Looking for a right charting package

[asdfg123]

I am looking for a right charting package. I need live data for American and European index futures such as eminis, DAX, DJ EuStoxx50, FTSE-100 and CAC-40. EOD & historical data of the relevant index are also preferable.

I only need price, volume and time&sales, so fancy indicators are not necessary, but the charts should be interactive and user friendly.

Any suggestions?

 

[Charlton]

Try looking first at broker's platform and included charts and datafeeds

I am looking for a right charting package. I need live data for American and European index futures such as eminis, DAX, DJ EuStoxx50, FTSE-100 and CAC-40. EOD & historical data of the relevant index are also preferable.

I only need price, volume and time&sales, so fancy indicators are not necessary, but the charts should be interactive and user friendly.

Any suggestions?

You specified that you don't want fancy indicators, just basic stuff. Virtually any charting package or broker's platform will provide this. I think you need to concentrate in that case on the data feed itself.

I use Interactive Brokers and their data feeds cover these items and the charts on their broker platform TWS would probably suffice for you. You need to define what period the historical data should cover, because that may determine your choice.

In fact I think you could get all of your data needs from Yahoo finance if you are only interested in EOD and historical data back to about 2000. In this case you could use a stand-alone package such as Amibroker which is not expensive.

Have you chosen a broker yet ? Have you looked at their in-built charting facilities on their broker's platform or their data-feeds ?

Charlton

 

[asdfg123]

Thanks for your reply. My apology for not having made myself clear. I need live, streaming intraday data for all the index futures I mentioned. EOD and historical data for the relevant cash indexes back several years are preferable but not essential, as I can get them free from other sources.

My current broker is IB, and I have tried its charts. I need something better. To be more specific, I need a package that is more interactive and user friendly, although various indicators and programming are not required.

So far I have only traded the American market, and I have been using QCharts. However, now I want to get started in the European side, and QCharts does not cover these markets, hence the question.

So, any suggestions anyone?

 

[Hittfeld]

So why not use just the data from IB? Amibroker or the free Quotetracker (can use only a few days of backfill) - and scmagic for historical 1-min data, if required?

Regards

Hittfeld

 

[asdfg123]

Because there have been issues with live IB data, e.g. when there are significant events in the market. Things may have changed, and I would rather not take the chance.

 

[nine]

There are no such issues with IB's new five second bars (aka true data).

With Sierra Chart you can combine the live feed with 5 second bars to get instant information and accurate information (5 sec bars correct any possible absent prices in the live data).

 

[Chuck_T]

QCharts 6.0

asdfg123 ,

You are in luck ... we just launched QCharts 6.0 today and it supports all the international markets on the eSignal network now - well over 100 real time stock and futures exchanges.

http://www.QCharts.com

I'll post the PR in the next email.

Chuck
@eSignal

 

[Chuck_T]

QCharts 6

Here is the PR ...

eSignal Announces Availabilty of QCharts 6 Upgrade Expands Real-Time Market Analysis Capability to Include International, Foreign Exchange and Expanded Options Data, All Delivered Through eSignal's Award-Winning Financial Information Network
Wednesday September 19, 2007 08:15:23 EDT


HAYWARD, Calif., Sep 19, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
eSignal, the desktop solution division of Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC) and a leading provider of streaming, real-time financial market data, news, analytics and decision-support tools for professional and individual traders, today announced the immediate availability of QCharts 6. This latest version combines QCharts' intuitive technical-charting and analysis interface with eSignal's reliable, real-time market information and offers valuable new data streams, including international markets, foreign currency exchange and significantly increased options data.

QCharts 6 provides users with access to several new international exchanges, including Eurex, London Stock Exchange, Euronext, Hong Kong Exchange and Intercontinental Exchange, among others, and includes the Forex foreign currency market. In addition, QCharts 6 streams up to five times more options data from eSignal's optimized data network, while maintaining historical data with official exchange corrections on supported exchanges.

"With QCharts 6, users can more effectively employ its feature-rich charts and technical-indicator tools to assist them in making informed market decisions," said Jay Frank, QCharts product manager. "By taking advantage of eSignal's infrastructure to provide access to major international exchanges, QCharts 6 represents an important step forward for its customers."

Availability:

The upgrade to QCharts 6 is free to current QCharts users. For additional information, including free trial offers and new subscriptions, visit www.QCharts.com or call 800.833.1228.

 

[nine]

Note that if you concern is that your data be timely and close to the markets during significant events IB has a much better record than esignal.

The advantage of their 250ms snapshot approach is that they don't get those delightful lags that the "every tick" providers suffer from time to time. :idea:

 

[Chuck_T]

Charts.

nine,

If you would like to use IB as the datafeed, you can use QuoteTrader for free,

http://www.quote.com/quotetrader

Chuck
@eSignal

 

[charliechan]

i'd stay away from esignal like the plague.

i use ensign windows with an iq feed. fairly cheap, but very reliable. t&s and clear charts.

www.ensignsoftware.com

www.iqfeed.net

i think most charting packages these days will have loads of functionality, most of which never gets used. like you, i just use a bar chart with volume + t & s. sometimes bollinger bands

 

[grantx]

Asdfg,

You may consider Visual Charts
http://www.visualchart.com/enxx/products/institutional/institutional.asp?seleccion=5

I pay c £53 a month for Eurex level 2 plus all the international indices, fx and news (which is not too hot).

The charting package seems OK (I only use DMI) but you can write your own indicators and download real-time data (eg tick to x mins)into Excel. Also Time and Sales, DOM, etc.

I think they're a Spanish company but I deal with their Paris office (no language problems), and they are really helpful.

The only drawback is their poorly written and presented manual (c 800 pages). However, this is not such a hindrance.

I've tried them all - US and European - and I reckon I made the right choice. You should be able to get a trial.

Grant.