as suggested in the redi plus thread, i would like to start a new thread concerning virtual trader. i would like to hear from anyone that has experience using this platform. any and all comments(good or bad) are appreciated!!!!
The big problem with this platform is the charting. I'm comparing it to Real Tick charting, where you can customize it any way you want to. Anyway, here is a list of the problems I have with the charting. 1)You can't have more charts than level 2 boxes. You can only get a chart if it's linked to a level 2 box. 2)You can't pull up a one or two day chart. For example, if you want a 5-minute two day chart, you have to adjust the size column until you get it to where you want it. And changing from one symbol to another can change the overall duration of the chart. 3)Unless there is an obvious gap from one day to the next, it's hard to tell where the close from yesterday is vs. today's open. 4)The time stamps at the bottom are arbitrary. Instead of having a mark every 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or some other round number, they are always odd numbers. For example, you might see times at the bottom 10:51, 11:02, 11:13, etc. 5)There is no scroll feature on the bottom. 6)You can't zoom in to a specific portion of the chart. There may be some other problems, but these are the only ones I can remember right now.
VTS is a very good execution platform, and as I have been on it for over a year I have noticed that it continually improves and is a lot different than it was a few years ago. The main advantage and/or disadvantage with the platform is dependent on what firm you are with. VTS actually licenses out the software so firms can actually run it from their own servers and utilize their own connections. This is much different than how Realtick or Redi Plus and most other platforms work. With those platforms all the Realtick users log into and use the Realtick servers, the Redi Plus users all use Spear Leeds and Kellog's (SLK) servers, no matter what firm you are with that uses the platform. So while the firm you are with may not grow, if SLK signs up 2000 more users for Redi, they must make sure that they upgrade their systems if need be or everyone suffers. This is why so many Redi users are complaining. Many many people love VTS, and some people have had bad experiences. The reason is not with the software, but with the firm who has licensed it. VTS does not do any order routing themselves. So the speed and reliability of the system is completely tied to what firm is using it. Do they have good connections? Do they have a co-located redundant T1 or T3 server farm with direct links to SuperDOT and ECN's, or are they running it on crappy servers with a link to ISI or some other third party execution firm? This is the homework you will have to do before you trade on VTS. This explains why some people think Redi is better, and for some people you could not pry VTS out of their cold, dead hands.
thanks mjt and traderjimr!!!!! great post/replies. i'm going to give "virtual" a try and i'll post my experiences in the future. i already have a good data provider so i'm mainly concerned with order entry. (speed and reliability)
This is exactly why most traders hate it - limited charting and unreliable backbone! Non of the firms that offer it have sufficient server banks with guaranteed redundancy. If you were to give Zhu's software a try, I suggest you do it with http://www.tradeportal.com Merrick (thw owner) is a class act, and he really cares about his customers. Bill
My comments are inside the quotes. There was another post about it being unreliable. Well that depends on the sever it's on. Virtual Trader/Frontend is licensed out to different brokers. My firm has had different updates added to it. It is also on our servers, most firms don't have anywhere near the reliablilty of what I'm using or the speed from what I've seen/been told. SO I guess you would have to hear about this software from different brokers. Sniper that isn't true--You said "NONE" of the firms but...... you are mistaken. My firm spent a few million to get/have a stable, fast system with Virtual Trader. If the owners/managers are real traders and use their software than they have an incentive to invest in their servers. MJT which broker did you use this particular software on?
rhtarp I realize you can get one minute charts. What I meant was that you can't just pull up a chart that's one day long, 2 days long, etc. Most platforms allow you to do that. Instead, you have to tweak the chart until you get it approximately the length of a day. Then if you switch to a chart that's not traded as heavily, the settings may be different. And I have to tweak the numbers again. For example, if I'm looking at MSFT, and I find the settings that will show approximately 2 days of data on a chart, and then switch to a less liquid stock, I will no longer have 2 days of data; maybe it will be a day and a half, maybe 2 and a half days; I can't remember. I just found this all very frustrating and distracting. I used EXPTrader; the parent company is InvestIN. I used them because they have NQDS quotes. I didn't really notice any difference in quote speed when comparing it side by side with other platforms, however.
Sniper- I am intimately familiar with all of the current software packages as I have been involved in the development and code writing of some of them. I also research all of them and try to use as many as possible to help me in my own development efforts. I currently maintain multiple accounts. I have a Redi Plus account, a Realtick acount, and a VTS account (and others). I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that the VTS account I maintain has by far the fastest executions and most reliable connection of the bunch. But, again, I did my homework, as you should someday, into what VTS firms truly had good connections and actually saw them myself first. Your blanket statement that NO firms maintain good conections is absolutely false and misleading. Please research your comments before posting them. FYI - The VTS account I maintain is with Echotrade, I have seen with my own eyes the server banks they have in Chicago, and from my extensive knowledge of computers and connections can reasonably say that I don't think anyone has better equipment or connections than these guys do. That is why I choose to trade here. I have found that of all my accounts, when the market is really moving and I am doing serious trading, I close the other programs and am solely clicking in VTS. They have redundant T1's to the exchanges and the ECN's, they even go so far as to make sure the T1's are either no-hop or single-hop connections. Their network is on a multiple T3 cloud infrastructure that is co-located in New York and Chicago. Everything is redundant, which they explain is why they chose Echo as the name. So while some places may have not utilized the full potential of VTS by being cheap on the servers and connections, please realize that there are some firms that do it right. But don't be afraid to go down the list of VTS firms and ask them how they have set it up. Just so you know though, I do use AT for my charts because the VTS charts are pretty bad. But for the speed of execution I get with VTS, the second computer I have running AT gets paid for daily.