Just left a firm and now I'm trying to trade on my own. I'm using IB as my broker. For charting and order entry, they are terrible. I knew this going in. I got IB b/c they have lots of shorts available + their commission and executions are said to be good. My plan was to just get some other software for charts + order entry. I went with Esignal b/c they are supposed to be the biggest + best. Well they don't have what I need. My problems with esignal were just the order entry (it's also quite pricey). by the way - I trade only US equities intraday What i need: 1- charting: basic candlestick charting. (volume by price and custom vwap would be a huge plus) I'd also like to easily add alerts with hotkeys. I'd like to set alerts based on lines i draw on the chart and pullback alerts. (my old software I'd just set a stop buy/sell but have it trigger as an alert rather than an executable order) and i'd like to view all the alerts i have set easily (sort them by how far away they are from triggering) 2- level 2 box i need it to show all the level 2 market data (arca, brut, nyse, etc etc) but esignal only lets you see 1 type at a time. For instance, if i am viewing "nasdaq totalview" in the level 2, i can't view any bids/offers from arcabook/nyse on the level 2. 3- order entry/submission I'd like to trade off the level 2 box. I want to be able to press a hotkey, and have my order entry window pop up and then i can manually (with hotkeys) enter my price, size, routing, and order type). Esignal can kind of do this but the display for it is very big/bulky and a window pops up with all the details (routing, etc) but I want to be able to hit my hotkey and have it execute immediately (i'm a scalper/momentum trader and need the speed). Does anyone know a broker or software that will do all this for me? I'm thinking about switching to lightspeed b/c I think they can do all this? am i right/wrong here? thanks
No doubt IB's charting is totally unsuitable, but if you're trading off the DOM, what's wrong with Booktrader? Buttontrader is another alternative. But my style is different and I'm not sure if these have the functionality you're after. Personally I use Ninjatrader for charting/order entry (trade off the charts) and esignal for data. NT has its own problems with stability and making use of tick data, but it gets the job done. There are new versions of NT and the ESignal software (NT7 and ESig 11) coming out "soon," I'd expect by midyear, both of which are supposed to be very major updates that resolve some of the longstanding issues in both programs. I think NT7 in particular is introducing very flexible hotkey functionality. Personally I plan to try both.
spec, i was talking about something like this: where i could click on the level 2, type in a symbol and press enter and it would link up to my charts and change the level 2 box immediately to that symbol. I would also like to hit a hotkey and be able to submit an order via the level 2 box. (e.g- hit F12 and a small window at the bottom of the level 2 pops up with routing, price, size, order type... which all could be filled out by hotkeys as well). I've looked at the options you've mentioned and they aren't what I'm looking for.
Lightspeed should do everything you want. I am happy with them. Tradestation ? (no experience with them)
Thanks for the replies. Literally all I've been doing for the past few days is trying to figure this crap out. I've compiled a list of all possible platforms that will do this for me and so far I have: anvil - waiting on email. Not sure if individual trader can use this. sterling - testing demo as we speak. They didnt answer my email so I'm not sure if I can use this with IB or as an individual trader. They just sent me the demo genesis laser - emailed. Not sure if individual can use this or if I can use it with IB. rediplus - emailed me saying not available to individual traders realtick - waiting on email. Seems kind of expensive (couldnt find an exact quote but their website says 300-650 for realtick pro) omnipro - emailed. Not sure if individual trader can use this. axispro - emailed. Not sure if individual trader can use this. trade station - read a review saying order entry was poor. If you want to revise your order by 1 penny you have to go through a few cascading windows. I would also have to buy their data which is an extra 20/mo, on top of the 250/mo fee for the software lightspeed i just got their demo and I'm messing around on it. Everything looks great except for the charts (haven't investigated the alerts yet). I would like the option of adding a few more things to them (stoch, vwap, vol by price, cleaner looking fib's). They did say they work with esignal charts and I can link my level 2 to their charts. I would also have to use them as my broker and that's a huge negative for me. I would like to stay with IB b/c they are supposed to have the best shorts available AND the commissions are much lower. With IB i pay .0035/share if I'm less than 300k shares/mo and .002 if I'm more than 300k/mo. LS is .004/share, but if I trade 500k+ I'm at .00325-.0035. That means, less than 300k I save 100$/mo with IB, and more than 300k I save ~900$/mo. So I'm trying to stay with IB at all costs As for charting: sierra charts- have everything I need as far as charting + alerts + works with IB and they are at a good price ($27). Their order entry/submission does not even come close to what I need though.Only thing is that I would like to link my level 2 window with the chart so if I type in a symbol into the level 2, it will update my charts I have linked with that symbol. I guess I could just click and type into both the level 2 and the chart; however, I trade momentum and news plays sometimes so that lag time could end up being costly. for charting all I really need is: MA's vwap fib's stoch cci alerts to go off by lines I draw on chart compatibility with IB and whichever trade submission platform I use (listed above) bonus: vol by price thx for the replies/help!
Figured I'd update, changes in bold In the end: switching from IB to LS. Sucks b/c higher commiss + not as good shorts but I simply can't trade without a good execution/submission platform. LS's platform has everything I need, except the charts are lacking in a few areas (no stoch, no trend line alerts). They do work with esignal but I dont need the charts that bad to pay 150/mo for them i plan on getting sierra charts and typing in the symbol in both LS level 2 + the chart window. It will slow me down some but shouldnt be too big of a deal...and if it is, i'll just buy esignal. Thoughts? concerns?
Did you have a look at NeoTicker? I know it works with IB (although I use it with MBT), and chart wise, it can do pretty much everything. http://www.tickquest.com/?page_id=18 There's a demo limited to a number of concurrent windows.