Speedracer, this is not a slam on you so please don't take it that way. It's for the guys you know flipping 50 lots. They can't justify the cost of a T-1 pushing 50 lots around??? Hell, I would have a T-1 with both Cable and DSL as hot backups via a Cisco router if I were flipping 50 lots. Say they make 4 ES points per day; $10k per day should easily pay for and justify a T-1 connection. A T-1 is going to cost them $1,000 per month at the most? One day of possible downtime would easily cover it.
Yeah, no kidding. If a guys trading 50s in the ES, he should have a T-1 line, his own gateway and server, a good battery backup, a squawk box, and a floor broker with a give-up agreement at the Merc on speed-dial. That's called playing with fire. Cheap bastard.
I will be relocating shortly (extradition) necessitating a switch from DSL to cable. As far as TT (X_TRADER) goes, that's cool. As far as my FCM (GHCO) goes, they require the following conditions : "Whatever Internet Service Provider (ISP) you choose, first make sure that the vendor supports IPsec traffic. IPsec is an Internet security protocol with superior encryption standards to safeguard the integrity of your transactions." Upon calling Cox Cable, I was told that the regular home packages do not support IPsec traffic, and that I would have to subscribe to their business "Home Office" package (3.0 Mbps/256 Kbps) available at residential dwellings (cardboard box) only. As for what is the best E-mini platform, I am extremely satisfied with X_TRADER. I am certain that after my switch to cable, I will be able to continue flipping large size(d burgers).
Mr Sub- I believe the IPSEC is only required if you want to run a VPN, which is not required to run TT. I run the software from different locations using T-1, T-3, and even Sprint wireless at home. It is the best software out there and I wouldn't switch for one reason- ease of setting stops. You can set all types of stops on the ladder and with a glance see ALL your orders. I have stop limits, buy stops, target stops all set and you see them moving up or down to the current price. It is very intuitive. I have tried Pats and it is terrible because you cannot set a stop quickly or as easy as other trading platforms. Also, I trade the globex session almost every night and Pats is still shut down for 1.5 hours after globex opens at 4:45.
Actually they are not charging me anything because they don't have it yet - besides, the fee should be small like a Level II fee. Are you aware of any other platform that has anything besides 1.25 (5 levels) worth of market depth for ES for free? If so, please clue me in. I am open to suggestions. Thanks, Paul
"Speedracer, this is not a slam on you so please don't take it that way. It's for the guys you know flipping 50 lots. They can't justify the cost of a T-1 pushing 50 lots around??? Hell, I would have a T-1 with both Cable and DSL as hot backups via a Cisco router if I were flipping 50 lots. Say they make 4 ES points per day; $10k per day should easily pay for and justify a T-1 connection. A T-1 is going to cost them $1,000 per month at the most? One day of possible downtime would easily cover it." Glad thats not a slam on me, since I am not the one doing the trading. I thought it was odd also that they won't step it up with the line, but they seem very happy with the cable.
Using the Ffastfill platform, I get market depth for 5 levels of market depth each way while trading the eminis, HOWEVER, when using Ffasstfil and trading on the Eurex I see 10 levels each way. I don't know whether it's the Globex, CME, or the Eurex that determines this, or is it the trading platform?
Richard, The exchanges dictate the amount of depth that is published. Because of the number of updates per second that the CME publishes, I believe that it would be very hard for them to publish more than 5 on each side. Risk Less