which feed is the fastest and most reliable? i´ve been trading with nt/zenfire before, moving to amp and not sure which feed to choose...mainly trading the dow mini (ym)
I've now tried AMP/CQG two times now, once for a few months stint in late 2012 and once just now. I honestly don't know why but despite what I've heard about CQG reliability, my experience is that they are terrible. In the 3 or 4 months I used them the first time round, they went down twice. Luckily it didn't affect my live trading since I didn't have a proper setup those days. But what if it did? In the past two weeks since I made the switch from Zenfire, I've also had problems with CQG. It would randomly disconnect then reconnect. I know for a fact that the 2 separate days of disconnects in 2012 wasn't just me because other people were posting in support forums about it. Maybe this time around it's just me experiencing issues but what I do know is in the YEARS that I used Zenfire I had maybe one day where I had connectivity issues and I believe it was the day when several feeds went down all over the East Coast. Zero problems with anything and everything else. So I decided to switch to AMP Rithmic yesterday. But that's just my experience and my .02.
Talking about experiences on feeds without specifing the software does not make fully sense. Some API feeds are being implemented better or easier on some software vs other. For example for months CQG feed has been terrible on Multicharts environments but fine on regular CQGTrader or CQGNet. Also now we have a new scenario with Rithmic being offered by some other FCMs with custom adaption of the software right for this purpose (e.g. release 19 for Ninjatrader 7).
Amp/ttnet seems to be the cheapest solution when it comes to commissions. But there is no backup webbased or mobile platform for flattening your position if there´s an emergency situation. You have to rely on the emergency order desk. With CQG you can also manage trades through their webtrader and with Rithmic you have the Rtrader platform as backup...
I was like you using NJ with Zen, but my IB, Cannon Trading switched me over to CQG after the fiasco with Zenfire. I might try out Rithmic or TT when my broker thinks it is ready with the current set up. It seems crazy out there for many ninja users and the only advice I can provide is "no trade is better than a bad trade" ( my brokers saying...) so I rather be patient and make sure I have the best set up instead of making hasty decisions.
Rithmic has not let me down in 2 years. I use PhotonTrader + Rithmic. I like the implementation, very redundant. They split the execution network and the signal network, so a lot of times during announcements, if you bracket you shall hear the executions before you see it on the trade matrix. Reverse speed of sound effect. I used to use CQG. I like the charting - very clean. Good debt paper feeds. Looks like in terms of aggregate feed they have been coasting on their past reputation. Too many disconnects about a year ago made me cancel. They are still good, depends what you do and how you do, but their feed network needs and upgrade for sure.
+1 for Rithmic. Been using them for a year and never had an outage, market data and execution speed are excellent. API is fairly robust too. For the miniscule amounts that they charge for trades & no monthly fee, great value for retail.
Zero knowledge of Ninja, sorry. Have also CQG Integrated. Rithmic feed is robust, has more redundant features built in, compared to CQG, which is a good service for those who need the additional features.