Specifications: Watcher

The Watcher Application specifications document is now complete. I have published it using Google docs rather than posting in blog format because it will be easier to make changes over time. As with all software specifications, this is a living document and will be updated often as needed. I will keep a revision history at the bottom of the document to track any major changes.

Trading Robot Features (v 0.0 initial)

I will work out full features at a later time (after proof of concept works), but the initial idea of the trading robot's features are:

1. Each position is tied to a specific trading strategy
2. Position entries are done manually. Note a stock/option position can have one or more legs
3. Position adjustments are done by the robot
4. Position exits are done by the robot
5. Adjustment rules can be customized with parameters and can be reused for different trading strategies
6. Be able to do the following using IB API:

• get current quote for stock, index, or option
• get historic quote - high/low for the past x days
• get current options info: bid, ask, delta, theta, iv, etc
  
• place single and combination orders: limit, market, stop loss, contingent
• set up alerts
• detect execution of orders
• cancel orders

Major components which can be run from a single workstation (Windows XP) are:

1. IB Traders Work Station (TWS) software - This is the interface that does the actual trading.
2. Database - To store strategy rules and trading records
3. Trading Robot program - This program is implemented in JRuby just runs with no user interface. It accesses TWS and the database, issuing orders to TWS and updates the database.
4. Trading Monitor web application - This program is implemented in Ruby on Rails and provides a view of what the trading robot is doing along with reports