Looking to simulate trade the ES and YM. I have a funded IB account with US futures data. 1) Do many guys trade futures direct in IB or do most use a frontend like NinjaTrader/Multicharts etc? if so, why? 2) I know its a generalization but which frontend do people recommend? I'm looking at: NinjaTrader MultiCharts TradeStation (cannot be used with external brokers?) 3) I know NinjaTrader is free for simulating but as I understand this is just EOD data which doesn't cut it for simulating day trades? Correct? 4) If I used NinjaTrader as frontend and used IB futures data... is there any advantage in using an external data service instead like Kinetick? Thanks in advance.
1) Do many guys trade futures direct in IB or do most use a frontend like NinjaTrader/Multicharts etc? if so, why? Trade with IB via NT, works well. 2) I know its a generalization but which frontend do people recommend? I'm looking at: Have used NT for 4-5 years, so far so good. 3) I know NinjaTrader is free for simulating but as I understand this is just EOD data which doesn't cut it for simulating day trades? Correct? Can use NT for both real/simulated trading, including intraday. 4) If I used NinjaTrader as frontend and used IB futures data... is there any advantage in using an external data service instead like Kinetick? Have been with IB for over a decade, futures data is good including backfill for ES (note: I only use hourly backfill data though have heard backfill/smaller timeframes is sketchy at best). Can't comment on other products. All in all, try it out for yourself and see if works for you.
Incorrect. NinjaTrader can be used indefinitely for free for simulation using real-time data from your Interactive Brokers account.