UPS Battery Backup for Traders

Don't jeopardize your trades by running your trading computer without a UPS battery backup. Learn how to protect yourself! What’s up, everybody? It’s Eddie Z here from EZ Trading Computers, and you’re watching Trading Computer Secrets. Let me ask you… Have you ever been in the middle of the trading day and had the power go out, leaving you blind to the markets? Or have you ever had a brownout where all of a sudden there was a power surge, and your lights flashed on and off, and then your computer just rebooted? Oh my goodness. It can be an incredibly frustrating experience in the middle of the trading day. In this video, we’re going to talk about the best solution to this problem. Today we’re going to talk about something called a UPS, which stands for Uninterrupted Power Supply. So what is a UPS, and what does it do for you? A UPS is a device that you plug your trading computer and other electronics into that serves several very important purposes.

UPS Advantage #1

The UPS functions as a surge protector. So if there’s a lightning strike nearby, or someone in your house starts the laundry dryer and you get an unexpected change in the voltage, the UPS is going to kick in and protect your equipment. Lightning strikes, power surges, and brownouts can cause serious damage to your electronics. So this is a very important feature of a UPS.

UPS Advantage #2

The next big advantage of a UPS is that it serves as a battery backup, and it will allow you to run your trading computer even if the power goes out completely. Essentially, the UPS has a big battery and a voltage inverter. When you plug your devices into it, it allows clean current to pass through into your electronics while at the same time charging the internal battery. If at any point the UPS detects a spike or a drop in voltage, the UPS will switch to battery operation and only send clean power to your equipment. So if the power goes out completely, the UPS will take over and you won’t be blind to the market. This will continue until the power normalizes in your home or the battery itself starts to run out of power.

Beware!

Now one thing you have to realize is that all UPS's are not created equal. Lower-end UPS devices that you get at Walmart for under a hundred dollars will only run a low-end computer and a monitor for a few minutes, which is just enough to back up your work and shut the computer down normally.

Trader Necessity

As traders, higher-end UPS devices are going to be our best bet. Remember, not only do we want to have our high-end trading computer plugged into the UPS, but we also need to have our modem and our router plugged in, as well as at least one monitor and possibly two or three monitors. Higher-end UPS’s will be able to handle all of this. And, they come with several important features for traders, the first of which is a much bigger battery. A 450-watt or 825-volt/amp battery backup will run a high-end computer, a monitor, and your modem and router for five to eight minutes. This will give you just enough time to put in a tight stop-loss order if you’re day trading, and give you a chance to wait a few minutes to see if the power comes back on before shutting down properly.

My Personal Recommendation

Now, what I really recommend is that you use at least one bigger high-end UPS battery backup device, or even possibly two — like a 900-watt or a 1500-volt/amp unit. These bigger units come with more outlets so you can plug in and back up more devices. And they should run your equipment for a good 10 to 20 minutes. This gives you a good cushion of time to get your bearings and figure out if this is just a temporary power outage or one that’s going to last longer. And you’ll be able to calmly adjust your positions in the market and shut the computer down if you need to.

Connected Equipment Guarantee

Now check this out — many higher-end UPS units also come with something called a Connected Equipment Guarantee, which means the manufacturer of the UPS will pay to repair or replace properly connected equipment if it’s damaged by a power surge. But make sure to keep all of your receipts for the equipment you have plugged into the UPS, just in case you need to use this guarantee.

Conclusion

So the bottom line is that, as a trader, you are a power user, and you never want to be flying blind in the markets. If the power goes out in the middle of a trade, and you don’t know what’s going on, you’re going to get very frustrated, and you’re going to trigger your fight-or-flight response. And this could lead to some very bad decisions. Your best bet is to make sure you have your computer, your modem, your router, and at least one monitor plugged into a higher-end UPS model, at least 900 Watts or 1500 volt/amps. This will protect you against power outages, brownouts, and any other weirdness in your household power that could shut the machine down. I would also seriously recommend that you get a unit that has something called a Connected Equipment Guarantee.

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Thanks for watching, and if you haven’t already, please feel free to download our EZ Trading Computer's Complete Guide to Trading Computers here. This guide is packed with great tips so you can totally optimize your trading experience. Lastly, be sure to check out our latest trading computer sale by clicking the button at the top of the page or clicking here. My name’s Eddie Z. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you in the next video.