It's probably me but e-signal's charting program seems to have been designed for graduates with masters degree's in f***k'in reverse engineering and spacial epilepsis. I have tried about every charting program out there and this one takes the cake for most obnoxious. Local Knowledge was the cleanest and simplest program I've used to date. Unfortunately, it wasn't compatible with Datek's Streamer which I use for stock quotes and kept locking up. Damn, foiled again.
My initial reaction to the new advanced charts was also that I thought they were very confusing. In fact, after waiting for what I thought would be a major improvement over the old charts, which were terrible, I was seriously considering changing charting services. The thing that turned me back was when I attended a free training class in LA about the new eSignal advanced charts. After seeing them demonstrated during a four hour training session, I was sold. I will grant that the new charts are definitely not intuitive "out of the box." However, after some effort (reading the documentation and practice), I feel very competant. They do not interfere with my trading at all. On the contrary, with the additional capabilities, my trading has improved. I guess that is really the proof of the pudding. Personally, I think the new advanced charts are great, especially considering where we came from (old charts were crap).
After seeing posts about the difficulties and limitations with eSignal charting, here's a suggestion.... Try MetaStock Pro with eSignal data. I've used that combo for years and it works smooth as a gravy sandwich. I believe you can lease MS Pro or maybe go month-to-month on the software to try before you buy. And right now, eSignal has a data special for MetaStock Pro users only... $49.00/mo. for "basic". I don't know it's limitations, but I know I pay $130/mo + exchange fees for the Full Monty. May be worth a look.
Am I missing something here? 'So with all these outstanding features and free tech support, does MetaStock Pro cost more than its competitors? Not at all. It's just US $1695 (plus shipping & handling). MetaStock Pro 7.2 for eSignal is available for purchase only (data is separate) and is not available in a subscription version.' Considering how far most programs I have used differ from how they sound in their publicity claims.. I would be crazy to jump at that deal.. where is the free trial or the monthly subscription? Neil
Hi Neil, I posted from memory. Sorry about the subscripton. It's available only for the end-of-day version ($59/mo including data). As I recalled (and apparently not accurately), the subscription on MS Pro formerly was $79/mo, but maybe it has always been on only on the EOD version. I've used Equis products since '87, and MS Pro current version seems to be virutally bug free at least for what I use. A few years ago, eSignal was data and news with no charting. (Recently they've added charting for their "full package". However, various posts indicate the charting is quite buggy.) When I signed up for eSignal originally, I had to get a 3rd party software for charts, 'cause that's all there was. It made sense for eSignal to offer a trimmed down data service for $49/mo if someone was using some other charting software, and now the have it (at least until 7/16 for new MS Pro data subscribers). That's what I was bringing to the attention of the board. MS Pro has lots of features, so I can't vouch for how well the ones I don't use work. But for charting and the usual studies, it all works smoothly with eSignal. So, for someone who's planning to be in the business for a long time... MS Pro would likely serve well as one's core charting and TA package. $1695 is an investment for sure, but I could say mine's been spread out over the years now, and doensn't seem like so much. But then, when I bought it was only $1295. Sometimes they offer specials for $1295, I believe. Anyway, it works. If the cost isn't justified in your eyes, that's another matter. Best to 'ya.
Just a note about Metastock Pro with eSignal data after hours. Although the eSignal feed includes premarket and postmarket data, Metastock will not chart equities in pre/post.
As separated charting program you can also use Fibonacci Trader by Rober Krausz (www.fibonaccitrader.com) I also have a version of it running besides eSignal. It offers great charting, very much indicators, abillity to backtest and great customer support. I have nothing to do with FT, I'm just a happy customer
Am I missing something with metastock? Aside from hundreds of indicators, does it offer anything esignal does not offer or will offer, I dont scan, or use too many indicators, the only thing I could think of is the candle volume, but esignal says this is coming out in their product. I was just wondering because it seems like a lot of people use this.
Rsprengers, Can u overlay the fibtrader over esignal advanced charts? Do u think its woth the price, esignal has its own fib tools which seem to do well but I use fibs so am wondering if it is useful, thanks.
MS has been around a LONG time. So it has a lot of users. I used to use it, and liked it. It has some nice o-o features that allowed you to treat indicators as objects, pretty nifty. There are also a LOT of custom indicators writen by the user base. The downside? Well when I used it (a few releases ago) it bugged down with too many indicators, it is expensive (though you can do a month-to-month option if you use it with qfeed, see the quote.com web page for details) and you still need to pay for a data feed. For me personally, the language was also too restrictive to do what I wanted to do. All programs have their quirks, Metastock is no exception, but overall it was faily easy to use. But I think eSignal is also (outside of it's few quirk's) so there ya go. G