viswaram

Automation using TradingView Webhooks, I got hooked on Dhan!

Education
NSE:NIFTY   Nifty 50 Index
Brokers are the last people on earth to whom we would like to give credit. Social media is flooded with posts that say “My broker did not help me square off positions…”, “My broker’s app stuck in between..”, “My broker did not help me login…” etc. I believe 99 out of 100 support tickets they get every day would be problems, glitches, and issues. Being a broker is such a thankless job, even if you are doing okay - their customers would say “They just meet the expectations..”

Maybe they should change their name from “brokers” to “platforms”, because when we hear the word broker - we relate it with commissions. It all started in real estate purchases and rentals. If you wish to rent a property, you need to pay 1 month’s rent as brokerage to the person who showed you the apartment. Similarly, the broker in stock trading connects you to the exchange - so that word rhymes with the concept of giving out some money as commissions.

My topic today is not about reducing the commissions or abolishing the list of taxes every trader faces, but something about giving credit for a job done well. This list is tracking 128+ brokers in India. Together they handle about 3,24,94,922 active customers. I assume that should be 95% of all traders. The top 10 brokers handle 80% of the customers. The top 20 handles 90%. This means around 108+ brokers handle just 10% of the customers.

Every broker has some pros and some cons. Switching from one broker to another is not that easy, so the customer will only do that if the new broker offers something extraordinary - a new tech or a pricing advantage. I am here to talk about one such tech that got me interested - Trade via Charts.

@TradingView (TV) is a firm that provides app/web based charting solutions for most of the stocks, indices, currencies, and commodities out there. Most of the brokers provide a free integration with TradingView charts. Even trade from charts is not that new - it was there for quite some time now.

@Dhan is one of the first brokers (15th in this list) that provided the TradingView integration via Webhooks. This means if we set some levels on the TV chart, it could place the orders directly on the Dhan app. This means a lot if you are serious about automating your trading plan. All we need to do is set the right levels on the TV charts via price alerts, pass the JSON script, and then set a corresponding order on Dhan app. If the stock/index crosses that price level - the system automatically places the order for you.

Dhan made this revolutionary integration and then quietly but suddenly it started gaining a lot of customers. Automated trading will attract the office-goers, self-employed professionals and part-time traders because they can set these levels on the chart and then forget it. This feature will help them take their eyes away from the trading screen and focus on their main job. Lesser screen time for trading combined with a higher focus on their main profession.
Lesser screen time also ensures lower stress levels. Sitting in front of the computer monitor for 6 to 7 hours watching the charts is not a child’s play. It not only eats up our energy but often prompts us to over-trade or exit prematurely.

This is how I created the price alert. In the message box you need to pass the correct Json as provided by the broker (for sample I have mentioned it as just TESTING..). Once this price alert is correctly set up - it places an order if Nifty50 falls below 18900. All I need to do is create a basket with the items that need to be part of the order. For example, see image below - I created a test basket with name: 111 that will place an order of 1 lot on 18900 PE when Nifty50 falls below 18900 on the TV chart.

If you are new to coding or automation - it may take some time to get a grip on what is happening. But once you have done the homework, it should work like a charm. I had no plans to open a Dhan account earlier, but as soon as this feature became stable - I wanted to try it. Now that I have been using it for half a year - I am really loving it. Once I got it working, the speed of placing the order was much better than my manual entries. I saved some slippage costs as well.

The important takeaway here is that automation is highly possible, but you need to set the command correctly. Automation is not a tool to help you make profits if you were losing manually. The logic of what should happen and when it should happen should be decided by you, how it will happen is what's getting automated.

Also, trading is a tough job. Less than 5% succeed. 99% of trading money deployed ends up in the hands of 1% of traders. The real clue is to get your research worked upon. Work hard to find your edge. If you are employed somewhere, use your spare time or weekends to research. Once you are ready with a good plan - you may be able to deploy this feature. If you get it programmed correctly - it may even give you peace of mind.

Disclaimer

The information and publications are not meant to be, and do not constitute, financial, investment, trading, or other types of advice or recommendations supplied or endorsed by TradingView. Read more in the Terms of Use.