Adding Real-Time Data to IBKR?

Discussion in 'Retail Brokers' started by zghorner, Jun 7, 2019.

  1. zghorner

    zghorner

    Total noob question here and want to say thanks in advance for any help.

    I am wanting to add real time price quotes and volume to TWS but not sure exactly which subscriptions I would need for that. I am mainly day trading US stocks and only looking for bare minimum to start off with as im not exactly hitting home runs daily...

    thanks again.
     
  2. The market data helper/assistant/wizard lets you put in a symbol and choose the subscription. Use that.
     
    zghorner and tommcginnis like this.
  3. From the TWS desktop, you have probably tried the menu item "Account / Subscribe to Market Data/Research" and got basically nowhere. It just dumps you on the client portal web page and leaves you there wondering what to do next. Well...

    Log on to your client portal. There is a Menu laucher over on the left upper corner of the browser window.

    To see what feeds you are already subscribed to, go to Settings / User Settings / Market Data Subscriptions.

    To subscribe to data feeds, go to Support / Market Data Assistant. Enter a symbol and an exchange and see what they got for you.

    Might be slightly different for you, if you are not a Linux user, which I am.

    A lot of thought has been put into making TWS a flexible and powerful platform, but it is not very intuitive for a newbie, nor is the IB website, TBH. Don't give up. Take paper notes, record what you do and what happens when you do it, so you have your own Help cheat sheet. I am finally starting to get really comfortable with this rather complex program after making lots of booboos and working around things I didn't know, couldn't find, or didn't understand at first. Of course the WinDOHs version might be a little smoother, a little slicker, due to bigger user base, I don't know.

    Here is what feeds I am subscribed to, as an example, and I get basic real time stock data but not level 2, just price action and volume. It might be all you need. I actually don't really need the "US and EU Bond Quotes", I don't think, but it is fee waived so I don't care.

    NASDAQ (Network C/UTP) - Trader Workstation, USD 1.50 /Month

    NYSE (Network A/CTA) - Trader Workstation, USD 1.50 /Month

    US and EU Bond Quotes - Trader Workstation, Fee Waived

    Essentially, Mr McNoob's answer, in the post above, to subscribe. I didn't realize he beat me to it. Anyway pick out a typical stock you would want to trade and enter that, and you will get a list not of what you need as a minimum, but all the available feeds for it. You probably only need the basics if you are just starting out.
     
    zghorner likes this.