Hello, firstly excuse my poor english, I am French. have you some experiences with the automatical sending orders in TS ? I would like to know if this system is efficient (having less slippages?) and reliable in a long period. Thanks for reading and response me.
I have been using TS6 for about 6 weeks. Find executions fast and slippage minimal. Don't know how it compares to IB since I haven't used IB. I have no complaints with TS6 and like their integrated platform.
Thanks Traderbob. i know some trader who prefer having both platform : TS6 for the charts and strategies and IB for trading; like that, he can watch the price from two origin , and if TS6 (for exemple) is disconnected, he can close his positions in IB or hold them if prices follow in good direction, until TS6 is reconnected. It was the sense of the thread tittle (TS6+IB or TS 6 alone) what do you do in case of disconnection , not from internet but from the TS server? can you phone and close quickly your positions?
Tradestation has different toll free numbers for each support area they have. They have two different numbers for their trading desk. I use cable and have never had a lost connection or have the system freeze. When I first started using TS, I had to call the trading desk a couple of times with questions relating to specific trades and got through in a matter of seconds. The other day, the power went off in my area after I opened a position. I called their trading desk, got through in about 15 seconds and placed a sell stop order with no problem. So far I am very pleased with the level of support provided by the TS folks. It is obvious that they are trying to go the extra mile to provide a high level of support. My only reservation is with the EasyLanguage support group. They act like the priveleged when talking to clients and its not at all clear when the meter starts running (at $150/hr) on their support charge. Having both TS6 and IB is not a bad idea. As long as TS reliability remains high and execution speed remains fast, I'll use TS6 exclusively. Their charts are as good or better as AT Financial that I used in a trading office.
Fohat, As I understand it IB is .01/share and TS is .012/share. TS is fully integrated (point and click) where IB is preload (type alot of stuff which takes time) and then transmit. I'm a Realtick user, and I have considered IB, but I just don't want to give up the integrated order entry. At .002 cents extra for TS, why would you use IB? Mike
Bullfighter wrote: At .002 cents extra for TS, why would you use IB? Answer: First, those .002 cents are 20% higher commission. Second, A closer look at commissions charges reveals that : IB = 1cent/share for the first 500 shares of the order, 1/2 cent/share unlimited TS6 = 1.2cent/share for the first 1500 shares, 3/4cent/share for 1500-5000 part of the order, 2cent/share for 5000+ Therefore, for up to 500 shares TS6 is 20% more expensive, for 1500 shares TS6 is 80% more expensive than IB, for 5000 shares TS6 is 185% more expensive, for over 5000 shares TS6 is close to 300% more expensive. That's a big difference. A daytrader will probably trade on average 500-1500 shares per order, that means that he'll have to pay 20%-80% more in commissions by using TS6 instead of IB. It makes no sense to the bottomline to pay on average 50% more in commissions to TS6, better use IB and save those 50%. IB order entry is integrated. There'll be even more option for integration when quotetracker/qcharts integrate with IB. QT allows also an ECN and Level2 point&click order entry. IB is not only point and click, but using hotkeys is even faster. Ther's no need to type "a lot of stuff", only the stock/futures symbol and point and click or use hotkeys after that . How is that different from typing a symbol in TS6 or Realtick? there's no difference. Speaking of speed, TS6 lacks windows linking, that means that if you want to see multiple charts for the same symbol, you have to manually type the symbol for each chart. How's that for slow? Considering all the above, why should I pay 50% more in TS6 commsions? It's better to use IB for trading and TS6 as a backup broker and save those 50%. On my list TS6 is the second best retail EDAT broker after IB. Fohat
If you're scalping in the old-fashioned way (does anyone do that anymore?), then, those percentages can certainly turn into real money, but if you're not doing 20+ trades a day, then it's not a huge difference. I max out at around 10 trades a day - such as today. I would have saved about $20 using IB instead of TS. I know, I know - it adds up, but for me it's value for money: I don't use TS on "full auto," and wouldn't, but I do use semi-automatic features (i.e., pattern-generated and similar signals producing ready-to-go orders) as well as several of the "advanced" order features. Some will find such features well worth the (arguably) small extra costs. Add in the full, highly customizable charting package, the extent and general reliability of the data, and the convenience of an integrated platform, and it's not really hard for me, to resist the allure of IB's commissions. On those subjects, it seems like there've been a lot of complaints registered on this site about IB's dependability - and about Qcharts, too, since you mention it - and, while we're at it, don't forget to add data and other fees into your total calculations. That's not to say that TS is perfect - don't know of an OLB or software vendor that is. Definitely helps to learn a few tricks for getting past some infrequent but still annoying problems. Also, as I've stated before in other places, though TS 6 remains a step behind RealTick and CyberTrader for certain purposes, or at least for certain common trading styles (ones that place a premium on hot keys, fully functional point-and-click symbol entry, etc.), there are ways to compensate for the deficiencies. It's not true, for instance, that you need to type a new symbol chart by chart every time you want to change views: You can use the "global" command or, better, you can set up multiple, ready to go workspaces (symbol by symbol or otherwise). It doesn't work like RT or CT, but in some ways it's faster - and can make it a lot easier, for instance, to keep your eye on a number of different trade possibilities "at once." TS promises that the upcoming TS7 upgrade will address such issues more directly, but, until then, whether or not it's preferable will still depend on the trader and the trading style. I'm not trying to persuade you to switch: For all I know, there would no advantages for you, just inconveniences and extra costs, as you've indicated.