Note: the vast majority of my independent trading clients are choosing to stay with delayed data even after they choose to go live. It seems that the delayed data in terms of exchange supported spreads is plenty good enough for swing trading. If you want to see live data and depth of market, simply pull up the relevant exchange spread order book. No sense in paying exchange fees for live data for possibly several futures exchanges. I've tried it and it is OK. Several thousand $$$ per year saved.
State Commodity Traders Grow to take on Glencore, Cargill http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...dity-traders-grow-to-take-on-glencore-cargill
I have booked five individual client meetings this week in order to review paper trading performance metrics via live "Go To Meeting" webinars.
Just forwarded one of my clients to a prominent Chicago prop futures firm who asked for my graduates.
I am a big proponent for clients to clear FCMs that: 1. Offer TT or CTS on a transactional basis; and 2. Know how to apply the exchange spread margin offset credits or a reasonable alternative fix into their intraday risk management system.
Many of my clients end up at Advantage Futures. I receive absolutely no compensation or fruit baskets from Advantage so this is straight up. Having said that, other large established Chicago FCMs like RCG, RJO, etc. should also be queried by the prospective trader. In terms of intraday risk management, it is my understanding that Advantage Risk will adjust intraday buying power upwards for spread traders when notified by the account manager, with the exchange SPAN spread margin credits you should see on your daily statement. They will also reel you back in big time in terms of risk allowance if you choose to do any "texas hedging" ( leaving legs open for extended periods of time ) or deviate from your understanding with your account manager.
While I agree with your comment above, I wonder why you prefer eSignal EOD (as per the charts you post) over a higher quality (personal opinion) Pure EOD vendor like CSI? I assume we agree that unless you use tick data, intraday spread charts are not necessarily reflective of real spread pricing. When it comes to quality and available history, the high(er) end EOD providers are better than most other sources. (In fact, sometimes I even prefer CSI over my Bloomberg terminal when it comes to creating some quick charts..) Just interested in your opinion on this.