first alert could be a great product if they could get the bugs out. if you are receiving your data feed from a satellite then your quotes will always be slow, maybe around half a second.
Bryan, This is a great product. I am used to it and can not find a replacement. I am using Filters, I like seeing on the Quote window 4 last prices and sizes, this allows me to have a list of stocks on the screen and easy read the tape. When I take a position I switch to watching Time & Sales for that stock on REDI. This way I noticed that First Alert quotes are delayed. P.S. How to make them fix this ?
First Alert has been involved in fixing the datafeed issues for quite a while. They have come out with a new FirstAlert product to reduce bandwith and and speed up the internet quotes. It works quite well. It takes users that previously had to have a 256 DSL down to a 20 to 40K. Plus you don't have to store the Daily and Tick Data on your machine. So you can turn on and off and not lose a thing. Of course, some of the functionality is lost, but as time goes on it should improve. Anyway if anyone wants more info let me know.
I'm Curious on your bandwidth? Sometimes missing ticks means lack of proper bandwidth and it means missing some trading records Robert
The way the bandwidth works is that we use our filtering technology to filter the universe of stocks before we send them to you. For example, if you traded only NYSE stocks that were between $25 and $100 and had a average volume that was greater than 300,000, we would filter those before we sent them out so that you would get only what you wanted and this decreases the ammount of bandwith that you need and speeds up the internet quotes.
They don't use that group anymore. Its a whole different setup and datafeed with a filter server that performs all of the filtering that I mentioned in my last post before it actually sends it. So you can tell them what you want filtered out before it gets sent. You can then filter the information you get however you would like on your machine
Do you work for Neovest First Alert ? If yes, did you ever hear something like this problem. On my First Alert quote window with ComStock data feed the Ask size and Ask price is always behind the market (you can see it comparing with REDIPlus montage or any other third source). Three months ago it was a different picture, the Bid size and Bid price were behind the market. We have a guy from First Alert working with us and he is puzzled very much. He thinks that if we change data feed the problem would be solved. I do not think so, I have worked for 10 years in IT and did not see such selectiveness, It can not be blamed on data feed, if one side is working up to speed how come that another is not ?