Could someone point me to a thread or answer a few basic questions about emini trading using qcharts/IB. 1) Super basic - when do you start trading the next expiring contract i.e. when do you switch from 04H to 04M? 2) Do I need to add a data subscription on IB to get RT quotes? 3) I searched ET and read that qcharts will lag badly -- is this true? and if so is it a problem if you have IB quotes? 4) I compute that one contract is worth roughly 50K -- what is the margin requirement for daytraders? As you can see - just the basics Thanks in advance J
1. Do an ET search for "rollover" - and then find out how YOU can figure out when the contracts rollover rather than just finding out when one instance rolls over 2. I believe there's a quote fee that IB charges - just check their website 3. Some people seem to have more problems than others - probably an issue of which server they connect to and/or how many hops and over which nodes their connections to the servers are routed. 4. Again, just check the IB website - there's a table that identifies all the performance bond amounts for each contract.
For other seekers 1) the roll date is the trading day preceding the second Friday of the expiration month. 2) No. 3) See archangel's response. 4) inital margin is 2K (!!). Talk about a loaded bazooka. J
I just started using qcharts for CME data and its been pretty good. Strangely enough it was lagging this morning before the market even opened. I logged off and back and it was ok. IB does not charge for data if you have a few dollars in commissions. I dont remember what the figure is but its pretty low. Eurex is extra.
I can answer your question about Qcharts quote speed. At the bottom right corner of the QCharts window, next to the clock is the indicator whether your quotes are up to date or lagging. If the color is green, you are fine, once it turns red, just type CTRL-ALT-N and a list of all possible servers you can connect to will show up, and all you need to do is select another server, possibly one closer to you geographically. I don't think any other quote vendor gives you this fexlibility and control to select the quote server to connect to. BTW, you can use QCharts to place trades directly to your IB account if you use version 5.1 beta. autotrader
I love that feature. Once I learned about it - it alleviated at least one intraday trading stress.... it really is pretty effective when you start getting lagged or just booted (man I hate when everything goes gray!). Until now I've only used Qcharts for NYSE equities and the emini stuff is just a whole 'nother ball game.