trading software

Hi, Ive recently started reading up on trading. Id like to know how the trading systems such as Metastock work. Someone offered to sell me his used Metastock 9.
Id like to know if the program will give me real time streaming data that can be directly applied to charts. Is there some subscription monthly fee for the Metastock ?
Finally is the live data feed free, or do I have to sign up with someone else for another monthly fee for data to be sent to MetaStock.
Thanks

 

There are 2 versions of MS, MS EOD and MS PRO, only pro will do realtime so be sure that's the one you're buying.

There are several data vendors for MS, just google "Metastock realtime data" or some variation of that, or go to the equis.com site for info. You may also want to check out the Yahoo MetaStock forum, a great place for info and to ask questions:

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/equismetastock/

For free data you can use a free 3rd party program like HyperTrader Lite to get data from some brokers if you have an account w/them, such as Interactive Brokers.

You can get free rt forex data into MS using MetaQuotes (not MetaTrader, unless you use HyperServer Lite).

H

 

Oh yeah, I don't know how much you're paying for MS, but you might also want to check out AmiBroker as cheaper alternative to MS. It's a great charting program for the price. More info at their site:

http://amibroker.com/

And the Yahoo group:

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/amibroker/

H

 

Thanks a lot for the reply.
Will metastock support Ameritrade Canada? Im sure you probably dont know so I will try to find out.
I heard about quotetracker, a free platform. It seems it is pretty sufficient for a beginner. Any opinions on it?

 

QuoteTracker is a great program. Here's a thread:

http://elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36373

As for Ameritrade, you probably need to find out if Hyperserver Lite will work w/it and feed the data to MS. Again, the best place for MS queries would be the Yahoo group.

H

 

make sure the metastock is transferable
or you may not be able to use it.

 

Yes, that's an excellent point. MS has some odd licensing standards. I almost certain you won't qualify for upgrades and fixes, but I'm not sure about that.

H

 

Thanks a lot for you help! Im gonna try quotetracker first.