Think your standard api can beat Realtick, a tier 1 provider without an extra unknown cost for their standard api? peace axeman
Yes. Absolutely. I think, actually I know, that we can compete with Realtick both in service and in price. Again, if you are interested in the Standard or Control API, feel free to call discuss your project and business goals.
FeedDemon: Is the limitation of 200 symbols actually related to the bandwidth required to feed 200 active stocks during the day, or is it something else. Can I watch more symbols than that if they are relatively quiet, volume-wise? A recent study that I did showed that someone who watches just the inside market (i.e. L1) for MSFT and QQQ during regular trading hours used more bandwidth than the ~500 tickers I want to watch during extended hours.
It is actually because we are making out-of-process calls (rather than in-process) to our DLL, which causes overhead and sucks CPU resources. Yes, lower volume symbols would allow for a larger number of symbols to capture. A multi-processor machine would also allow for more symbols to be used without bogging down too much. The symbol limit is actually determined by the type of service subscribed to. Basic = 100 Premier = 200 Standard = 500
I would like to know the following: As a esignal subscriber I would like to accomplish the following: Given I subscribe to market depth, can I use the API feature to have the best 5 bids and offers of the eminis stream real time into Excel (or a VB.Net application) along with volume and price? As an end-user is there any additional cost to me? I find it rediculous if end-users would be charged an additional USD 200 for using the API functionality. I guess it applies to third-party developers but just want to make sure!!! How much is it to implement it? The TT Tech. X-Trader platform allows this to do without ANY additional costs, WITHOUT subscription to the pro platform.
To avert any confusion, FeedDemon is referring to the eSignal Desktop API, and that it can take extra CPU / Dual Processors to handle 500 symbols. eSignal, in and of itself, can process 500 symbols without a dual processor.
It all depends on how much the symbol is traded. As "alanm" pointed out, some symbols (MSFT, QQQ, etc.) are high-volume symbols. If you would take the top 250 traded symbols, you would experience performance issues because their streams are so active. If your application takes requests 5 minute intervals, then 500 symbols is no problem. In summary, it depends on a function of the group of symbols, the time interval, the internet connection, the operating system, the programming language (C# or VB), the programming logic and the machine. We are working on optimizing the Desktop API (in-process vs. out-of-process) calls to make it work more efficiently.
It is completely possible to do what you are looking to do. There is an initial cost of $195 dollars to have ActiveX entitlements to your account. That cost includes developer SDK, membership to a developer forum and other technical support. There is also a $20 monthly service charge to use the Desktop API. Again, for the level of service, support, data and functionality I feel it is an absolute bargain.