What does anything you said have to do with the guyâs original question? If you are happy with their data you should use it. The basic thing is speed of quotes, without that you have nothing. Unless you have some secret I do not know about; if you are trying to hit a market and your quote is actually away from the real market you are not going to get filled. In a running market you are going to chase the stale quote until it stalls and reverses. There is no one stop shopping for all the products you have brought up. Each vendor has something they are particularly good at, and obviously things they "suck" at. If IB's data was as good as you think, that is exactly what I would be using. I don't form my opinions on such issues by looking at random quotes; we run these things side by side, and compare speed to pick the best source at the current time and that constantly changes. All it takes is a bunch of new customers to overload a system, or a new router, or a new T1 vendor and the story changes. What you are talking about is a very dynamic problem that cannot be addressed by demoing a feed every so often. This is a data problem not an execution issue. IB is a broker, not a data provider. To use one source and assume they are the holy grail is not the best avenue to pursue.
I do use a data provider along with IB. (TAL) For me the "basic thing" is NOT speed but it is actually having the right products available. The data providers you mentioned don't even provide a correct composite quote in the options market. This is something "basic". Speed is an issue, of course, but it becomes secondary if you can't even provide the "right" products. I use TAL data and I have found when testing "side by side" that IB's equity data is usually a split second ahead of TAL (no T1 lines - simply an internet connection). I find the opposite with option quotes. But then again TAL has their own issues when it comes to option quotes. In terms of option quotes - I would RANK IB #1 without question as retail data providers are a joke in this regard. As for equity quotes, IB offers some products others don't and that is their biggest plus. (Individual ECN quotes, US equity quotes overseas etc). The minus is, at times during fast markets the quotes can lag slightly. What does it have to do with the guy's original question? I have no idea...i guess i was babbling........I don't think I even read the guys original question - i just saw "IB's quotes SUCK!....sorry for getting a little off topic.
Well, since we are being more constructive now; you are saying that RT's option quotes are faster than IBs? If that is the case, if you are the guy I was talking to over the phone a month or two ago; I believe we talked about RT option quote problems. If that is the case, I thought I told you about the latency in RT, assuming that problem is still there, if IB is slower you are in trouble.
I have been using realTick with TAL data for the last few years and would not want to be without it. For stock quotes, TAL has been better than IB in fast markets. On average days, I find IB quotes run 0 to 3 seconds behind TAL quotes. However, IB is working on fixing the problems we have been having with their lagging and stuck quotes and I am sure IB will eventually fix this problem. But, when it comes to a trading platform, IB is the clear winner over the RealTick. RealTick does not even come close if I am trading fast moving volatile stocks in a fast moving market (IB's "Best Execution" makes the difference for me and gets the orders filled at the best prices in the market). Catoosa
yes RT's (TAL) option quotes are slightly faster than IB's. I don't remember what we discussed on the phone but I only had minor problems with TAL (mostly software problems on my part). I only have two issues with TAL's option quotes: 1) Incorrect composite quote when there is more than one Exchange on the bid/ask 2) No real time data for option quotes with ZERO open interest Other than that, they are great. In trouble?? - nope, just getting more efficient each day. I will soon have most of my trading partially automated............ Like I said earlier to any IB customers, if you want to test their option quotes, I suggest you enter an order that improves the market on the PSE and see how long it takes to see your limit order to appear (once it turns green). I would say it averages less than one second. TAL's data is a little quicker which is quick enough for me!! (especially considering you have to enter orders manually anyway)
TAL has severe latency in a fast market; i.e. 5 second plus, and it gets worse on inactive options. However, they still are the best solution for retail option quotes.