I opened an IB account for futures day trading and need a good platform that works on IB. Currently I am using all of the following software to have access to certain chart features but is there a software that does them all or most? - TDA StrategyDesk: It has a chart "bar" counting feature where you can move the cursor to see how many bars it is from a previous bar you clicked. With others, I have to look at timestamps and do the math myself. It's a major pain. - QT: Chart scales the bar pixel width automatically to pack more data when I increase the chart period (say 1 day to 2 day). With other software, I have to increase the window size, change bar frequency or scroll left/right to see more data. - NinjaTrader: Sub-1 minute chart. Others can plot only 1 minute or greater bars. - IB TWS: It has the 15-sec chart but it look like it's drawn with a crayon or marker, LOL. Hard to see the highs and lows because they are all blurry. Also charts are updated slowly so there's a lag between the chart and the quote window. But this thing works fine for my order management so far. (One thing I noticed is that when QT is connected to IB via TWS, QT's quotes are lagging by about a second. A big no no. NinjaTrader didn't have this issue. ) TIA
QT has sub 1 minute bars down to 0.05 min (3 seconds). Just customize the bar time period. QT doesn't lag TWS quotes for me. I often put the TWS ES DOM on top of the QT ES chart and see the same prices.
I am using Ensign software as charting package. Hard to beat . only problem you cant trade from the software. As trading tool i use ZeroLineTrader perfect for fast trading, easy and has all what you need.
i think you'll be happy with PT Multistation they show how to work with IB, on the site: http://profstation.com/online_trading_broker/Interactive_Brokers there is post on the forum wich tells that you can use it with trial licence for some time on real account http://protrader.org/showthread.php?t=1701
Great, I didn't realize I could put in a fractional number there. I see that, during normal trading hours, the delay is almost negligible for me too. I still see 1 sec delay during night time. Maybe the socket between QT and TWS runs more smoothly when there's lots of traffic. I can now remove NinjaTrader. Since StrategyDesk has much longer backfill and has the bar counting feature, I will use it along with QT/TWS. Thanks much.
MultiCharts is in my eyes the best you can get as Chart app or host for trade-automats to use with IB. it's pretty mature now and can easily be integrated with IB. - it can make use of IB historical data and buffers them locally. so no fear to miss data if your machine is off for some days. - seemless integrates real time tick or bar data with historical - easy IB symbol setup - supports many other data vendors - powerful script language - powerful backtest features (they promised walk-forward backtesting for next version - wfbt tells the truth about your system) - integrated IB-trading interface (or use TWSLink dll... - stable and performant - free floating chart windows - a living and active user forum - kind support - many many inbuild indicators - compareable low memory footprint - last but not least: ugly userinterface what do you need more
TWS charts in version 897 will feature improved clarity. Bars will appear sharper with well defined edges. 897 should be released in 1 - 2 weeks.
It would be great if IB can improve the charts. It would be even better if IB could make the chart refresh rate user adjustable. Right now, the lag can be pretty big and makes it less useful. Thanks to others as well for suggestions. I will check them out also.