can someone please outline the advantages of X trader over J trader for a non scalper ?? is there any, or is X trader simply marketing hype ?? i have spoken to several traders who believe X trader is way over hyped and is not better for non scalpers than J trader. can someone please outline the REAL advantages ? thanks ! surfer
wow, no one is able to list the advantages of X trader over J trader for a non scalping trader ?? awaiting..... best, surfer
Hey Surfer, There are three main reasons a person would want to use X_Trader instead of J-Trader. 1. The trader is a serious scalper (as you already mentioned). X_Trader is reputed to be a fraction of a second faster than J-Trader. 2. The trader is a high-volume futures trader. Even though you pay anywhere from $500 to $700 a month for the X_Trader platform, your per-contract RT commissions are lower since you are not paying the per-transaction J-Trader fee. Your rates are likely to be around 70c less per RT with X_TRader, so if you are doing over 700 contracts a month it actually saves you money to use X-trader. 3. X_Trader has auto-spreader and marketmaking features that J-Trader doesn't have. But the bottom line is that unless you are a scalper and/or a high volume trader, you are probably better off using J-Trader. In terms of function (such as the ability to place orders on a DOME - depth of market- screen) they are pretty similar. Best, Joe
Hi, I got hold of the x-trader API software manual and liked it. I am running a fully automated TWS-API trading setup right now and wanted to do some testing with x-trader. In fact, switching the system from TWS to x-trader would require mainly some interface reprogramming. A major obstacle seems to be the very difficult access to any kind of a testing system. The TWS demo allows you to basically do all your software testing, except for realistic trading experience of course. With x-trader, it seems you have to pay a hefty $2000 up front fee to have a server connection set up. Another pain in the neck is their insistence on a fixed IP address. For security reasons we designed our firewall protection around dynamic IP addresses and are not going to change this too quickly. From taking a look at the x-trader webforum, not much participation seems to take place. Possibly I am wrong in these tentative conclusions. Can an experienced x-trader tell us some more? Thank you for commenting, nononsense
Hi, I also looked at J-trader API docs. I found these confusing and needlessly complicated. I also did not like the idea of having to submit a candidate application to an open ended kind of exam. For each try you have to pay a fee. Also a stiff fee is required to simply get the paper docs. I have no real experience with either x-trader or j-trader though. I would immediately give x-trader a try if I would find a reasonable way to set up a test. I refuse to pay anything though before I have been able to test things to my satisfaction. nononsense
Boomer, For J-Trader: http://www.patsystems.com/ To get the API software and docs, they used to ask about $1500. I couldn't quickly find this info anymore, it seems to be hidden. They have an online orderform with credit card payment. The API validation test costs $500. If you require it, additional test time costs $200 an hour! For X-trader: http://www.tradingtechnologies.com/ The cost of the API is not too clear to me. They will send you a license agreement at no cost for testing. However this agreement also seems to imply a $2000 charge for setting up a server connection. As to the monthly rental this hovers between $0 and about $1000 depending on the broker and the monthly volume. All I can say is that trying to do a quick API test with either of them seems to be ridiculously involved compared to IB. Of course, it would give you lower commissions if you can get up to volume. Be good, nononsense
what is the cost of ib platform. i have never looked at the prices of platforms, just the commish. thanks for your help. and also, what is a api test?