Hi traders, I'm new here, and i have a big question for you, so please, don't mind to help me because i'm searching for that since few days. I'm an african trader, studied in france in financial markets, and get back to africa, and i need to play market as big boys now, just joking! I used to trade forex, with metatrader 4 and i'm pretty good in that now, but i was pretty good in equity trading, and i want now to add to that, options, and futures. I'm very oriented in technical analysis, so what i want is a good charting software. So i made some reseaches, and i found some good brokers and softwares (td ameritrade, Interactive brokers, tradestation, tc200, e trade, etc) but i think that the fees to get the real time data feeds are huge. I want to start with an account around 6000 to 10000$, and add 15000$ after if evrything is goind as expected. I tried on demo the software named Thinkorswim, and that's exactly the kind of stuff i need. Unfortunaly i saw that to open an account with them it's complicated as i'm not us resident, and many reviews said trading forex with them is a scam affair. What i like in the software is the technical analysis skills, with studies, and pattern recognition, pretty good with my trading style. I also tried IB, it's exactly what i want, cheap fees, many options in the softawre, but it's not a good looking charting software, it's very limited to the minimum, almost as a basic metatrader 4. And their minimum starting account is 10000$, and i'm almost sure that my starting capital will be a little less that 10000$ with the wire and stuff i want to buy to take my trading to the next level(screens, keyboard, etc) Yesterday i found tmxposertream that looks pretty good, but i coulnd't test it, but it seems to have everything i want, and it's a canadian broker 1-But do you know if it's possible to use the thinkorswim software with another broker? reading many things on the web, i think i understand that i must found a free software or buy one, or found one given by a broker, and connect it to data feeds, right? 2- Can you advise me a solution to trade forex, equities from US, canada(TSX TSXV), options, and futures using a good software, with max a montly subscription of 70$ and no big fees? Thanks for your Help !
I use IB and Vision to trade Futures, Forex and Stocks. But they did not have software that met my needs as a trader. So I was able to find a software that hooks up to both of these brokers and I think other brokers too. However, I am not sure if they trade foreign stocks? I would have to ask them. Anyway, it is Trade Navigator. You can check them out and see if they do foreign stocks or not. They are not a broker though so I had to open accounts that connect with them. IB for example.
Thanks for your advices, i found ninjatrader too, and sierra chart, and found a way to open an account with IB and use their excellent software TWS via tradercap broker(5000$ account instead of 10000$). So now i have 3 options. But i'm seeking now for the most open community to find third party adds-on.
I tried Ninja, but could not figure out how to code with them. Unfortunately, I am not a coder. Sierra had limitations which I could not deal with on my style of trading. I needed a TradeStation type power, but with flexibility on execution and brokerage, thus I was recommended to TradeNav.
Trade Station has Easy Language. It is useful for someone who doesn't know how to program. If however you do know how to code, Ninja Trader is good. Ninja Trader also has an optimizer to help you on your way to making a profitable strategy. What I also like about Ninja is that you can back test a basket of equities and receive a result. I use E-Signal but it doesn't have that option.
Thanks for your answers. Please can you tell me what are the limitations of sierra chart that doesn't suits to your trading style?
Thanks for your replies. @tradeitcool, what kind of limitations did you find in sierra chart that doesn't suits with your trading style? I'm focusing myself now between sierra chart and ninjatrader. Sierra chart is all i want as software, bt i really don't like the visual of the platform, it looks like a vba coded stuff. If there was a way to change that it'll be cool. Ninjatrader has a big community behind it, developping and spreading/selling strategies and indicators. What i like in a software is the community behind it, to help and improve the trading. I don't know what to choose!
Historical back tests were inaccurate and not much history there - they are using settle instead of last trade and in reality, you can not get the settle price. So in back testing, I wanted more tick history, which they did not have. Plus they use prices you can not trade in reality by using settle. For example, when I use a market on close order for Gold or Bonds in the electronic markets, they are giving the settle price of the pit instead of the last trade. This can be off by thousands of dollars per contract and is unrealistic. Also in back testing daily bars, they make assumptions instead of breaking things down to the tick level. Concerning my trading live, I could not figure out how to create round trip groups of orders that would execute only for the day and then wait for my manual entry to submit again. This could just be my not understanding their software but getting support to help build actual groups of orders was not given to me. And when I called TradeNav, they helped build all my order groups and strategies for free. Not everyone trades like I do, so it may be a good software for others. But I do extensive testing and research and this is where I don't trust many companies.