Has anyone got any experience in using CQG's electronic trading system? I will be trading Eurex, Euronext LIFFE and CBOT contracts. What are the pros / cons. Thanks in advance.
I presume you are talking about CQGTrader? I've used it and it's a simple DOME interface. The biggest thing it has going for it is simplicity and excellent reliability. The downside is that it's quite limited in features. Order placement and manipulation is 100% manual. I just switched to the Trademaven platform for advanced functionality pertaining to order placement and manipulation. So it depends how you trade and what is important to you. If you are trading fast moving markets for quick daytrade profits then I suspect TradeMaven will be better for your needs.
Thanks for that. I trade intraday but don't scalp for a tick so I don't do a lot of inputing or changing of orders once they are in the market. I will have a look at Trademaven though. Thanks again.
You can always start with CQGTrader and see how you get on. If it meets your needs then it's an excellent platform reliability wise. One other factor is cost. My broker charges $0.50 more per round turn to use CQGTrader but then there is no platform fee. TradeMaven costs $50/month but then my round turn is $4.50. So depending on your broker and activity level, price might also be a factor. Changing platforms at my broker http://www.proactivefutures.com/ is simple and done from one day to the next. As I say, I migrated towards TradeMaven because I trade the ER2 on a 1 minute chart and I just wasn't able to get my orders off fast enough nor move them fast enough with CQGTrader. But that is not to knock CQGTrader because frankly they offer the most solid datafeed in the industry. It all comes down to how you trade as to which is the better platform for your particular needs. I like the peace of mind that comes with using order strategies in TradeMaven. I can put a trade on and know that orders will be canceled and/or moved automatically. I never have to worry that "oh my target is hit, I must now cancel the stop". TradeMaven does all that stuff automatically.
Check out Velocity Futures, they are exclusivly Trading Technologies X-Trader, the best platform out there many say. The commissions are $3.75, plus a platform fee of $500, a E-MINI and the platform is basically free of you trade 12 and a half contracts a day to save the normal "FREE" use of X-Trader when the commission is $5.75 a pop. Thus it is essentally free if you trade a minimun of 12 1/2 contracts a day... This a great if you are a e-mini guy/gal.