Scanner and custom study/api together

Discussion in 'Trading Software' started by volcano, Jun 15, 2007.

  1. volcano

    volcano

    Hi All,

    I've been reading this forum for the last few hours looking for the right software. I've identified a few software packages that I will further investigate (ninjatrader, esignal activex, linnsoft, marketdelta, sierra chart, neotick, etc), but am hoping the folks here can help me identify the top 1 or 2 that will do what I want in a simple sentence.

    In a nutshell, I'm looking for a scanner plus API that work together.

    I am currently an eSignal premier subscriber. I have data feeds for NYSE/NASDAQ equities and the CME e-minis. eSignal has a scanner tool, but it can not be hooked into their Desktop ActiveX API (which can process time and sales data). Their Activex API is limited to simultaneously scanning 50 stocks at a time (so it doesn't qualify for the scanning role).

    I want a software package that will return stock results based on my scanner queries (scanning all US equities), then be able to process time and sales data for those symbols to further refine that stock list to the best few to manually monitor.

    From browsing the forum and some reading, it seems the majority of the software out there is for building custom studies for use with 1 stock at a time. I want to do that AFTER the scanner has given me my initial list of stocks to refine.

    Something that can use the eSignal feed would be great, as it'd save money. I am not a master programmer, but have experience in a variety of languages and am very familiar with software in general, so the API language doesn't concern me too much.


    Thanks, and good luck trading.
     
  2. Aok

    Aok

    Hi Volcano. There is scan. Then there is filter.

    There are very, very few programs that can scan the entire stock market and spit out results looking for user defined specifics.

    Insight and First Alert are the only ones Im aware of that can do that aside from custom programs.

    However there are many hybrids Filters that might suit your needs.

    Since you already use Esignal, try Neoticker. Neoticker can scan for anything you can think of. But not the entire universe of stocks. I think 2 thousand is their limit. Dont use Esig so dont quote me on the number but its high.

    Tradestation can do 1000 but you must have a list to scan first. It too can scan for just about anything.

    Trade-Ideas can scan the whole stock universe but unfortunately limits you with mostly canned scans. But maybe some of its scans would be ones you could use or work around.

    there are others: amibroker, wealthlab, few others whose names escape me offhand. All have some drawback.

    This is largely a black hole for this industry except for the 3 options I listed at the very beginning.

    Hope this helps.
     
  3. volcano

    volcano

    Thanks for your response! I'll look into your suggested platforms and see how far I can get.
     
  4. There are not too many options. Aok has given you pretty much the snapshot you need. Insight and First Alert are pretty expensive. I use Trade-Ideas and it works the best for me. Most people don't know just how cutomizable it really is, but it is almost limitless in terms of what you can ask it to do. Unlike Insight and First Alert TI now has a backtesting option where you can set up your scans and back test the results as if you were building a complete trading system. Again that is my 2 cents. Aok pretty much has it on the money!
     
  5. volcano

    volcano

    Looking on the neovest.com site, it doesn't seem they post the cost of using First Alert anywhere. What are the fees like?
     
  6. thanks for this help. just reading this forum helped..
     
  7. With Investor/RT or MarketDelta, you can quickly import all US Equities (using an intergrated Yahoo! Screener), then download daily data, fundamental data (and intraday data) on that list. Run a scan on fundamental or technical criteria to trim down your list for what you'll monitor realtime...and then continue to run an intraday scan on this trimmed down list if you wish. Very powerful in this area...does require the professional edition of either program however.
     
  8. Aok

    Aok

    If I remember correctly IRT can handle 700 symbols.

    Good software.
     
  9. There's no limit to the number of symbols I/RT can handle...the limit comes from the data feed you use to feed I/RT. Each one has a limit on the number of symbols you can monitor/track realtime (tick-by-tick)... and I think DTN IQ Feed has a limit of 1200 symbols, and eSignal maybe 1000. But you could still monitor 10,000+ on an end-of-day basis, and then trim down your list for intraday monitoring each day with a scan.
     
  10. Trade Ideas has no symbol limitation so it scans the whole market all the time regardless of the other data feeds that you may use.
     
    #10     Jun 25, 2007