I am thinking of opening an account with IB and using Esignal as a datafeed...Is that something anyone else has done here, or do any of you find IB alone sufficient for trading? Also, if I use Esignal, I would purchase real time data from them right? I wouldnt have to buy data from IB? Thanks.
Many people use multiple feeds/platforms [IB/TWS can only be fed with IB's feed] Personally I use: IB/MC [Multi-charts] for my Entry Charts {Licensed Version-one instance only} IB/MC-DT [secondary IB log-in's with MC Discretionary trader to drive monitoring systems throughout the house] {MC Discretionary Trader is Free, same as licensed product sans custom indicators and can be run on multiple computers- both MC & MC-DT have Order Entry/Dom capabilities} IB/BT [Buttontrader] for Order Entry/Dom TS [Tradestation] for Historic/Research only - convenient, organized, good Historic Data, however, their platform bogs/lags in a fast market, unreliable for Entry [bad experience as Brokerage] {TS data can also feed MC, Their data isn't bad, just their archaic bloated platform and brokerage} MC/TS both use easy language so an intuitive combination [for me] Another good combination is MC/IQF - Reliable/Solid Data - History not as far back as TS Some prefer NinjaTrader [NT] for charting, its a personal preference between Ninja and MC and the time invested on the learning curve [also has Order Entry/Dom capability] TS http://www.tradestation.com/default_2.shtm NT http://www.ninjatrader.com/ MC http://www.tssupport.com/ IQF http://www.iqfeed.net/ BT http://www.buttontrader.com/ IB is a very good brokerage, you can't go wrong opening an account with them, excellent 3rd party support as well... You will need to purchase data for all markets you intend to trade, however, their rates are extremely reasonable, it isn't even a factor E-signal and IQFeed will be the more expensive options...
Thanks for all the info.. Button Trader looks interesting. One question i have is if i get E-Signal , but use IB as the executing broker, who do i buy the real time data feed from? IB or Esignal?
You would purchase real-time data from eSignal. Before you commit, I suggest you check out www.kinetick.com which is 1/2 the price of eSignal per month. You can then connect NinjaTrader to Kinetick for data and charting and if you want, you can also connect NinjaTrader to Interactive Brokers. In fact, you can get started with NinjaTrader/Interactive Brokers right now at no charge since NinjaTrader is a free platform if you don't execute live trades. Instructions to connect NinjaTrader to Interactive Brokers - http://www.ninjatrader.com/ConnectionGuides/Interactive-Brokers-Connection-Guide.php
When is ninjatrader going to keep up with the latest IB tws releases? I don't want to run old versions of tws.
Thanks for all the info .. Appreciate it.. now im confused as ever as to what to get to trade equities. As a little background, I have been trading as an institutional trader for almost 20 years. I am considering leaving the biz and stepping out on my own as institutional commissions have dried up.. So im trying to figure out the best tools to use for equities trading as im not going to pay for Bloomberg and Fidessa out of my own pocket which is what ive been using at work.
Suggest you try both MC and Ninja, feeding them with an IB simulated acct feed, to get a feel for which suits you more. Both platforms are free for charting... IB basic feed/platform I believe is $30, waived if you generate commissions - Both are good products, as I mentioned earlier it is a matter of personal preference. If you prefer a more professional solution, I believe X-Trader and CQG Trader are also good products, albeit at a higher price point... Additional Note as an FYI: Multicharts has a free Web product which is suitable for Equity research and they are offering a reduced equity feed fee of ~ $15 month for exchange data / Free Bats data [Historic is a bit lacking, but then again it is primarily for short term analysis and monitoring] I use it often as a backup for EURUSD and Equity's when away from station [ Futures data are Daily charts only, but price is realtime] https://www.tradingview.com/e/ Welcome to the retail world, good trading to you...
Can I get some clarification on this setup. If you use TWS to execute the trades, do you also have a real time quotes from IB or just Kinetick? I'm just trying to get setup also and need to know what additional services I need from IB?
Regarding your original question it really depends on your needs, what you want to do with the software and what kind of trading you are doing. Personally, I don`t like the charts from TWS and that`s why I have been using NinjaTrader as my front end. I don`t have any complaints with NT, but I`ve been told that Multicharts may be a better platform in the same price range. Data from IB is free, so you really don`t NEED an extra feed per se, unless of course you want higher quality tick data and historical data. If you want to use accurate tick charts and volume charts, the feed from IB will not do. I would recommend that you consider IQ feed as your data provider. My impression is that it is a better data provider than eSignal. Possibly cheaper as well if I`m not mistaken.