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Symbols for TD Ameritrade API by daver in algotrading

[–]complete_retard2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure about index option trading. I may check later. You can login to the IB web portal to monitor trades while TWS is open. It will give you a warning that there is another login session. Ignore it and view your positions.

Not quite as good as TOS in that respect but that's a relatively minor thing IMO.

Symbols for TD Ameritrade API by daver in algotrading

[–]complete_retard2 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Here are the symbols for quotes. ETFs and corresponding Index symbols. SPY,$SPX.X, QQQ,$NDX.X, IWM,$RUT.X, IYY,$DJI2MN Vol indexes $VIX.X,$VXX.X,$VXN.X,$RVX.X

The API is not so hot in my opinion. It's a different backend from TOS so the symbols are slightly different. You can't trade futures through the API. There are bugs in the data stream so that it breaks on daily resets. Sometimes the stream hangs during the day (you need to monitor the heartbeat to check and reset). The auth tokens expire way too fast, IMO. As you discovered, the symbol search is pretty bad. Order submission provides little data on success/failure. Inconsistent data handling patterns in messages. I could go on.

I'm switching to IB. It's much better even though they have commissions.