TT is a great front end, but their charts (x-study) stink. Not only are they the most basic charts i've ever seen, but you're lucky if you don't get serious holes in your data. Just about everyone I know using TT to execute trades is using CQG for charts. This means you are spending a minimum of $750 for basic TT single market and $600 per month for CQG charts. this also means you are using more than one computerm 1 for cqg, 1 for TT. I have been seriously considering the move to CQG Integrated. Anyone have an idea of what 1 market on CQG integrated client (charts and DOM) would cost per month?
Advantage Futures has the pricing as: $795 a month for CQG integrated client. $395 a month for CQG trader.
Do you need more than 100k in your account to justify these costs? Thoughts on minimum account size? I have used CQG for 4 years, but that was when the firm paid the fees. Seemed very clean.
At Advantage Futures the cost is $25.00 per month plus $0.25 per contract and capped at $395 per month. I just stated the maximum cost because I figured anyone paying up for a platform would be doing volume.
Whatever you are paying for your CQG charting package for $200/month more you will get an ability to trade on all of the exchanges/markets you are interested in. There is no per-transaction or filled lot fee, so trade as little or as much as you like. Another point is that once you turn your CQG into trading terminal you will not have to pay exchange fees on the exchanges you are able to trade. So, depending on number of markets you are trading you may save yourself some money.
I am a new, marginally profitable trader using NQ's $5 tick to learn to swing intraday. I use X-Trader, pay a high per contract surcharge -- costs me under $100 monthly at current low volume -- and am restricted to CME. About nine minutes into my paper trading a year ago I realized X had a charting capability that was, to be kind, sub par. To their credit when I called to ask if I was using it wrong they told me most of their clients used separate charting packages from other vendors. I put up Sierra Charts with Barchart Data on the screen and it was surely adequate for someone at my level at that time. Since NQ moves slowly compared to ES I am able to watch Sierra's Time and Sales through the session. While calling me a tape (or T&S) reader would be like comparing a high school ball player with a Super Star, I am surprised by what I see and how it has helped when me when one particular "quirk" happens. Not often but just often enough that if I can find one or two other quirks that are as reliable I will be very pleased. A bit of observation has shown me the quirl exists in ES and E6 as well. Remember, what appears as a startling revelation to me may well be just how every pro knows it works. The Time and Sales I see on X with TT's feed is sometimes faster than Sierra but I can't use it because at times they seem to aggregate trades. Sierra gives me Time and Sales cleaner but not as fast as I would like. The only other option that Sierra offers me that might work is the DTN feed. It is a bit more coin than Barcharts but not so much more that I would bother to even think about it -- IF IT SOLVES THE PROBLEM. Sierra's charts work for me unless they are the T&S problem not the feed. I pay them month to month and I'm not married to them. I'm not yet ready take CQG's comprehensive solution. With only one exchange fee to pay their $600 bite is way to big for me at this stage. The truth is I am already the guy with the two piece cue who is not sure which end to use. Can't stand working with bad tools so I am ready to consider any charting data configuration that costs me up to about $200 monthly including the $55 CME data charge. Right now my cost for data and charting is under $130 monthly and, of course, no monthly hit for X-Trader. Please don't tell me to go to IB or Ameritrade or wherever. I am only willing to change the data provider and/or charting packages. Comments, ideas and/or suggestions?