In a recent thread I asked for trading simulator suggestions and several people suggested Trademaven. I've been looking at this product for several days. Pros - Nice integration of data replay capability, order simulation and charting. - Very nice DOM/graphical order interface - Data files are available for replay and you can create your own. Cons - very BASIC charting - doesn't work with Interactivebrokers, myTrack, IQFeed or some of the more reasonable data feeds. It does support the PFG, TransAct, esignal and Pats backend systems for data. - data files for playback are exceptional large - one was 66+ MBs. The biggest roadblock for me are the graphics. If you are used to Amibroker, Sierra Charts, Ensign, Tradestation, etc., you will find Trademaven charts to be a big step backwards. There is no zoom in/zoom out feature, no way to control distance between the bars that I can find. Its actually difficult to see, follow on my screen (1280 x 1024). Does anyone else share this opinion? Brooks
Brooks, The charting is not quite up to 100% yet, visually, but the types of charts available are quite advanced. The data files are so large because that's what's needed to record time and sales, as well as market depth. To adjust bar width and space between the bars, right click on a chart and choose chart parameters. There is so much that is adjustable that going to a couple of the Hotcomm sessions might be very useful.
The advanced charts, such as Volume Analysis, are not available in the $50/month Standard version, but require the $200/month Professional version. (discounts are available by paying 6 months in advance) I have worked with a lot of stored data and have never encountered files this large. I'm not convinced that they need to be so large.
Brooks, I"m no expert from a tech standpoint, but I'm wondering if the data files you've looked at are capturing T&S, and market depth? MD takes up quite a bit of space I believe.
bundle, I'm sure you are right about MD but many traders trade off 1 or 5 minute bars so this is overkill. A 66 MB+ file is difficult to work with. It is slow to download, takes up a lot of room, can make a program using it run slow, can cause memory problems in Windows, etc. Brooks
ive used trademaven and i definately would not use trademaven for charting. its main purpose in for entering and exiting the market. i really don't like trademaven. i consider it a worthless product for the money. in a simple statement, "only one strategy per symbol running at the same time" makes it not worth it at all. i would never use them again unless they get that situation fixed