Tick bars used to be constant. Then a few months ago GLOBEX destroyed them by randonly grouping the transactions together rendering them all but useless for reading price accurately from them. This is something they didn't advertise . . . go figure. The cleanest bar charts out there are Volume Bar Charts and the only software that builds them correctly are Ensign, eSignal, QuoteTracker or QCharts (can't remember) and MultiCharts. Others offer them but can't figure out have to create them accurately.
So it may be better just to use the dome to input trades, and to have an extra subscription for streaming real time data from the above.
Can't at least some software generate sub-minute bars? Perhaps 15 second or 10 second bars. Not tick, but maybe sufficient. -Stephen
Thats not the same as volume bars. One 15 second bar could have 3000 trades and the next 15 second bar could have 3 trades. Volume is a consistent number of contracts.
But if one didn't care about volume, would 15 second bars work? Would they be valid as far as prices go? -Stephen
Shortest I've seen is 30 seconds. But that is immaterial if your broker does not support the system. The choice is what the broker gives you. Anyway, if I'm not misunderstood, for example, ...consider having a 5min moving ave, and then a 4min, and 6min, with constant time bars, the result is the same as varying the time bars, by reading off the different averages. In reality, the differences are quite miniscule in relation to the volatility of the instrument being traded, as most trading systems are fine-tuned to find the sweet-spot. The secret is in finding it. However, once you find it, the big guns will move it. So tick charts are better, as you can see where the Elephant prints are, and just ride the wave.
If my software can generate 15 second bars why does my broker need to know? What is a Elephant print? -Stephen
Are you on a platform already? Does your software need a data feed? To explain Elephant prints, need to know how many contracts you are trading on average /day or /month?
I'm sorry you missed it. I posted somewhere that I don't trade as yet. Checking out Ninja over the weekend. I might get a data feed for the simulator. I don't think we need to discuss Elephant prints tonight from what you wrote above. -Stephen
The platforms come with a data feed, in the form of tick data, that is supported by your broker. So I am under the impression that your broker will decide on the feed, and I guess that your software will convert the data into charts. So, if I assume correctly, you want to create your own streaming data.