whats the cancelation period with ffast trade, and if you dont use it for a period of time, say a month which you take off, do you still have to pay as you are on a year deal?
Do advanced platforms, like TT or GL, really have any advantage over J-trader, especially for swing traders? If anyone is using one of those platforms, could you tell me why you're using that?
def-I am not talking about a leased line. I am talking about using ffasttrade w/ Citrix technology using the internet. stevet- My assumption was ffasttrade is on a month-to-month. I guess I have to call them Monday to make sure. cartm-I called 3 FCM's and the cost of TT over the net is $625/mo. Although I heard from a major clearing house that their net version is not as good as the hardwired version (which is to be expected I guess) Here is an interesting thought. Is there a system that uses hotkeys (f1,F2,etc). I trialed 3 systems-ffasttrade's, crossfire and Jtrader and they all have this 1 click funtionality but with a mouse. Now if we are going to split hairs here I bet you that 2 traders that decide to buy at the same nanosecond , hot key systems would beat the mouse 1 click system anyday. Anyone aware of hotkeys for emini's? I remember visiting the NYSE floor and the specialist and his clerk would fill orders superfast because their system is all hotkeys. He would press a button which takes the pants off the DOT trader (my pants most of the time) , press the green button to bend him over and the big button to start the reaming process. Just my meandering musings.
TT has a ton of hotkeys u can dime the bid lots of cool stuff , 650 is the base and then there a 300 fee for the 1st exchange 200 for the rest, at least thats what I have seen. So if you get TT and you want CME its 950.
gat, forget the lease line. what will citrix tech do that will increase speed? can someone explain? As mentioned earlier, I've been able to get orders confirmed from HK via a 56K line to globex in under 300 milliseconds. naturally the speeds will be faster in the states and even better with a faster connection. at these speeds the decision process takes more time than the transaction. i've stated it numerous times but i'm convinced that given the liquidity in the minis, the speeds available from a number of brokers (w/o paying extra) and as long as you're trading manually, the difference in your trading won't come from a couple milliseconds difference in execution time, it will come from your entry and exit points. BTW, I don't buy that TT and other platforms have some kind of advantage - they don't. They are merely front ends. The front end interface may or may not be great. I haven't used them but it doesn't matter. It's the backend routing that counts.
Def. I tend to agree with you and as I have maintained, from the time 2 traders decide to buy/sell the one with the hot keys(which TWS has) will get there faster than a mouse driven order.
You asked about the worth of speed and the answer is: Speed is very important if you are constantly looking for the edge. If you are a LEVEL trader, meaning you pick your spots and place your orders, a less costly web-based solution like J-Trader or FFastNet is sufficient. In most cases though, the transaction cost is higher for the lower cost systems. If you are looking at cash prices or news as an indicator, you want to be first. This necessitates a system that is quick and reliable. You have to decide if it is worth it for an upgrade. But be aware of the different transaction costs that are associated with different platforms. ie. FFastTrade offers: Remote Pro: $550 with a $3.32 Round Trip rate and their Web-based solution is: $175 with a $4.32 Round trip including exchange fees. At 750 lots per month the two systems become equal in cost. So if you trade that kind of volume you would want to upgrade anyway. TT is offered through several FCMs and IBs and the transaction rate is the important factor. They have a great system and longer term record than most of the other systems. I work at FFastTrade and I would give the edge to TT on stability due to the fact that they are still mainly connected to the Fix 2.3 API. The CME announced last week that this API is now second in speed, but I can tell you form experience it is currently more stable. As far as speed goes, FFastTrade may be faster due to the architecture. Explaining the architecture is another issue, but I can tell you that trades are turned around in less than .50 of a second. In any case, the CME is currently having issues that are very dangerous. I would recommend caution to anyone trading the e-minis right now. I am recommending extreme caution to all of my traders.
Could you please elaborate on what you mean by dangerous. I really am not good at reading between the lines. but let me try. Are you trying to say that there are multiple API's and there is a conflict that could cause the system to freeze! PLease elaborate. You are killing me... Thanks
FFastTrade is month to month and your account is debited at the beginning of the month. You can choose to take a month off, but you need to declare this on the first of every month.