j trader

anyone using j trader ??? how do you like it -- would like to hear all negatives and positives ?? thanks

 

also anyone using tt ????

 

The only drawback in J-Trader is that putting in stops is a little complicated. You cannot put a genuine "Stop" order in, but must use a "stop-limit" or a "hidden stop".

If you are long at 850.00 and want to put your stop at 849.00, then you set the stop price to 849.00 and the limit price to something lower, like 848.00. That makes it awkward.

The other way is to put in a "hidden" stop, which is not sent to Globex until the price is hit. Therefore the order resides in your computer and is sent as a market order at the appropriate time. The drawback with this is that if you should lose your internet connection at the wrong time, your stop would not be triggered.

I understand the reason for this has to do with the nature of Globex, which only accepts limit orders. Even market orders are only accepted on Globex as limite orders. This means that the clearing firm actually converts all orders to limit orders on-the-fly. So, if you are using IB or PFG and put in a stop, then at the appropriate time they send the order in as a limit order.

My information on how Globex works came from an earlier thread on the topic. You may want to search ET for it. There were some seemingly very knowledgeable people contributing there.

Cheer,

kp

 

I find J-Trader to be a piece of crap. Even though
I use it with one of my brokers it has many minuses.

1) Uses way too much screen space.
2) No JTrader API
3) No stop limits from the dome screen (how stupid is
that? they put in stops but can't put in the really useful
one for globex.)
4) CPU hog
5) Doesn't even have your updated account balance (at
least not my broker.)

Needless to say I stick with IB when I can.

 

anyone know why TT charges $600 a month and j-trader is free ??? -- how does j trader make money ???

also what about PFG BEST ???

 

J-Trader is not free. They just (typically) take $1 from each round trip of commissions as opposed to charging a monthly fee. If you pay $6 per round trip, $1 goes to Patsystems and $5 gets divided up between broker, CME, etc. So which is cheaper depends on your typical volume.

 

FWIW, there is an API. But, it isn't cheap, and (I believe) it is up to the broker/clearing firm as to whether they want to offer it.

 

Thanks, I have the API but it's for patssystems
basically to replace J-Trader. A more useful API would be an
interface to JTrader. Interfacing to patssystems looks like a
heck of a lot of work, which few would consider worthwhile.

 

Interesting. I hadn't realized that.

 

This is my first and only futures trading platform so I don't know how much weight someone wants to put on my review.
I happen to like J-Trader.

Too much screen space? I have up the dome and 1 window , together they take up less than half of one screen.
stops from dome screen? Yeah, you just right click where you want them...nice and simple. Maybe you want one on Globex, I'm not sure how that works.
CPU hog? never had a problem with it on my machine.
Updated acct balance. I don't have that either, but it's not hard to add $500 or whatever to the balance that I checked the night b4.

Maybe TT's x-trader is a lot better...I'd like to give it a shot.

Happy Trading to all.

Uptik2000