I've just opened an account with IB - orders are easy and commssions low - but noticed some large differences between the Datek Quotetracker data and the IB figures - anyone got any opinions on IB data quality or is an alternative recommended (Prophet any good? tried interquote previously, terrible). Anyway/software for using IB data for intraday charting? thanks coops
your trades will be executed with IB data anyway. I found that IB data and e-signal data may vary throughout the day with one leading or following the other but that differences were not a problem.
Coops: i've noticed some minor variation between my charting quote source (RJT and QT) and the data feed on TWS. But it is infrequent and usually very minor. Exactly what are you seeing that you consider it large/major? regards/greg
Coops, Interactivebrokers (IB) obtains and displays quotes directly from the ECNs or exchanges, while Datek streamer data (through QT) simply rebroadcasts Nasdaq Level 1 quotes, this data first has to be assembled from different exchanges prior to dissemination by Nasdaq and re-dissemination by Datek , which takes a certain amount of time.(Fraction of a second to a couple of seconds in fast moving markets). Therefore, you can frequently see Nasdaq Level 1 quotes (which are re-broadcasted by Datek and others) lagging IBsâ quotes noticeably. IBs data quality has been excellent for the last couple of months, but having a separate reliable quote source provider, Iâll strongly recommend. Among Real Time Quotes (RTQ)/charts providers Nextrend ( http://www.nextrend.com ) and Quicken quotes Live ( http://qql.quicken.com ) stand out as the ones with the best price/ reliability + features ratio, they offer inexpensive and very reliable data feed(starting from $14.95/month). There are many others, which usually are either more expensive or unreliable. Itâs always a good idea to have a backup RTQ provider. Fohat
Thanks for the input - I'm trading NYSE stocks only - previously found an interquote service (fee paying service) i tried out, lagged Datek/QT horribly. On inquiry, IQ told me the data was indeed delayed by a couple of minutes or so (!) due to server problems. Thay said they were changing servers, so cannot speculate on their cxurrent performance. Datek/QT versus IB was rather odd - sometimes IB looked 'better' - for instance the QT 'raw data' showed prints outside it's own bid/ask spread (doublechecked Island quotes and no real volume or depth was available there - so ECN's didn't look like the source of outside prints) while the IB quotes would be wider and thus prints were 'ok'. On the other hand, some QT prints were late to appear on IB - when i installed TWS i chose server in Hong Kong since i'm in thailand, but will try with US server - may be better. thanks again, btw the broker ratings are useful, how about the same for software/data feeds/trading stations? I'm sure there are previous opinions about prophet etc but even with searching it's a hell of a pain, especially when you're still stuck with a '56k' modem connection - will be going ADSl asap, just not so asap or available as in USA....oh well. coops
The discrepancy with NYSE stocks are likely due to IB's feed only reflecting NYSE quotes and prints while mostother services will aggregate quotes and prints from the NYSE as well as all the regional exchanges and Nasdaq Intermarket. IMO since you can't execute against anything but NYSE anyway IB's setup makes more sense and is cleaner. As for the choice of server, if you trade US equity products you will always connect to a US server no matter what you chose when you installed TWS.