The QCharts program is a slick piece software but Lycos/Quote.com stopped investing in it some time ago. The problem now is that the hackers at eSignal might be given access to it, which would be a shame because the eSignal software is the worst piece of trading/charting software I've ever laid eyes on; truly horrible. And I use the word hackers above because it's obvious a real software *designer* has never been involved in the eSignal project. I doubt the managers at eSignal even know there's a difference.
I agree!! I will cancel my QCharts subscription right away if they make it look or even feel like eSignal software.... I hope eSignal people are making a note of this...fwiw
??? Quote.com has had a very long history of instability. A quick search of ET's over the years will confirm this. I used to subscribe years ago before they had been taken over by Lycos. In the early years, they had a unique system going with an excellent API, years ahead for its time. What brought what you called their 'instability' was an out of control 'orgy' by their programmers in trying to do all kind of ambitious but essentially useless things, i.e. setting up a fancy charting system. This is truly when their troubles started. Not so long after they got taken over by Lycos and kept on dragging their white elephant along. I have posted several times on this example. Morals: (1) There is an absolute need for reliable quote distribution with a reliable API; (2) Lots of complaints about players like Quote.com having taken on all kind of fancy toys but no longer delivering adequate basic quote services. It ain't that difficult to spot some other cases; (3) Market forces will drive these lunatics out of business. This can take some time but it is inevitable; (4) Let this be a lesson for all players in alike fields. Don't let programmers screw you. They never placed a trade in their lives and they can't care less about the reliability of the services at the user's end.
ESignal hired one of the better QCharts guys a while back. His name is Mike Condra and if he has any say in the product going forward, it should be pretty decent.
really. search this site for a year and see how many esignal is down\ sucks threads there are vs qcharts. it has been rock solid for over a year. ever since they dumped the freeloaders on livecharts things have been fine.
If US + non US data is needed Reuters Bridgesation/Metastock Quotecenter appears to be a reasonably priced and probably reliable feed. My experience of eSignal was that it was neither. Seems to carry Reuters FX feed. Adaptors (from Itservice) for getting the data into Metastock and TS2000i and maybe others are out there.
Thats what I was hearing about eSignal in July '04 when they hired him. Since them its been nothing but down hill. Looks like he doesn't have any say...
The last time I talked with an eSignal rep, we discussed how they had hired a lot of key qharts people when qharts moved back east and let them all go. The merger sounds great and Iâm looking forward to helping with customer feedback anyway I can. Thanks Chuck. Scott