one time charge with a small data fee or you can use other data feeds as well.
Hope this helps,
Mike
Hi Mike,
I don’t know technical analysis, and want to use a software product for systematic trading. I was first interested in the new Metastock programs which include the RMO with buy and sell indications. However, after reading your complimentary review of Omnitrader 2008. I’m unsure which product would be best for me.
Thank you in advance for your advice.
Best Regards,
Alan
Hi Alan,
The best advice I can give you is to take it slow and learn TA before you start trading with real money.
Read a couple of the books I mentioned in other posts and learn the basics so you understand how markets work.
It is very easy to buy a program and try to do systematic trading with “canned” trading systems but I think you will be disappointed in your results. I know I was.
The very first TA program I bought was MetaStock and I bought many add-ons and some pretty cool 3rd party testing software that produced more accurate system test results than MS but for some reason I never really used it for anything more than a charting package.
To me OmniTrader is geared more towards trading (by the way the 2009 version is out) and they have done some very interesting work with artificial intelligence.
If I had to say one bad thing about OmniTrader it would be the little bugs that seem to crop up from time to time as new releases are rolled out.
From a company perspective the people there are top notch and Ed Downs is a class act and knows his stuff.
I think they have a 60 day money back guarantee still and they also have a couple of mechanical systems that will set you back about 3K or so but they supposedly generate good signals.
TradeStation is another good package that combines a fantastic program along with a brokerage account. The monthly fee is kind of steep unless you trade a lot or have a large account balance and it just recently added a feature to scan for potential trades.
I think overall OmniTrader is a good value and if you like to tinker there’s plenty of things you can do with it.
Remember that a system is only one component of a good trading plan. Discipline and controlling your emotions play a much larger role in becoming a successful trader.
I hope that helps,
Mike
Dear Mike,
Thank you very much. I could not have received better advice.
Best Regards,
Alan
Hi Alan,
Thanks, I really appreciate that
Good luck in your journey and take your time.
Trading is like any other profession, it takes time to learn and some people just aren’t cut out for it, especially when it comes to the discipline part.
Many people think they can learn to trade at a weekend seminar but when their money is on the line they panic and almost always make the wrong decision.
It’s people like that that “pay” the traders that know what they are doing.
Take care,
Mike
Mike, I enjoyed your review on Omnitrader2008, I was wondering if you could do an in depth writeup of Visual Trader, obviously Nirvana always has great marketing materials and to me it looks like Visual Trader may offer far superior results than what Omnitrader can do, mainly because the canned strategies are somewhat ho hum. I would appreciate you getting down and dirty with VT and posting your opinion as a stand alone and also in conjunction with Omnitrader.
THank you
Hi Pauly,
Thanks for the comments. I don’t really use VT so I would have to “get up to speed” on it. Let me think about it though
What I can tell you in the meantime is…
I am a Nirvana Club member and got a free copy at one of the yearly Bash events before it was released.
It was slow on my computer at the time because of the graphics load so I shelved it.
Last year I did update to the newest version and played around with it for a bit.
It runs much faster on newer machines and the overall concept is kind of cool.
Nirvana now lets VT run strategies like OmniTrader but I never got around to testing it.
It seems to me like the power of VT is for sector rotation trading where you look for a group of stocks like banking or automotive and trade the hot sectors.
This is a valid way of trading but isn’t my cup of tea but it is fun watching the cylinders shrink and grow. It is a good way to see visually how stocks are moving.
The bigger issue I think is when you said:
“to me it looks like Visual Trader may offer far superior results than what Omnitrader can do, mainly because the canned strategies are somewhat ho hum”
I can’t definitively say that VT will give you better results than OT because I haven’t used it as much as OT.
Having said that I think that anyone who plans on trading the standard systems/strategies mechanically of either product will be very disappointed because these products are not meant to be traded that way “out of the box”.
They are prospecting tools that help you identify trading candidates that you must then confirm using your own criteria or Nirvana’s suggested confirmation methods.
Now Nirvana does have two nice mechanical trading systems but they aren’t cheap. They also talk a lot about mechanical trading in the Nirvana Club but other than that I don’t know of anyone that has successfully traded the standard issue systems mechanically.
I guess what I am trying to say is don’t look at any product thinking it will make you money unless it is a trading system that has been thoroughly researched and tested.
There are some really interesting trading software products available but they are nothing more than tools to help you identify possible trade candidates. You need to put the human element in the mix before you “pull the trigger” on any trade using these products.
Can you build a mechanical trading system with OT or VT? I would say yes but only after putting in some sweat equity learning how good trading systems are constructed.
I know I might have gotten a little off topic but I hope this helps you some.
Take care,
Mike
On OmniTraders website, they make sound so simple to use, but you say it will take time to learn, which is it? Also you have said you need to do further analysis on their picks, what type of further analysis needs to be done? Look at MACD, Full Stochastics, MA’s treadlines?
Hi Robert,
Of course they make it sound simple, they want you to but the software
You need to spend time with Omnitrader to learn how yo use it correctly. It has lots of neat features and tools. No different than any other software package.
They have some really nice tutorials in the new version that will get you up to speed quickly.
The further analysis is based on your own personal confirmation methods. Nirvana has some seminars with Ed that shows how he confirms signals based on chart patterns to make the final decision to take the trade.
The key point is to NOT blindly follow the standard Omnitrader signals.
You need to look at each signal and then based on some criteria like a chart pattern or TA indicator decide if that trade looks like a high probability trade to you.
Personally if you are just starting out I would go with the chart pattern confirmation techniques Nirvana teaches and use their trading game to practice.
Hope that helps,
Mike
I enjoy reading the comments, questions and answers. I myself is looking into buying OT. I know a bit of TA, but all in theory.
Thanks Trino. Just take your time and get a good trading plan before you commit any real money. People are always anxious to “get in the game” and that is a gambler’s mentality.
Treat trading as a business and take your time and you will be a much better trader in the long run (and more profitable too!).
Mike
Hi Mike,
I never imagined that I would get a response from my short comment. Just want to mention that I received an info pack from OT for the 2009 version about 3 weeks ago. It mentioned that they have a special for the stocks edition for Omnitrader at $99US (orig is $495 US). That is a good special and I sent an email about 3 days ago for some questions and up until this writing no response. The special will finish on June 29. Has someone that you know or anyone reading this has a similar story.
Thanks Mike.
Hi Trino,
I can’t tell you why they haven’t answered your questions but I can tell you that OT 2009 for $99 is a steal!
Do remember though that you will need a data feed either from them or a 3rd party.
You can also spend a small fortune on plug-ins as well so be careful and don’t go overboard until you figure out what trading methodology you will be using.
I can tell you that it would be a mistake to try and use the standard version of OT for mechanical trading.
Use it more as a prospecting tool like Nirvana suggests and then confirm the trades with whatever TA methods you are using.
Good Luck,
Mike