I used to subscribe to the call-in feed to Ben's service. I know him personally. I would consider him an acquaintance and he knows who I am. Unfortunately, as time went by and the pit's importance has diminished, I found his service more of a disservice. There are some significantly annoying attributes here. He tends to focus on a few key players who know that he is watching them. Have you heard him go, "Merrill is to buy....Merrill is to buy....Merrill is to buy...." only to see the ES go straight down? Or have you noticed the excitement in his voice when there is a slight flurry of activity. I scalp futures, so the information was important to me. After a while, I realized that he only sees one side of the flow and is extremely emotional at times; which effected my trading. Some of the biggest players will not allow him to announce what they are doing. I think a better service is XSquawk. Again, though, these services are becoming obsolete as flow moves to the electronic. Ben's voice was really getting under my skin as well. I like Ben. Nice guy. Good man to get a lot of info from and great over breakfast at least once a week. I hope he will find another niche soon (I think he is becoming a pilot). Good luck all.
No the news service is crap I agree but their pit guy is really good. He isn't as emotional as Ben and he is rather funny, always commenting on the guests at CBOT like torri spelling few days. Its very enjoyable when nothing else is going on. Mike
Hmmm... their webpage doesn't work any more. I guess they are getting obsolete faster than I thought. I haven't used XSquawk in about a year. I used Ben before them. Although I scalp, I have found these services to be quite useless for what I do. You might try calling: xSquawk, LLC 30 South Wacker Drive, Suite 1204 Chicago, Illinois 60606 United States Phone: 312-681-5468 Fax: 212-937-3701
Hi FT71, since I mainly autotrade the ES and NQ, I only discretionarily trade small lots for fun and to keep the skills up to date. For me, one of the greatest issues is boredom as I am patiently waiting for a setup. I usually have some "infectious grooves" blasting in the background and that helps, but I have found Ben's commentary to be superb for this, thoroughly entertaining and I don't have to be looking at the ES chart all day - I can hear when something is happening and take the necessary actions. True, but what did you expect? You have to interpret the info, otherwise this would be a "free lunch". Really? How can they prevent him from doing this? Surely he is free to announce the action as he sees it? Plus he has no probs announcing when Goldman, Morgan, Smith, Bear, Merrill, etc, are buying/selling. Yeah, I think XSquawk bit the dust. Actually I like Ben's style and voice - for me its perfect for the job, but thats just me. I prefer this to the "Trade the News" guys. I don't know him, but from some of his interactions with people around him during the day (you can hear it all) he comes accross as a top guy! Thanks for your post FT71. Good trading to all. PS. "Thirty bid at eighty, thirty bid at eighty, ...half bid at even, half bid at even..."
Good post. I was one of the first phone clerks at the CBOT doing this type of "color" quoting bonds, before I traded in the pit. I too would find these nuances you mentioned in Ben's reporting as annoying and disruptive. It takes very little to get me off my game. That stuff would be way harmful to my health.
Yes, I liked hearing when things were happening as well, especially an increase of commotion in the pit. That was the value of the service to me. I also got a good idea of when numbers hit the pit versus my news feed to gauge the reaction. Often times, however, that was clouded by Ben's own excitement which often an overreaction on his part. I hear ya.... I obviously didn't expect to buy on him yelling "Merrill is to buy... Merrill is to buy...." except that often it would be "Merrill is to buy... Merrill is to buy... Merrill is to buy..... 20 [in a calmer voice]" ooops My point was that he was actually focusing too much on one side. These were only annoying when you had a slow choppy day and then he starts screaming that near a breakout level. My fingers would click without much processing and then I would watch it go straight down. Because at the same time, Merrill is selling like crazy on the screen or Luis came in and took them plus offered. Who knows. He would never call out the activities for the locals. Have you noticed that? He called out a few by Luis Borcellino a few years back. He quickly found out that "sleeping with the fishes..." is not a threat in the movies only. A good chunk of flow through the pit is by locals... he doesn't call that side of it. "Goooooooodddd morning to yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
Actually he does mention things like "locals only at the moment guys...light trading", but no names on the locals. What you mention above would explain it! :eek: And I gather that version of "sleeping with the fishes" isn't the Troy McClure (from the Simpsons) version either
Ben is great to hear when you are in a silent office just to bleed out CNBC or there is some volatility that is present. Yes, the pit is not the front runners and leading the ES around like it did a few years ago, but when paper is selling and unloading and locals are hurting as they usually take the other side of that, I know that there are a few more points before the pain and climax is over. It still helps and part of my comfort level.
Hi all, I am a novice trader, I only trade ES and have checked out the trial with realtimefutures.com If I was to use their service, it would be mainly to confirm my intraday strategies and also I have found their brief news flash reporting quite handy. I recall quite recently wheb they announced a rumour of a terrorist attack has spread between traders before it hut the news. Anyway, I would like to ask you guys which service to go for? They offer quite a few packages. Which one is more appropriate for ES trader? Thanks in advance. Roman