Okay, I'll try this, again. Would either of you guys or anyone else care to elaborate on the specific problems and/or experiences youâve had with VTS? Thanks in advance. P.S. My original post disappeared. Was I doing something wrong?
It didn't disappear; it's still there under the Brokers section of the forum. It dropped off the front page because other discussions had more recent posts and pushed your topic down. Anyway, I'd also like to know why VTS is bad.
It can't be that bad, there are daytradingstocks.com shows that 34 different companies use it. http://www.daytradingstocks.com/daytradingbrokerssoftware.html It shows that it is number 2, only Realtick leads it with 47 firms using it. Julie
Here you go, might as well try for yourself: Trade Portal says about VTS "Get the TradePortal Advantage! Use One of the Industry's Most Powerful Charting and Decision Support Tools." They also let you demo it for free. http://www.tradeportal.com/ Hope that helps Julie
This if from a previous post by myself. If you would have read the other posts about VTS you would get your questions answered: "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." The link is: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=1403 I am very happy trading on it. FYI-Some guys at Echo also trade on First Alert, that one is very good too, if you still want to trade at Echo but for some reason don't like VTS, you should check into that option. -Jim
Jeez, your right. I completely missed it. Thanks to both you and Julie for the reponses. Thanks for the implication JimR. I had read your previous post, but I was also hoping to get a more detailed critique from the two dissatisfied customers. In the future, I'll mention how informed I may or may not be. Thanks for your feedback.
I have been away for a few days and I believe Sniper went to Europe...I don't think either of us meant to post an opinion and then not respond to requests for elaboration. Having said that, I prefer not to be an extreme software basher by proceeding to list all the reasons I do not like VTS. The reality is I think it is a sub-par platform. If you are doing just a couple of trades a day, perhaps it can suffice. But if you are an active trader, it simply does not do the job IMO. I have no axe to grind or any reason to discount its value, in fact it is currently one of the platforms available through my training site via our affiliations with 2 different DAT brokers. The thing I thought was so strange was that a prop shop- which I assume is catering to highly active traders-would choose this platform as anyone in this class should simply have more efficient order entry capabilities, again IMO. I would also like to ask RTHARP if he is executing off the VTS platform as an ECHO trader and if so how he feels it performs if/when employing a highly active trading style.
Tradecourse, I'm curious why you feel you cannot trade actively on it. How long ago did you trade on VTS? I was in Echo's Chicago office for a few weeks, and sat by a guy that was doing over 2000 trades a day on it. He would average 1,000,000 shares a day, sometimes a lot more. That guy clicks like a maniac, and he loves VTS. I think RTharp and almost everyone at Echo knows that guy too. That guy and myself used to be full-time on Redi, and for us this is a massive improvement. The charts suck, I don't think you could find anyone that would disagree with that, and I wish the buy and sell buttons were closer together. But for sheer speed I can find no equal. I don't know if this is just because Echo doesn't go through ISI, but has direct connections. I trade 100,000 to 200,000 shares a day on it, and I love it. I am curious how many more shares someone needs to trade on it before it doesn't work for them. What platform do you use? -Jim
http://elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=1403--thread on Virtual trader thread on auto execution http://elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=1403 Jim I have never met M_____ but have heard about him. Hey email me so we can also chat on instant messanger like a lot of other traders at Echo do. VTS does have hot keys that can be programmed into it. 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. " I am one of the traders who LOVE VTS or Echotrader. I have never had problems with it. My system in the last 7 months has been down 4 times, once with a cable line, twice was the DOT system not me, and the final time was with my clearing firm all the remote traders went down but never VTS having a problem. In fact I can call Echo and suggest improvements which quite a few have been added. Try that with IB. I think one of the best examples is the firm's owner who tends to outtrade everyone. He trades usually over 300,000 shares a day. He executes off of Echotrader, frontend or VTS whatever you want to call it. It depends on the servers behind it. Charting could be better but I keep things simple and won't complain about them. rtharp
The solid connectivity is great, but my main concern is the order entry. I tried out the TradePortal demo that JulieFL99 was so kind to mention. I'm not sure how similar it is to ECHOTrader (ET), but here's what I see in TradePortal Version 2.74 (TP): * It has specific routes to ISLD, ARCA, SNET, SOES, MASH and HRZG. A dropdown in the Level II box also lists DOT. ET's FAQ page also mentions INCA and AMEX. What about REDI, BRUT, and BTRD? I guess those go through SNET but direct connections would be faster. * There are configurable hotkeys for all of TP's routes, with buying and selling at the bid and offer, plus and minus (improves the bid or offer by 0.001), limit and market for Soes, fill, all and quantity all for SNET (not sure what these do), smart orders, plus keys for cancelling orders, loading your positions and simulating pressing the buy, sell and short buttons. * The smart order is the standard get-the-best-price order using ECNs and MMs. The help file makes a point of saying that the smart order always executes at the inside and never outside the market. The smart order is not configurable to exclude MMs. I'm not sure what it does now in the SuperSoes era. Can you ET users tell me what it does now? The order entry doesn't seem to do what I want, so now I'm rethinking signing up with ECHO. As I've mentioned in other threads, I want to type a symbol, set the number of shares, set a limit price and then hit a hotkey to get me shares within that limit, without regard to getting the "best price". That's it! Ideally, I'd want to set the limit using the keyboard, but it's probably faster to click a price in Level II. I would want the order to disregard MMs on the inside and go for the best ECNs. With SuperSoes here now, I would want to decide for myself whether I want to Soes MMs or grab ECNs, so I'll just choose between a Soes order or a smart order. Does ET have better order entry than what I see on TP? I only looked at TP for about an hour. I don't want to see an ECN near the ask and try to remember which hotkey to press to hit it. I just want to remember one key (well, maybe two with SuperSoes) that will send an order that figures out which ECN(s) to hit. How do you traders on ET send out orders quickly? Maybe you can convince me that ET is quick enough.