I have the same problem with tradestation. My short term solution has been to run very stripped down workspaces, without all the garbage that I would ideally like to look at. This doesn't completely solve the problem. I pretty much realize I can't trade right after a number, and also unfortunately any time the market gets crazy. I was thinking of buying another more powerful computer (I may do this anyway to use one comp for trading only and use the other one for internet and spreadsheets) but I may just open an IB account anyway. I have too much $$ sitting in TS account and I should have a backup.
Been their and done all that, I have used every charting platform available. I also suffered the same issue as stated with TS. I totally lost confidence in the software, now I use CQG with IB its the way to go if you trade index futures. I was always trying to save money, but all I was doing was costing me money and messing with my confidence.
For anyone considering using TS for e-mini trading, I urge you to take a look at the TS forums area and do a search with the word "freeze". Just seeing the number of topics is scary let alone the number of responses in each topic, but it will give you a feel for what others are experiencing. Like I said before, I'll use it for a back-up and free charting, but for serious trading of the es, er2, ym, and nq...too much risk.
TS is just as bad on the FX side. They use Gain's dealing desk as their backend, so they're light years behind IB from a bank/ECN perspective. The spreads are a joke compared to IB's spreads. And what's worse, TS adds on half a pip to what Gain's own platform shows. Nothing like offering a crummy dealing desk spread AND nailing your clients for an extra pip per r/t on top. What a ripoff... I'm closing my account at the end of the free month.
I have been using TS for a while now and no problems at all. Today was quite a busy day with lots of volatility and crazy price action, yet my matrix never froze. I was able to get in and out of the market quickly and everything was working just fine. Keep in mind i have two desktops and about 18 workspaces open at the same time. No problems whatsoever.
Back in August's moves, my computer freezes up almost every day at the open. After one week of that I went and purchased the second fastest PC at Frys. (Better bang for the buck) Stuck in 2 dual output video cards to run 4 monitors and after that TS did not freeze up at all. I got all indexes open on multiple time frames, ticks, trin ect... and fill my 4 monitors with charts to the max. No stock charts displayed. I would recommend TS to anyone. I used to have esignal and qcharts but now I cut out that cost. One thing to do is make sure you uninstall any previous TS versions before install the new TS upgrade. I had all kind of problems but once I deleted all previous versions it was fine. Even their tech support did not know this. He was on the phone with me for 3 hours and could not figure out some of the TS 8.3 bugs. Good luck.
fseitun, 1) Do you have charts of er2, es, ym, and nq running at the same time? 2) What is your hard drive specs and ram? Thanks
Correct. Most trading software programs come out with periodic upgrades, and when the software gets "upgraded" over and over multiple problems can arise. It is best to completely uninstall the program and do a fresh install every once in awhile. You should also contact a tech at the company to walk you through completely removing any extraneous program components that always remain when you do a standard uninstall. Depending on the software they may or may not be able to save your layouts and setup, so keep that in mind. I have been thinking of getting TS for the charting and backtesting. Is there anyone with a new, high powered computer that has these problems? Any suggestions from anyone for an alternative to TS that has similar or better charts, analysis, etc?
I was wondering when the TS cheerleaders were going to show up. Think about this how many large professional trading desk use TS, problem not to many. They don't pay any interest on your capital. Oh but you get playstation for free!