Hi, With the rise of Algos and spoofing, do these platforms really give you an edge or better insight to what is really going on. How accurate do you think this is? I wonder if this kind of software will be the new norm. Thank you
Just ask yourself: When has a piece of software that is available to the public for a couple of bucks ever given an edge to anybody?
TT's XTrader is available to the public... Are you saying that no trader ever profited from it? And that nothing that it does could ever be improved upon?
No I'm not saying that. I said there is no edge in a frontend. There are good frontends and there are bad ones, frontends that suit you and frontends that don't. But there is no software that makes you profitable once you use it...and that's what edge means. X_Trader doesn't give you edge either if you will
So let's get this right - you could trade off a front end that gave you nothing but a black screen - no prices, no bids. no offers - just an audible flat beep when a trade occurs? Do you not require any information to make a trade yourself?
Well...I don't know if you misunderstand me on purpose...my wife sometimes does this. A frontend is a freaking tool. Just like a hammer. There are good hammers and there are bad hammers. You describe a broken hammer. And yes, if you use a normal hammer over a broken hammer, you have an advantage. But since a hammer - and even the best hammer in the world - is only a couple of bucks, everybody uses the best hammer, so nobody has an advantage over everybody else. So the information provided by Jigsaw is no different than provided by any other program out there. It's bids and offers and trades. Does it look different or does it display information in another way? Yes it does. But it's still the same information. It doesn't matter how much marketing caboodle you wrap around bids/offers/trades, it's still just bids/offers/trades. Jigsaw probably makes it easier to read, but if you spend enough time in front of the ladder, you don't need crutches anymore. That's my point of view. BUT lets say your software provides an advantage over other market participants...everything I have to do is spend 600$ (19 ZB ticks) and I'm even with the other guys. EDGE means I can do/have something that nobody else can do/have. It's not like you buy colo + a couple of microwave towers and boom: boats and hoes money. Come on dude, I know you're a vendor and you want to promote your product, but at least keep the discussion objective.
What you have there is an opinion. That somehow trading is a very unique endeavor - that has come to an end and cannot be improved upon. That although bids/offers and trades are important, there is nothing that could ever be invented that makes it easier to read them, process them, use them to make decisions. At what point did this become fact? After the original DOM? After footprint charts? Perhaps you could educate us at what point trading was 'done'. Being objective, you should be able to clarify that for everyone. If not, then perhaps there is still room for improvement in trading. I think there is - that is my opinion.
Futures markets are centralized. Data is also cheap. It's easy for all participants to see the same data. Equity markets are a different story though. They're fragmented/ decentralized , so if you want full order book data from each exchange/ ECN you're going to be spending $1000s per month for a decent amount of symbols. Not many retail punters can afford that, and not many insto clients are going to waste there time looking at visual heat maps. So IMO in terms of visualization tools, there's more likely to be an edge in equities .
Well - there is a downside there... I have a friend that has a desk in an equities prop firm and a lot of the time they have to go "fishing" to see what depth is there in the first place.... So I think there's a lot of depth that cannot be visualized. Saying that - the value of market depth information has been massively overrated in the past few years. We've seen 'respected' educators telling people "if you see large bids, buy in front of them" - which is a terrible strategy. Still - it fits the bill of what a lot of retail traders want - a one line, one rule trading strategy.