FAQ Can You Recommend a Data Feed, Charting Software & Broker?

[eca05iw]

Re: I'm looking for a good broker/software platform/data feed, can you recommend one?

I'm wondering if anyone has managed to set up an RSS feed or alternative data source to a paid-for brokerage service. Is it worthwhile trying to amalgamate data from various sources through an RSS for day-trading or would I be more likely to miss out on data/news releases which would be provided more efficiently by a professional service?

Cheers.

 

[eranmazin]

Re: I'm looking for a good broker/software platform/data feed, can you recommend one?

i found a good site that reviews binary option platforms and give good advice on trading it's called binarytradecenter.com

 

[EricTheTrader]

It's a little bit tricky to chose a broker best for you. There's a bunch out there.

You can try LucrorFx, a New Zealand brokerage, NDD, MT4 platform, 100:1 leverage.

They accept US clients too.

Good Luck!

 

[Zmark-trader]

I think that the best feed+broker+price that I have found are here: Optimus Trading Group. I have been trading NinjaTrader+Rithmic for quite some time. But, I think I will also consider MultiCharts with Rithmic because of it has easy language programming capability.
This is not a platform for beginners, IMHO, maybe an intermediate to advanced.
Here is a page for the demo http://www.optimusfutures.com/multicharts-platform-demo.html

I have found this video today as I subscribe to this guy highprobabilitytrading channel.

It's the weekend! :clap:

 

[timsk]

The video posted above by zmark-trader is helpful - up to a point. There are a number of reputable futures brokers not included which means that the comparison is not comprehensive. More importantly, the advertised commissions listed are much lower than a trader would actually have to pay in reality - as exchange fees and NFA fees are not included which, very roughly speaking, will double the round turn (RT) prices quoted in the video.

 

[Zmark-trader]

The video posted above by zmark-trader is helpful - up to a point. There are a number of reputable futures brokers not included which means that the comparison is not comprehensive. More importantly, the advertised commissions listed are much lower than a trader would actually have to pay in reality - as exchange fees and NFA fees are not included which, very roughly speaking, will double the round turn (RT) prices quoted in the video.

@timsk, Everything you said above is true. But, these are the commissions, and exchange fees are outside of it. No intelligent trader will buy into 75 cents commissions because the clearing itself on the ES is 1.14 per side. When making comparisons, those variables that are constant should not be taken into consideration. What I particularly like about the video that he made the commissions and feed cost factored as one. This was very helpful.

If you use the first example of the broker on the site, it's 75 cents a side, Plus 1.14 per side, plus NFA (1 cents), so your total is 4.00 RT and goes lower if you do more volume.


I think those of us that have traded a little and familiar with firm and ES pricing, this was very helpful.

If I find other material to help traders, I will post it as well.

 

[timsk]

Hi Zmark',
Yes, I agree with the points you make and, with the benefit of hindsight, I ought to have made them in my last post.

I was just a tad concerned that as this is a FAQ which is read mostly by new and inexperienced members, they could end up with a misleading impression about the cost of trading futures. The video assumes a certain degree of prior knowledge which some/many members won't have. Anyway, between us, no one can be in any doubt now! Thanks for the contribution and do please post any other useful material - as and when you find it.

Tim.

 

[Zmark-trader]

timsk, thank you for your help.
I will start, if time allows, a thread about futures trading this week.
In the mean time, I will address the one-off.

Ok, so as far as feed, I recommend RIthmic. RIthmic is very fast for execution and provides very accurate tick data. Also, I have spoken extensively about them with some traders, and they provide very stable infrastructure.
This is their site: http://www.rithmic.com/home.html

If you are trading overseas, you might have an issue with latency and execution.
I hear that some remote areas don't have good connectivity. For those who might experience that, I recommend to use a company like www.steadfast.net
Basically, you will host your trading platform with them and since they are also in Chicago like the exchanges, you will faster have faster access to the market.
Execution in trading is just as important as methodology.

Brokers: ok, this is subjective and you have to find someone who will have confidence in.
my recommendation is www.optimusfutures.com
They are competent, competitive, and provide fast service if I ever need them.
I have been with the "big boys", and essentially there is no advantage over the small and specialized shops, they provide better commissions and service hands down.

As for the platform, my choice is any platform supported by RIthmic feed.
But, I think most guys will either like NinjaTrader, or SierraChart.
I think the brokers I mentioned should have a demo for both.
Google "SierraChart Rithmic" or "NinjaTrader Rithmic"...I am sure you will find a demo.

For the love of...invest in a fast processing computer.
Dont run gazillion programs and your trading platform, sometimes it's better to have your platform on a little laptop for trading only.

Invest in your education. So much free stuff on the net, and in your book stores.
Read blogs like http://traderfeed.blogspot.com it's free and resourceful.

Hope this helps.

Zmark.

 

[EricTheTrader]

LucrorFx, they allow hedging and scalping. I use QuestFx for forex signal service...

 

[marketpupil]

If you're new to trading FX in general, don't forget to open a practice account with the broker you plan on using beforehand. This will allow you to familiarize yourself with your broker, their fees, and spreads. Not all brokers are created equal. Be sure to keep an eye out for brokers with large spreads that fluctuate depending on the session. Many brokers are crooks who seek to take the opposite side of the trade, meaning that it is in their best interest that you lose your trade, because this is how they make a profit.

 

[AfternoonT]

Re: Data Feed and Charting Software.

I can only give you my experience which is in equities. Thomson Reuters Metastock has all the bells and whistles you would expect from charting software. I subscribed at a cost of $500 per year to their End of Day ( not real time) data package. This gave me closing data for all the major European stocks. Very adaptable charts and if you are into program trading lots of 'plug in' features that gave you automatic buy/sell decisions.

The risk is that your computer has to manually download the dataeverynight which worked well in my case for two years. Then got a glitch in the system which would not fix. Hence, I had to move on to a new data provider. My send off from a representative: - 'we have 100k+ customers subscribing' certianly belies a confidence in their system, which I feel has not fully moved on to compete with the web-based data providers ( who allow charts to be drawn online, so missing out the time consuming data download step).

HTH,

AfternoonT

 

[amy19355]

I use OptionsXpress for trading online, and there are many resources for researching. On my iPhone I monitor the activity of my stocks with an app called Chaikin Power Tools. Both apps are user-friendly.

 

[jimbob1904]

Hi, so Ive been trading for a few months and after reading soooo much stuff on here I decided to start off small with just £200 into 2 different trades so £100 roughly each trade. But after seeing so much around money management and the small percentage of your capital you should use per trade, but how can i invest such a small amount but then have commission on top plus a quarterly fee to use the services?

What I'm now learning is that for investing to pay off, to outweigh the commission and fees I must invest much much larger amounts? Am I missing something when people say to use around 1% of your capital per investment?

 

[Sonicscooter]

Hi, so Ive been trading for a few months and after reading soooo much stuff on here I decided to start off small with just £200 into 2 different trades so £100 roughly each trade. But after seeing so much around money management and the small percentage of your capital you should use per trade, but how can i invest such a small amount but then have commission on top plus a quarterly fee to use the services?

What I'm now learning is that for investing to pay off, to outweigh the commission and fees I must invest much much larger amounts? Am I missing something when people say to use around 1% of your capital per investment?

You talking investing, the 2% refares to trading.

 

[drtro]

Hi, so Ive been trading for a few months and after reading soooo much stuff on here I decided to start off small with just £200 into 2 different trades so £100 roughly each trade. But after seeing so much around money management and the small percentage of your capital you should use per trade, but how can i invest such a small amount but then have commission on top plus a quarterly fee to use the services?

What I'm now learning is that for investing to pay off, to outweigh the commission and fees I must invest much much larger amounts? Am I missing something when people say to use around 1% of your capital per investment?

You should find another broker. I pay no quarterly fees, and my commissions are less than $0.01 per share. I only need to make 2-3 cents to make up commissions, ECN, SEC fee, etc. The mistake a lot of people make from my experience is not doing any research and just opening an account with ____trade paying $5-10/trade.

 

[malaguti]

The mistake a lot of people make

...is assuming all things are equal, and what works in one country is therefore the same for others.
In Jimbob's case, it isn't.

 

[jimbob1904]

Well with this being in the 'new to trade to win' section can anyone give any input regarding a uk version of drtro's answer? Am I being ripped off? Or am I missin something?

 

[malaguti]

Well with this being in the 'new to trade to win' section can anyone give any input regarding a uk version of drtro's answer? Am I being ripped off? Or am I missin something?

when you say being ripped off, you haven't given any indication of the costs you are paying or to which broker. Also you have mentioned two trades, but haven't given any indication of how..I'd love to help mate but give us something to go on
who is your broker and how much is this commission and management charges?
Did you physically buy the shares? ie what is the "trade" exactly, the term can apply to CFDs, spreadbetting, shares, options
What is the risk on these investments? The term 1% of your capital is based on your risk, the cost is going to be different. I'll then try and give you an informed answer. To say change broker is meaningless without any context

 

[jimbob1904]

ok thanks Malaguti. I dont think I'm actually being 'ripped off', I just mean is there a cheaper option for what I'm doing? Maybe i have the wrong account for what I'm doing? Im not sure.

Ok so I'm with interactive investor, which before i joined many people on here had said their ok and not much difference between the ones i was looking at. It was obviously hard at the time to say exactly what i wanted from an account as i didn't know myself.

My account is a 'share and funds' account. I pay £10 per trade and then a quarterly fee of £20.

I decided to go from paper trading to a small investment so i started with £200 to see how it went. The difficulty was that for every trade at this amount was 10% commission, I've been lucky enough to make the majority of this back. Then obviously when the quarterly fee comes out ill be down again.

Any advice would be great?

 

[malaguti]

ok thanks Malaguti. I dont think I'm actually being 'ripped off', I just mean is there a cheaper option for what I'm doing? Maybe i have the wrong account for what I'm doing? Im not sure.

Ok so I'm with interactive investor, which before i joined many people on here had said their ok and not much difference between the ones i was looking at. It was obviously hard at the time to say exactly what i wanted from an account as i didn't know myself.

My account is a 'share and funds' account. I pay £10 per trade and then a quarterly fee of £20.

I decided to go from paper trading to a small investment so i started with £200 to see how it went. The difficulty was that for every trade at this amount was 10% commission, I've been lucky enough to make the majority of this back. Then obviously when the quarterly fee comes out ill be down again.

Any advice would be great?

That helps, thanks Jim.
No you're not being ripped off, but there are cheaper for sure. For trade charges £10 is an average, you can go for Iweb at £5 per trade, Best Invest for £7.50 per trade and then there is higher, self trade is £12.50, First Direct £11 Halifax £12.50 so you see, £10 is average but certainly not the best.
When you first start off as you say, you just pick a broker but now you have the choice to move. So I would start shopping around if I were you. When you have more in your account, have 2 or 3 brokers that don't charge an inactivity/management charge..

Management charges vary
Iweb will charge £25 to open an account, but from then on, there is no management fee. However I doubt this will last, as almost all brokers are charging this. First direct, although there trade charges are higher, there is no management fee. Best invest also have no inactivity fee.
So for a small account, you can definitely do better with Iweb or Best Invest being your better options for share dealing costs.

Now, do you have the wrong account for what you are doing. Yes, I would say so.
£200 will be eaten away very very quickly with any sort of trade charges let alone management charges. If you are still afloat, that should give you great hope that you are doing something right

You haven't mentioned (I didn't ask) how long you hold your investments for.
You will have heard of spreadbetting, so for shorter term trades, this would be a much better alternative. For longer term, there are overnight charges so that could work out more expensive (than the equivalent of share trading £5 or £7.50). Generally you will be charged a penny per day depending on how much.
Another alternative again is Ayondo will allow you to make a spread bet without any leverage (exactly the same as holding shares) and will not charge you anything, just the spread. I'm sure there are others, but this one could be a good alternative for you. I wouldn't hold large amounts with them as they are just a spreadbetting provider all the same. But certainly one to consider.

A long answer I know, but hopefully this helps