Contents
Summary
For those that use book order trading, the technique of playing off the trades of others, Jigsaw Trading is a top level platform. Costs are relatively cheap and seminars on how to use the product are offered.
Jigsaw Trading provides a suite of tools and educational resources for day traders to teach them how to trade efficiently using order flow charts.
Trading on order flow is a totally different process from the traditional technical analysis to which most day traders are familiar with, but with the emergence of high-frequency traders and the ever-increasing speed of contemporary trading, it is becoming the method of choice.
Jigsaw Trading is suitable for beginners as well as experience “tape traders” and is one of the most common trading resources for order books available today.
Let’s review Jigsaw Trading briefly, so you can determine if it is the right tool for your regular trading needs.
- Jigsaw Trading Tools
Jigsaw Trading’s tools are a collection of signals and indicators that visualize what most order book traders try to do internally when they “read the tape”.
According to the current order book, these methods make it much faster and more effective for day traders to feel the demand, which means that they are more likely to produce a higher number of more effective trades within the same time period.
Jigsaw’s trading tools do not offer the trade execution metrics offered by other trading platforms, but instead strengthen the existing understanding of how to build trading positions based on the order book by a day trader. Day traders must therefore already understand order book trading and how to establish their own trades before using the Jigsaw Tools.
There are a few other trading tools on the market that give Jigsaw Trading similar characteristics, but Jigsaw Trading tools are widely considered by both beginners and experience tape traders to be the best
- Jigsaw daytradr™ – an award winning, unique & innovative order flow and trade execution platform.
- Daytradr Trading Platform™
Designed specifically for day traders of futures and exchange traded spreads, the daytradr platform is a robust stand-alone multi-threaded trading platform that connects to CQG, Rithmic, GAIN Futures (OEC), Tradovate, Interactive Brokers and IQFeed. daytradr contains all the features from the popular plug-in and IQFeed. daytradr contains all the features from the popular plug-in from Jigsaw (used by over 4,500 traders) and much more, to deliver a truly flawless trading experience.
Note that the GAIN Feed is also known by the following names: Alpha Trader, Apex Trader, ATC Trader, CTG Pro, DT Pro, G-Force Trader, Global Zen Trader, High Ground Trader, Index Trade Launcher, S5 Trader & Zaner 360.
- Depth & Sales (Depth of Market)
The Depth & Sales is Jigsaw’s interpretation of the Depth of Market (DOM). A tool that is the cornerstone of the proprietary trader’s decision making process. It is here we see the interaction between passive traders (limit orders) and active traders (market orders). This is where we get a visceral feel for trading activity. Regardless of how you will make decisions longer term (via the DOM or our more visual tools), spending time doing drills on our DOM will pay off huge dividends in terms of your market understanding.
The Depth & Sales shows:
- The impact of trades hitting the market
- Where traders are getting stuck
- Likely location of stop orders/where traders are positioned
- Where traders are pulling(cancelling) their orders, to avoid a move
- Where traders are stacking (iceberging) and front-running the market in anticipation of the market holding
- Balance of trade/momentum
- Alert column for pre-market notes
- Integration to JS Services Desktop
- Order Queue Position
- Trade P&L Per Price
The Depth & Sales is also your primary order entry tool, with one click trading, automated exit strategies, auto order types, volume-based stops, and the overall feel of an execution tool that could only have been developed by a fellow trader.
- Trade Simulator
Learning to trade or learning a new strategy is problematic on most trade platforms. Unless you are trading live, with real money – you’ll never know how realistic the results are. That’s because most platforms take an optimistic view on the prices you’d be filled at. Jigsaw daytradr is different – it gives you realistic fills on Limit Orders and realistic slippage on Market and Stop Orders.
So whether you are learning to trade OR trying out a new strategy, the Jigsaw Trade Simulator gives you a much more realistic set of results.
- And Much More
There’s too many great features to list that aren’t on this page but for the really curious, you can take a look at the product manual.
Here’s a list of other things to look out for:
- Reconstructed Tape – Time & Sales on steroids!
- Order Flow Event Alerts (iceberg alert, block trade alert, large trade alert, divergence alert)
- Innovative workspace management
- Position and Orders analysis window – with direct trading interface
- Custom Trading Sessions
- Automatic Symbol Download
- Exchange Traded Spread Support
- Equity Support (NASDAQ L2)
- Global Market Support – e.g., US, Europe, Hong Kong, Sydney, Osaka (additional markets added on request)
- Jigsaw Trading Education Resources
Jigsaw Trading provides 3 levels of education resources, including training videos, guides, blogs and more.
With the purchase of the trading platform and toolkit, the first tier of tools is free and there is a video that explains the fundamentals of order flow training. While this is the lowest resource level, the video provides a detailed introduction to order book trading that is more than suitable for any beginner.
An advanced order flow training kit is included in the second tier of tools that will teach day traders the common techniques used by advanced order book traders to conduct their consistently efficient trades.
For day traders who want to learn to order book trading at an institutional level, the third education resource tier is for the most sophisticated and technical strategies available.
- Jigsaw Trading Support Services
There are a number of additional programs and services at Jigsaw Trading.
Technical support services of Jigsaw Trading are considered some of the best on the market. Nearly every Jigsaw trading review praise how easy it is to set up and how easily and efficiently any technological difficulties are resolved.
There is also an active live trading chat room in Jigsaw Trading, where day traders can share their experiences with order book trading and the software of Jigsaw Trading to answer any questions and learn from more experienced traders and agents of Jigsaw Trading.
The Jigsaw Trading app can be installed in demo mode so that day traders can exercise their new trading techniques for order books in a live data environment.
- Prices
Jigsaw Trading isn’t cheap. While the basic software and education program is relatively affordable, the rates of advanced education are expensive and there is also a monthly or annual data subscription fee but its content and the knowledge to gain from it makes the education package worth its price.
Each package comes with the basic software and an additional level of education.
- Package 1: Software and 1st tier materials – $579
- Package 2: Software and 1st and 2nd tier materials – $879
- Package 3: Software and 1st, 2nd and 3rd tier materials – $1687
- Additional data subscription – $500 annually or $50 per month
- Final Thoughts
If you are an accomplished order book trader who needs an efficient trading platform and high-quality tools for order books, then Jigsaw Trading is an excellent software.
However, if you are a day trader without any trading background in order books and are looking to branch out theoretically, the higher tier packages can be pricey, particularly if you are unsure if order book trading is a path you want to pursue in your day trading career.
The ideal plan for day traders new to order book trading is presumably to graduate over time to higher tier packages as their interest in order book trading rises. The initial investment for the platform and 1st tier resources is good value for money and would provide day traders with the exposure to order book trading.
Then, by purchasing the higher tier products, as day traders get more experienced in order book trading, they can further improve their knowledge and skills. The prices for these packages will be justified as the day trader is able to use these higher tiers of knowledge more effectively in order book trading.
For more information, please visit the Jigsaw Trading Official Webite
Pros
- Great financial education tools.
- Excellent support for customers.
- Well-designed and functional order book platform that improves trading for beginners and experienced traders efficiently.
Cons
- Costly basic platform, education materials and subscription fees.
- Dedicated exclusively to order book trading, which could be restrictive for some day traders.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Romain is an independent trader and investor specializing in financial market analysis and trading systems. He worked as a professional long/short equity trader for a trading firm in New York and has a passion for building mechanical trading strategies. He has been in the industry since 2008.
DISCLAIMER
This post expresses the opinions of the writer and is for information, entertainment purposes only. Romain is not a registered financial advisor or certified analyst. The reader agrees to assume all risk resulting from the application of any of the information provided. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns and financial trading is full of risk.) Please read the Full Disclaimer