I have been using TradeStation for about three months. I have been very disappointed in the way it handles (or more correctly - doesn't handle) tick data. Very little tick data is available. It appears that using third party tick data is difficult, to say the least (I am trying to purchase tick data now, but am learning there are compatibility issues and that the purchased tick data must somehow be loaded onto the TS global server). Anyway, can someone tell me of MetaStock handles tick data better. Also, does MetaStock use EasyLangage (since I have spent several month learning EasyLanguage and my test strategies are all coded in it). I don't need to hear from AmiBroker sells people. I tried it about a year ago and it could only handle 500 data points, which is completely senseless for tick data. Thanks, Norm
Metastock uses metastock language which is not as good especially with trading systems. Many things that can be done in ts are not possible in metastock. As for tick data, I'm not 100% sure but I believe it only handles minute bars?
Metastock stores 65,500 lines of data, be they daily bars, minutes or ticks. I have 4 tick charts running in Metastock and they work fine. The software itself is not that good but it handles tick charts quite well.
I would like to be able to use about one year of tick data for each test. Can anyone recommed a system that readily facilitates this?
Norm - The only thing I can think of is an online data provider where they'll send it to you on a CD or download it in a zip file. In Metastock you'd have to break the data down to 65k line files or else it'll ignore anything >65k.
I just opened up my ES tickfile and the first line was yesterday at 9:03am ET. I collect data from 8:00-4:15pm ET so that gives you an idea how little data is stored. Today was a heavy day remind you but you can see you're lucky to retain 2 days of ticks in MS. Hope this helps.
Norm, Metatstock will have much more limitations than TS. I use TS2000 and my amount of data is unlimited. I had several years of tickdata from the ES, but i threw it away unfortunately. It was a huge file and i didn't needeed him anymore. Don't change TS for Metatstock. To me it's like trading in a BMW for a Daihatsu.
Spike500 , Can you tell me how you managed to accumulate so much tick data. When I queried TS support about this, they only responded by saying that it was possible and that I pretty much had to figure it out for myself (such as by scouring the TS discussing forums). Also, does TS have any real tech support for EasyLanguage. It's my understanding that the only support that my $100 per month buys is the online discussion group, which takes several days and then usually only provide a very cursory response. I would think that for $100 per month, that TS could let me actually talk to someone. Norm