I have been using Neovest FirstAlert for two years. I use it for realtime intraday filtering in order to generate trading ideas. I have recently been using their "thin" version and dislike it thus far. I would like to know if there are any other software alternatives out there that are better or comparable to First Alert. Thanks.
I too have been using First Alert for the past few years. While using "thick" i always had problems with the real time data. It was usually 2-3 seconds behind my back up data connection. Now using "thin" it seems there is a new problem everyday. Sometimes the program locks up and i can get in. Other times the time and quotes don't work properly. It even wet as far as erasing my layouts and filters. I wish Neovest would have spent a little more time researching and developing their product before releasing it. So, i too am interesting in other alternatives. Carlos.
If there was an alternative I would dump the First Alert right away. After using it for more than three years I became tester of this company. For the period I had only 2 months without any problems. Before using FA I used TrackData DOS like interface. I am researching right now different packages and let share our knowledge about other programs. I am not going to try Linn software as they charge $49 for trial package I do not buy a cat in the sack. When you pay for something it is not a trial it is a purchase.
My firm may have the solution you are looking for. www.trade-ideas.com Our software is completely browser based and streams ideas in real-time. You can set it to watch the universe of stocks or create profiles with you watch lists. We were recently featured in an aritcle in Hedge World. http://www.hedgeworld.com/news/read_news.cgi?story=tech2638.html§ion=tech It is only $45.00 per month and the free trial is on until January. We sponsor the resources section in Elite.
What I find inconvenient in www.trade-ideas.com: I am looking for a stand alone application where you can not only change the search criteria but as well limit the result set produced by the search let's say to 15. On your site it keeps refreshing and you do not see what is new on the filter. It would be a benefit if I could see the charts of stocks returned by the filter window on one page. I do not know how you can trade and have 4 open browsers with different filters which hard to read. If you keep let's say market up and market down stocks on one page it is sorted kind of strange, not by group but all together mixed. You need three pairs of eyes to keep up.
I've tried countless alternatives to First Alert (Insight, StockWatchPro, Radarscreen, Linnsoft, and others) and the result is always the same. Despite its bugginess there really isn't anything (yet) that can compare to First Alert overall. I wish there were. I've got to know several people at Neovest over the past year though. From what I hear they readily admit they launched thin too early and it has cost them a lot of customer loyalty. Now, however, for the first time EVER I think they've FINALLY realized the need to make their software bulletproof. Supposedly they are taking enormous steps to rectify the remaining issues with thin and purport to have a new ("non-beta") version ready for the beginning of January. Despite their analytics problems, though, their order entry platform is outstanding, extremely reliable, and FAST as hell. I've just started using it and I feel very confident that if I had access to it 1-2 years ago I would have easily increased my profitability 25-50%. Their point-and-click shortcut functionality is un-frickin-believeable. The only problem is it's costing me a fortune to use it. If anyone knows of a firm that uses it, and offers decent commissions pleeeeeeease let me know.
You forgot to mention NeoTicker Ever tried to simply input a formula into a quote column and having that update in real-time? You can auto rank them, you can sort on a single click. I do not see that anyone else can do better than that