Trading tools, tested on a real desk.https://desktested.com/https://desktested.com/posts/strategy-rules-cancel-out/https://desktested.com/posts/strategy-rules-cancel-out/Why a trading strategy takes no trades: our QQQ scalp's bar-close confirmation and 0.15% VWAP guard could never both pass. How to check your own rules.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-invite-only-marketplace/https://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-invite-only-marketplace/From 1 November 2026, paid TradingView invite-only indicators can be sold only on its Marketplace. What buyers keep, what ends, and what to ask vendors.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/trend-diversifier-backtest/https://desktested.com/posts/trend-diversifier-backtest/A 2008–2026 trend-following diversifier backtest: the tradeable version tracked the strategy it was meant to offset, and the uncorrelated one lost money.Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/leveraged-etf-volatility-delever/https://desktested.com/posts/leveraged-etf-volatility-delever/De-levering QLD to QQQ in high volatility cut drawdown in both halves of a 20-year backtest, but cost 1.4 points of CAGR in one decade and 7 in the next.Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/options-backtest-split-handling/https://desktested.com/posts/options-backtest-split-handling/Unadjusted options data turns a stock split into a fake return. How a 1:20 reverse split broke our backtest, the rule that fixed it, what to ask a tool.Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/free-trading-journal-limits/https://desktested.com/posts/free-trading-journal-limits/Free trading journal limits sit on the way in (import caps, manual entry) and the way out (export). What each free plan allows, read off vendor pages.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/ai-trading-journal/https://desktested.com/posts/ai-trading-journal/An AI trading journal can grade what's already in your record, like tags, patterns and stats, but not reasoning you never wrote down. AI prices compared.Fri, 02 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/broker-native-ai-screeners/https://desktested.com/posts/broker-native-ai-screeners/A broker AI stock screener sits right by the order ticket, but only sees that broker's world. When a paid standalone screener still earns its fee.Fri, 02 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/one-percent-weekly-put-selling/https://desktested.com/posts/one-percent-weekly-put-selling/Why a 1% weekly put-selling scoreboard can't show a losing week, how to mark the position to market instead, and what ratio rolls hide. With code.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/when-to-upgrade-free-screener/https://desktested.com/posts/when-to-upgrade-free-screener/Upgrade a free stock screener when delayed data, missing alerts, no export or page caps block a real job, not for filter count. What to check first.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/alpaca-trading-api-desk-test/https://desktested.com/posts/alpaca-trading-api-desk-test/Our Alpaca trading API review: 22 surviving paper-endpoint probe files, zero errors, REST medians near 78 ms, and an order-timing metric we retracted.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/pine-script-vs-no-code-backtesting/https://desktested.com/posts/pine-script-vs-no-code-backtesting/Pine Script vs no-code backtesting is a choice of method, not product: what each one lets you express, where each hits its ceiling, and how to pick.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-free-trial-auto-renew/https://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-free-trial-auto-renew/TradingView's free trial auto-renews into the paid plan you picked unless you cancel first. Our desk's trial converted: the timing and refund rules.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/brokers-pdt-implementation-tracker/https://desktested.com/posts/brokers-pdt-implementation-tracker/Which brokers removed the PDT rule? We read ten brokers' own pages in September 2026. Eight say the flag is gone. Here's what still limits a small account.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/options-data-api-comparison/https://desktested.com/posts/options-data-api-comparison/The best options data API depends on what you're buying: recorded quotes, pre-computed analytics, or metered feeds. Four vendors' tiers, read 24 Sep 2026.Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/broker-ai-connectors-vs-mcp/https://desktested.com/posts/broker-ai-connectors-vs-mcp/Webull's MCP server comes in two forms. The hosted connector drafts orders you confirm in the app; the local server places them directly. What that means.Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/agents-two-brokers-two-doors/https://desktested.com/posts/agents-two-brokers-two-doors/Agentic trading now covers crypto at one broker via an MCP server and a ring-fenced account. At another, our probe found the eval wallet invisible.Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/finra-ai-agent-trading-rules/https://desktested.com/posts/finra-ai-agent-trading-rules/FINRA's 2026 report names six risks of AI agents and asks firms to control them. The obligations land on your broker, not on you. What that means.Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/kraken-prop-eval-desk-test/https://desktested.com/posts/kraken-prop-eval-desk-test/Kraken Prop's full evaluation ladder is public before purchase. What the 17 plans cost, which is hardest, and the two numbers the page never prints.Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-alert-latency-trial/https://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-alert-latency-trial/Popular guides put TradingView alert delay at 100-300ms. Three fully reconciled sessions on our own webhook rig measured medians near two seconds.Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/robinhood-mcp-desk-test/https://desktested.com/posts/robinhood-mcp-desk-test/We connected to Robinhood's trading MCP server over raw JSON-RPC. It answered as robinhood-trading v1.4.0 and enumerated 73 tools. The full surface.Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-ai-chart-copilot/https://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-ai-chart-copilot/TradingView AI Chart Copilot is a free beta Chrome extension. Its install link, its publisher and its real usage limit are not what the guides say.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/tool-trial-protocol/https://desktested.com/posts/tool-trial-protocol/The trial protocol this desk runs before any tool gets written about: a falsifiable hypothesis, a fixed method, recorded metrics, and a public log.Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-review/https://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-review/TradingView charts, screener and alerts under a fixed 30-day desk protocol: day 23, ten completed baskets, and the pass our ledger failed to reproduce.Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/viral-claude-trading-bot-playbook/https://desktested.com/posts/viral-claude-trading-bot-playbook/A viral Claude trading bot playbook turns a prompt into a Pine Script strategy in an afternoon. Here is what its backtest cannot measure, with receipts.Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/screener-charting-journal-stack/https://desktested.com/posts/screener-charting-journal-stack/A trading tools workflow is three jobs in order: the screener narrows, the chart decides, the journal grades. The value sits in the handoffs.Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/regime-read-method/https://desktested.com/posts/regime-read-method/Market regime detection in plain terms: the two rules our desk runs on SPY and QQQ, what happens when they disagree, and what neither can tell you.Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/what-is-a-stock-screener/https://desktested.com/posts/what-is-a-stock-screener/A stock screener filters the whole market into a shortlist. What the filter types do, how a desk specifies a daily screen, and the mistakes that waste one.Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/trade-journaling-guide/https://desktested.com/posts/trade-journaling-guide/A trading journal exists to make your own decisions checkable after the fact. What to record, what to review, and why most journals get abandoned.Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-free-vs-paid/https://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-free-vs-paid/TradingView free vs paid: Basic caps charts, alerts and history, not chart quality — and real-time exchange data is a separate purchase from every tier.Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/broker-mcp-servers/https://desktested.com/posts/broker-mcp-servers/A broker MCP server hands an AI assistant real account access. The three permission bands that matter, what community bridges reach, and how to bound it.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-creator-program/https://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-creator-program/TradingView's Creator Program lets Pine authors sell invite-only scripts. The eligibility bar, the 0% fee that expires, and how payouts actually work.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/prop-firm-crackdown-2026/https://desktested.com/posts/prop-firm-crackdown-2026/The 2026 prop firm crackdown is thinner on documented fact than the headlines suggest. What holds up against primary sources, and what does not.Thu, 03 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-ai-screener/https://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-ai-screener/TradingView's AI Screener turns plain English into Stock Screener filters. What the vendor's pages say it builds, costs, and may change or withdraw.Thu, 03 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-claude-mcp-desk-test/https://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-claude-mcp-desk-test/We ran a TradingView MCP server with Claude: the obvious pip install grabs another author's package, and a US ETF came back tagged as a crypto exchange.Thu, 03 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/no-code-backtesting-software/https://desktested.com/posts/no-code-backtesting-software/No-code backtesting proves a rule ran mechanically on stored data. What that is worth, what it can never establish, and what the pricing tiers really gate.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/ai-stock-screener-limits/https://desktested.com/posts/ai-stock-screener-limits/An AI stock screener changes how a screen is written, not what a screen can know. Five limits that survive natural-language filtering, and the fixes.Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/pdt-rule-gone-small-account-tools/https://desktested.com/posts/pdt-rule-gone-small-account-tools/FINRA removed the $25,000 pattern day trader minimum effective June 4, 2026. What replaced it, and why brokers have until October 20, 2027 to implement.Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/running-an-autonomous-trading-agent/https://desktested.com/posts/running-an-autonomous-trading-agent/An autonomous trading agent fails on infrastructure long before strategy. Clocks, silent overwrites, phantom data and delivery latency, from our own logs.Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-alternatives/https://desktested.com/posts/tradingview-alternatives/Most TradingView alternatives are cheaper or narrower. What each one costs, what it replaces, and the three things that are hard to replace.Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/thetadata-review/https://desktested.com/posts/thetadata-review/ThetaData sells recorded NBBO options quotes, not modelled prices. What the retail tiers cost, what our desk did with them, and where the data stops.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/backtesting-pitfalls-real-data/https://desktested.com/posts/backtesting-pitfalls-real-data/The backtesting mistakes that survive a code review are data mistakes: invented rows, the wrong adjustment basis, and fields that vanish between runs.Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/how-we-validate-a-strategy/https://desktested.com/posts/how-we-validate-a-strategy/How to validate a trading strategy: the seven checks our desk runs before a rule goes live, and why every one of them can only ever remove a strategy.Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://desktested.com/posts/options-backtest-fill-assumptions/https://desktested.com/posts/options-backtest-fill-assumptions/Options backtest fill assumptions can decide the verdict. On six years of real NBBO quotes, the same credit spread flips from profitable to losing.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT