Yea sign up with AMP, they are the best for online. If you want some1 to have a friendly chat about the markets each day they go somewhere else.
Your trading 8 contracts and want a free platform? Expect a sub rate data feed and a limited platform & support. Full on traders typically dish out $50-$200 monthly to get a high performance platform. If I was starting from scratch I may check out the guys here providing services.
After reading your criteria, I would recommend Multicharts (NET) It is Free via AMP. The office has 24 support, and you just have to tell them over which technology you execute over in case of malfunction. Bracket Orders are supported and their DOM has predetermined strategies you can define. You can use CQG or Rithmic technology for order routing. We clear via AMP, and would be happy to assist you.
Who said I was trading 8 contracts? I said when I put in an order of 10 contracts (as in 1 order of 10 contracts), things get a little shaky on Transact. Will look into it. Thank you