Each clearing firm (FCM) runs their own installation (servers, data lines) supplied by patsystems. The accounts held with different I.B.´s (introducing brokers) may or may not connect to different servers of a particular FCM. Some time ago I had pretty serious issues with JTrader when the FCM decided to move my account to a different server that did not work very well and messed up my orders. These JTrader malfunctions happened from one day to the other. The FCM and patsystems did not care very much. IMHO they did nothing than just telling me some blatant lies about these issues. According to patsystems such issues simply "do not exist".
Thank you for the information...funny I have been told this same statement by an I.B. rep on Friday about my JTrader problems, "do not exist". Also, I want to thank everyone who sent me PM's with their previous "lost trades" issues with JTrader...this was extremely helpful! Good Fortunes! Chris
Interesting. I hear very very similar words about J-Trader all the time, very frequently. People just seem to love pecking that platform. Maybe it really is that bad? So you actually tested it and witnessed it live?! Personally, the reason why I requested X-Trader is because I know it's an excellent platform. J-Trader might be, but I don't know. Also J-Trader simply lacks the superior functionality, Excel integration, customizability etc etc. X-Trader is king. Regarding J-Trader : I really only know from hear-saying from fellow traders that the platform is supposed to be "An amateurish and inadequate POS that is unreliable, slow and snafu's up orders". Hear from other comments such as "a clear no-no", "at your peril", "caches your orders instead of direct routing", "f*cks up orders", "lamer-ware", "insincere and blatantly lying staff", "not willing to improve" and other stuff like that quite frequently. But then again, it's only hear-saying and all this might be completely wrong. I really am not in the position to make an informed judgment myself, since I've barely looked at the platform. I really don't know, and I am in no way associated. On the other hand, while I don't know whether J-Trader is good, I do know that X-Trader is pretty good. It is definitely first-rate - and I don't know why anybody who considers serious income trading should be choosing 2nd rate in anything, I.e. scared by the platform cost. If you're making a few K a day, then there's no point in fiddling around with stuff that is still new and controversial / in dev anyway. From what I've heard, X-Trader is also the platform that is used by a lot of the traders that do nice size on the mini's (>50 a trade), but again that is just hearsay. Here's what AdvancedFutures says on their website about X-Trader, if you don't mind me quoting; The X_TRADERâ¢, by Trading Technologies, is the Rolls-Royce of trading platforms. If you are an active trader and surpass 700 round turn trades a month, then utilizing the X_TRADER⢠would be ideal. The X_TRADER⢠is one of the most popular trading platforms utilized by hedge fund managers and professional money managers. Trading Technologies' ability to focus directly on the traders' needs and provide solutions to them with unheard of stability and reliability has allowed the status of the X_TRADER⢠to near pinnacle levels within the industry. I'd say the bit that really makes sense is "If you surpass 700 round turns a month". Perfectly reasonable. If you do 3 trades a day, might as well just use a simple interface with a single buy-and and a single sell button, all you need. No need to pay $500 a month (VelocityFutures) for X-Trader, either way. But if you do like over 100 RT a day with high volume / margin, then leading-edge execution functionality and a platform you can 'trust' is absolutely paramount. And then for those who use IB, there's the new ButtonTrader platform, www.buttontrader.com which is probably the best solution of all, you can use it in "Light" mode or get a "Standard" or "Pro" licence. Comparatively cheap to X-Trader, but equally excellent and extremely reliable, visual and intuitive, particularly for scalping. Used it for months. Absolutely love it, never looked back. Hard to give up even for X-Trader. Probably the next best thing after X-Trader, but much cheaper, and if you trade IB it's your only nice option for pro scaling / strategy execution, anyway. It can do almost anything you could wish for, and certainly the only tool to effectively trade multiple IB accounts, for example. But it really all depends on your needs. If your needs are minimal and simple, use what's minimal and simple. Chances are it's free. Scientist.
What value can we assert to a comparison of three products by a person who has only first hand experience with one of them?
2 of them. X-Trader and ButtonTrader. I haven't used J-Trader (other than a brief look), and I've clearly stated that. Otherwise I'm not making real comparisons here. I'm a pretty active scalper, I've tried various other platforms and from all I've seen, it all distills down to a couple, X-Trader and Button. This is just personal opinion and preference. If you know better, feel free to present your experiences or facts. Scientist.
Sorry, but you could have fooled me. IMO it doesn't make sense to compare J-trader/X-trader on one side and Button-trader on the other. The choice of which programs to consider should be determined by traded volume and not program functionality.
Oh bingo, has the penny dropped now? As I said in my post: "But it really all depends on your needs. If your needs are minimal and simple, use what's minimal and simple." I also mentioned the turnover part. It depends on your style. I mentioned in the post you just quoted me that I'm an active scalper, and for active scalping / higher volume trading or complex scaling strategies etc, these two are the best platforms I've come across in either IB or 'the rest of the world', and that's my personal taste. End of debate. I don't know what you do, Ditch. Maybe you take 2 trades per day on ES, targetting 3 points with 5 point stops. I don't know. But if whatever you use works well for you, please post what you use for execution, and what it does well for you, so all the others with a similar style can benefit. Scientist.
Well, forgive me, but the penny still hasn't dropped. I don't crasp how BT can be a valiable alternative for X-trader for any trader doing more than 1000 RT/month. Unless you have some special deal with IB .
These intraday margins.......do you use the CME day for the ES(15:30cst-15:15cst) or are you one of those brokers/FCM's who do not have an overnight desk to monitor margins? Perhaps you lease the Daytradeforless desk? Why would anybody prefer a web based version over a standalone? Why add a browser to the mix? Thank you for the offer Advanced futures. I will consider it. The minumum opening you said was 6k...if it drops below that before one transfers more money in...do you allow trading until margin requirements kick in? Michael B.
fyi, buttontrader will be offering its services to j-trader users starting next yr. furthermore, tt will be offering a lite version of x-trader soon.