ronfalcone
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For anyone considering Prophet.net for their charting, there's good news and bad news which I thought I would pass along.
The good news is, Prophet provides good JAVA charting capabilities and a truckload of indicators to try---for those indicator junkies out there who haven't yet figured out that the majority of indicators are completely useless in the overall scheme of things. The user interface is quite easy, and the website has lots of peripheral information which some users might find helpful. Now for the bad news.
I have found in dealing with Prophet for two years that their service and support is inferior. Unanswered e-mails, lack of follow-up and a seeming disregard for the need of the trader appear to rule the day. For example, recently I telephoned Prophet (after e-mails were ignored) regarding historic intraday data on e-minis; for some reason, as soon as January rolled around and the December contract ended, Prophet obliterated the historic data. (Note: data for equities remained fully intact going back as far as September). When Prophet promised they would "look into it", they never did and I had to keep e-mailing and calling, until finally, I was told that previous contracts were deleted, end of story. No apologies, reassurances. Just a kind of take it or leave it attitude.
Other examples of poor customer relations include suggestions I and other traders have made to Prophet which they totally ignored (but which they claim to encourage). For example, while Prophet offers linear regression channels as part of its manic indicator package, they don't allow you the ability---as does Tradestation and other services---to change the inputs of this indicator. To those not familiar with Linear Regression, this would be comparable to having Bollinger Bands, without the ability to change the periods from 20, to say 10. Might seem trivial, but for those who use linear regression, it is critical. The point is, why offer this indicator at all if you're not open to the suggestions of traders who make a living using it (and your charting service)??
Other issues involve an inability to change chart colors, backgrounds, etc. It sure does get tiring looking at a yellow screen day in and day out.
Incidentally although Prophet does appear to behave rather evasively when it comes to consumer concerns and questions, they were quite aggressive recently when telephoning me (what, an actual call from Prophet?!), and trying to sell me a year of service at discount.
I thought this critical review would be helpful and was important, considering Prophet's oft repeated claim that they are the best charting service on the internet. So in conclusion, for EOD, or occasional equity trades and investments, I'd say they're okay. But for serious traders and, especially intraday traders, I would look elsewhere (as I am doing at the moment).
Good luck fellow traders,
Ron
The good news is, Prophet provides good JAVA charting capabilities and a truckload of indicators to try---for those indicator junkies out there who haven't yet figured out that the majority of indicators are completely useless in the overall scheme of things. The user interface is quite easy, and the website has lots of peripheral information which some users might find helpful. Now for the bad news.
I have found in dealing with Prophet for two years that their service and support is inferior. Unanswered e-mails, lack of follow-up and a seeming disregard for the need of the trader appear to rule the day. For example, recently I telephoned Prophet (after e-mails were ignored) regarding historic intraday data on e-minis; for some reason, as soon as January rolled around and the December contract ended, Prophet obliterated the historic data. (Note: data for equities remained fully intact going back as far as September). When Prophet promised they would "look into it", they never did and I had to keep e-mailing and calling, until finally, I was told that previous contracts were deleted, end of story. No apologies, reassurances. Just a kind of take it or leave it attitude.
Other examples of poor customer relations include suggestions I and other traders have made to Prophet which they totally ignored (but which they claim to encourage). For example, while Prophet offers linear regression channels as part of its manic indicator package, they don't allow you the ability---as does Tradestation and other services---to change the inputs of this indicator. To those not familiar with Linear Regression, this would be comparable to having Bollinger Bands, without the ability to change the periods from 20, to say 10. Might seem trivial, but for those who use linear regression, it is critical. The point is, why offer this indicator at all if you're not open to the suggestions of traders who make a living using it (and your charting service)??
Other issues involve an inability to change chart colors, backgrounds, etc. It sure does get tiring looking at a yellow screen day in and day out.
Incidentally although Prophet does appear to behave rather evasively when it comes to consumer concerns and questions, they were quite aggressive recently when telephoning me (what, an actual call from Prophet?!), and trying to sell me a year of service at discount.
I thought this critical review would be helpful and was important, considering Prophet's oft repeated claim that they are the best charting service on the internet. So in conclusion, for EOD, or occasional equity trades and investments, I'd say they're okay. But for serious traders and, especially intraday traders, I would look elsewhere (as I am doing at the moment).
Good luck fellow traders,
Ron
