Ninja Trader's the new kid on the block and becoming quite popular. However, it's still somewhat primitive compared to Easy Language....and translating from EL to C# without all of the facilities that Tradestation had built in will be expensive. You will have to essentially replicate some of the 1 million lines of code behind the entire Tradestation product to get the requisite level of functionality needed by an automated trading platform. Ninja's next release should be "da bomb" so-to-speak, but you might have to wait 3-6 months or longer. Warning with other APIs: many are buggy and/or poorly supported or documented.
Are you saying you execute through IB and IB is the one having problems? You are not clear about that. Since when has IB had anything but a very excellent execution platform? I'm asking seriously because I use them.
How is it more primative? At the language level C# offers full multi threading, and a much more performance runtime JITing compared to EL, which I believe is interpreted at runtime, no? Maybe NT is more primative at the app level, but in terms of building robust systems, I would go with C# before EL.
EVERY broker will give you fits at some point. The solution is to split your account between 2 or 3 brokers. If a broker collapses, like Refco, would you like to be prevented from trading for 6-12 months? Having money at other brokers gives you flexibility. Put some of your money in IB. In a national financial crisis, they are much larger and more conservative than these little "$300 daytrading margin brokers.
Thanks for the information. I will look into MarketCetera as I have never heard of them. I've tried OpenQuant and wasn't too thrilled about their level of support. At first glance, MarketCetera appears to be modular and configurable. My concern is the amount of pre-requisite software knowledge. When I say that I can write software - it is at a very basic level - like MatLab and Easy Language type programs. I have limited knowledge of C# or .Net and do not feel too comfortable taking on a large project in C#. Thanks, Mike
Can NinjaTrader monitor 1000 stocks at once and manage an open portfolio of 200-300 positions at a time? Real time stops, profit targets etc etc... Assuming adequate computing resources of course.
I generate orders via charts in TradeStation. Those orders go to IB electronically and then also get executed in TS. The problems occur when the TS data feed/platform goes down - the source of my orders is no longer functioning. I have another source via Fidelity, but, this source is not automated, hence when I get a lot of orders I end up missing fills because I can't keep up with them manually. In terms of execution, I find IB to be good - no complaints. The point of failure in this case is Tradestation and that is where I need redundancy or another alternative altogether.
I do have 3 brokers at the moment, however, I only have a single source for order generation - that's the issue - where can I get a reliable & robust order generation system?
Can you say "circular buffer" for indicators/functions and can you say "maxbarsback" ? Those two features alone are just so "missing" in Ninja. I could name a dozen more. If you don't know the above, then you have "no clue" into the technical details of a great trading platform. Go Home. Do your homework.