it's not even comparable. AMP offers way more instruments and exchanges, cheaper commissions, lower margins for some products (ES), only require a $500 account deposit to open account and have no account minimums, no inactivity fees, more datafeeds, more platforms, etc. if you're a US trader with a full-time job, AMP is the way to go since you can trade HSI on HKEX, mini-Nikkei225 on OSE, or China a50 on SGX in the evenings. Ninjatrader brokerage on the other hand only offers Eurex for foreign exchanges and Eurex's timezone is very difficult for US traders. HSI and a50 are very volatile with enough liquidity (kinda like NQ) so they offer huge opportunities everyday. mini-Nikkei225 is like Asia's ES, being the most traded Asian futures product. AMP has a bad rep on futures.io but from my experience, they have been nothing but accomodating for everything. as a bonus, Sierrachart package 3 is free for AMP users and SC is the best platform for retail futures traders (i think at this point, SC is so far above and beyond its other retail platform competitors that this is not a debate).
I find it interesting the convo moved to NT software rather than the NT brokerage, as was the OPs question. NT 8 was released I think in early 2017. Now, two years later and still a lukewarm reception for it? Yea, I find it... interesting. I'm an AMP fan, for an obvious reason(among less obvious) of where this thread has led... why would a trader want to be tied to one specific brokerage via a charting platform? This is 2019. Dozens of platforms exist, numerous feeds are available, and many brokerages offer several/many options for each. Im not even deep-diving into service, commissions, policies, FCM, security, or anything else! To me, mobility is a factor. Tech changes, as do the products, services, and account admin by brokers/fcms. If and when MY wants/needs change, I want to be able to move! But hey that's me. That said, Im tied to SierraChart due to time invested in writing SierraChart code. SierraChart is mobile between many brokerages. NT brokerage is not one of those.
I agree with what you previously said. Actually, I trialed Sierra and really wanted to leave NT behind for the reasons you mentioned, but didn't like it. I've used NT for so long now and have had access to some custom stuff there and find it easy to create/program new stuff (maybe that's true for other platforms also). So, I'm staying with NT out of habit. I did however heard word that NT might open up for other brokerages again. Also, there's the option to use Interactive Brokers, but their day trading margins are not particularly attractive.
I can understand that. I can also understand not liking SC too. All warez in this realm have warts ranging from the UI to the capabilities. SC is no different. Myself, I know how to code and I do know there are other platforms, with brokerage mobility, that imo, are "better" than SC for what I do. It's just easier not to start coding all over again. At some point I will though. Maybe without need to code, IDK. Where the rubber meets the road is this... I am capable of making money in the markets with a price pane with OHLC bars, a volume histogram, and a fairly rudimentary line drawing tool. The other platform "stuff", including code at this point, adds a higher level of consistency. FOR ME. Trade On!
Lots of good responses here. I still haven't made up my mind. Over the yers, I've spent literally 10's of thousands of dollars on various software packages. Then I met a guy who not only is a fabulous trader, but a great coder. He was writing fully automatic trading programs before they were a thing. He managed money (mostly his and some family members) with the automated stuff and had good success. He wrote a set of great visual stuff based on his personal trading style. Great for both, scalping and swing trading. Certainly not the Holy Grail, but the best that I've used, for my style of trading, which is scalping ES, NQ, CL, ZB, etc. Best of all, it was free because we became friends over the years. NT demo was good, but it did seem like there was a very slight delay when I hit buy or sell. NT guy I spoke with was a good guy and straight forward. With AMP's demo, it feels a lot faster, but then, it's a demo, so all of this talk is pretty meaningless until it's LIVE, then it becomes the real deal holyfield. I'm not sure I want to be married to one platform, so I'm torn. I've been around this business for a long long time. I've heard it all, the good, the bad, the ugly, and so on. I always listen carefully to other's opinions. I still don't know what I'm going to do. Hearing that NT8 bogs down, doesn't help, but they must be doing something right, they have a lot of customers. I don't seem to see as much talk about AMP on the forums, but I can tell you from experience, their customer service guy, "Johnny" is faster than a speeding bullet when it comes to answering questions or logging into my screen to help me with an issue. He's amazingly fast and very good at his job. I appreciate the time you each took to comment. I'll let y'all know when I decide.
AMP's bad rep on futures.io is personal, not professional. Pay it no mind. I like them. Expedient. No frills. Simple. INEXPENSIVE (Not cheap, god damnit! Hehe!) Like the Pathmark of brokers.
Hi guys, I ended up going with AMP. The idea of having more choices of platforms appealed to me. Also, their C/S guy, Johnny, impressed the heck out of me with his timely answers and instant help on issues. I may fund the NT account I already got approved for, as a backup. The idea of having to pay 1100 bucks for a platform, I may or may not like seems a little much to me. That said, I know they have a ton of very happy customers, and that they're a solid firm. I'll try AMP LIVE soon and hope I made the right decision. Thanks again for all the comments. Good trading
Jack, I'm currently evaluating several different platforms and brokers. Coming from the likes of Fidelity and TD Ameritrade make things interesting for me. While I'm not new to trading, I'm definitely new to the different platforms, data streams, etc. I'm curious how you like AMP, as I've found NT to be the easiest software to use (I'm not a coder, and will not be automating my trading for a while). I linked NT to TD Ameritrade right now, as I find the charts much easier to see and execute off of. I tried SC, but, I thought it was clunky compared to NT. So I'm curious how its going for you.