Real time price feeds/charting tools

java

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Apologies if this has been covered in depth elsewhere, but I'd appreciate a summary of which services and charting packages people use and the various monthly costs involved.

I've had a bad week paper trading the FTSE and SPX - the ADVFN streaming realtime chart doesn't always update smoothly and has cost me a lot of points. The Lycos SPX charts seem ok, but I'd like to have a larger screen area with more indicators on the go. :

Alternatively, what is the breakdown of people here successfully using the free services compared to those who pay for higher quality?

regards :confused:
 
I think AIQ and Sierra are probably the two most popular charting packages, with MyTrack data feed.
 
Thanks for the info - only just figured where the search facility was - still seems quite a minefield picking through them all.

With the AIQ package, do you get a basic package with the Mytrack feed included (I believe $40 monthly for the gold), or do you have to use AIQ PRO and pay for that separately- pardon my ignorance, but I'm not sure of the difference,

thanks again,
 
Charting software

Java hi

you could have a look at Medved Quote Tracker which is free!
providing you click on a few adverts daily!!

I use this with IQFeed data which provides me with real time tick data for $20 a month total.

However Medved will handle numourous data feeds including ADVN.

Sierra is an excellent program which iv used in the past but unfortunatly cannot handle tick data however it now links into IB software if you are into futures.

cheers

Hugh :)
 
IB does do all the other stuff Hugh.
LSE is only £4. per month I believe.

Options
 
options - Does IB have an inactivity fee ?

Been looking at the site, looks good but I tend to binge trade where I might have a spare month here or there so an inactivity fee wouldn't be good
 
Hi SP.
No inactivity fee m8 just the £4 per month for lse.
I only use them at present for my liffe trading which costs £15 per month. If I don't trade all month, it only costs the £15 for the price feed.
Don't like any inactivity fee. always seemed pressured to trade when I was with Easy2. That's wrong as far as I am concerned.

They give universal accounts now to new customers, which means you can trade anything. (including L2)

They have just linked up with Sierra charts, So I now have a live chart off IB prices. Hehe; and it's knocking my feed from Market Eye straight out of the window.

Good fortune.

Options
 
Thanks for the ideas - finally got set up with Sierra and Mytrack and having fun right now with the studies. I've had a look around the Sierra users group but there doesn't seem to be much there - is there a good guide/manual available for writing your own studies? I'm trying to put some time aside to get my head wrapped around the spreadsheet side but it looks pretty daunting at the moment. Thanks.
 
Dangers of information overload and people who post charts

I'll tell you what Riz; after looking at the postings on that link it certainly makes me appreciate the efforts of the likes of yourself, Chartman and Naz as good technicians who can post a readable chart.

To be blunt.

Java. (And all the newish traders). Save yourself months of going around and around in circles, you may well disappear up your own backside.

Why do you want to write your own studies at this stage?
Keep it simple. You have to avoid information overload.
Of course I am assuming that you are not a rocket scientist with 20 years of trading behind you and can 'write' studies in a matter of minutes. Use what you have in front of you. Don't try to be different... yet.
When anyone starts off in this or any other 'game' for that matter, they learn a bit, then a bit more. This then leads to aquiring more knowledge and it's 6 months before you start trading.
And you still won't know how to trade.
You want to be a trader. Then trade.
'Yes' I hear you saying. 'But I have to have something to base my trades on'

Yes, you do. And it's all in the charting package in front of you. Learn the basics of that and how to use it. (This is all asuming that you intend to trade real time and not for the long haul which is really investing and something else entirely.

You want to do it all at once so you have a deep understanding of markets and trading, and that is normal. But it takes a long long time to assimilate that information, and even longer to learn how to use it.

Sadly people tend to go too far in the search to make themselves a better trader and lose sight of the prime objective.

While not wishing to be detrimental to anyone and this is purely my personal view. Those charts in the above link will screw your brain up if you try to understand and follow them. And also remember that two people can see the same chart and come up with diferent views. But these people have posted examples on a site so can be considered fair game.
All the lines on the charts were drawn after the fact, and trading in hindsight is very easy to do. I'm right 100% when I do, though sadly will never make a single penny using that method.
The first poster shows 'hidden divergenge' and 'normal divregence' on the second chart. Bear in mind that you can see the whole chart in one go. Well, I think the guy is not using his mouth here to talk. It all follows the market quite nicely as it would be expected to do so if you follow it on a tick by tick as it would unfold on a live chart. There are some great trading set ups there but the hidden/regular divergence has nothing to do with it. For proper examples of divergence see Chartmans posts on the dow.
On the 3rd chart the poster has marked hidden divergence.
It's not.
And all those lines on the other charts...

The second poster is even worse with the lines. Well. I think all anyone can say about that is he could have saved himself a few hundred dollars and bought himself a 'spirograph' instead.

Again, I want to reiterate that I have no intention to knock anybody, For all I know those guys might be multi millionaire traders.

My message is just to keep it simple, don't get sucked into time consuming this that and the other.

If you have a look at the metastock site there is a link to a technical thing by Steve somebody or other (can't remember who. Must get a new brain) that shows all the indicators with explanations.

Confused?
You will be.

Options.
 
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lol Options, couldnt agree more :)

Then again people are in search of that Holy Grail and so long as they are they'll keep inventing more and more new indicators...I also use sierracharts and you can find over 100 indicators in the studies section, I've never even tried most of them and as seen on the charts I post here, those I regularly use are only a couple. Why? to keep it simple so we know what we're talking about... the rest is in the chart for those who can read, only never black or white saying it straight up or down...but giving you an overall picture to help you make up your mind, afterall its all in the mind...and finally a good trader is not necessarily the most knowledgable one..

Riz
 
Thanks for your honest opinions guys - but to put a personal perspective on it I know very well there is no holy grail. I'm new to trading but not to investing and have a brief knowledge of many of the indicators used but the key thing is I like to learn.

I am not a rocket scientist but I do teach Physics and Maths to A level and use spreadheets with associated formulae in many lessons. I actually enjoy wrapping my head around some of these formulae and seeing the output, so I don't view such research as time consuming particularly.

Of course, options, you are dead right in advising to keep it simple - in my so far limited trading (mainly the S&P), I try to identify key reversals and trend changes from candlesticks, as well as looking at overall chart patterns. This does not stop me playing with the other indicators - one of the first tasks I have set myself is to set up alerts using SAR and DMI or ADX for helping identify trend changes.

It certainly is quite refreshing to hear such direct replies, but as I'm always telling my students, you never stop learning all the way through life. Since visiting this site and the trading rooms, I have learned a tremendous amount by asking questions and listening to what people say.

Good fortune in your trading guys, java
 
Great posts here Java. The most important lesson to learn is this ( and it has already been touched on). The charts I post may make me seem like a wizz kid. The real truth is, that anyone can do a post trading day analysis with a little experience. My efforts are more to do with educating people in what to look for by way of TA so that they can make better informed descisions about when to enter or exit trades. I take no account of a particular trading timescale- that is down to the individual. As for indicators, I have tried numerous ones over the years. My favourites for ASSISTING my descisions are RSI and CCI. PHASE I particularly like as a longer term "advance" indicator. Alright ,I hear you all shout, there's no such thing. I agree, to the letter that's correct, but from a historic analysis, Phase does serve rather well. Right now, I am concentrating on purely candlestick data and volume to trade ES futures on SB with the occaisional "glance" at RSI CCI and the 100MA. I'm sure, as others have said, KISS is the real holy grail and information overload is the kiss of death.
 
I am trying to make a transition from SB to broker and find the different procedure quite difficult to understand.

I opened an account with IB, quite a lot of work involved there,
but have got to the stage where I am wondering whether I will be able to trade properly after going to the trouble of funding my account. So, at present, I am at a standstill.

Can anyone tell me if they have have found the learning procedure fairly easy to understand and if there is anyone over there to help, or are you left to get on with it?

There is another broker over here, isn't there, -Easytotrade?. Their costs seem a bit higher than IB which is the reason that IB has got so popular, I suppose. Can anyone tell us what they are like?

I have stopped trading (?) with the SB companies, now, as I can see that I am wasting my time and money on small moves so am twiddling my thumbs at the moment. Have had a look at GNI but they seem to require Pentium III which means me updating my computer.

Regards

Split.
 
Split, shouldn't make a difference to your trading sb v direct, other than to your profits. Remember though It's now £10 per contract. So very tight stops m8.

Account opening with IB is difficult and they should make it more easier.

So what don't you understand? Just ask.

Easy2trade are good, have a clear trading platform, but only do certain futures and stock futures, though there are continuous expansion within the company.

IB trade everything. So it can all be quite complex. And with the 2 of them I would give IB the edge through speed of fill.

Sierra charts now do real time through IB.

IB £1.70 per contract
Easy 4.00
and easy have a quarterly non trading thing £200, IB don't, they just charge the exchange fees. And they also have lower acc fees.

If Easy were the same I would still be with them.

Although we moan about the sb's they still have their uses.

Options.
 
“Although we moan about the sb's they still have their uses.”

I am still thinking… …no, can’t think of any.
:)
 
there are many that think instead of referring to them as "sb", it should be "bs".....
;)
 
I meant for a bit of tax free pocket money Miki.

Over a slightly longer time frame of 1 hour to 2/3 days, they are quite easy to beat.

Sometimes you may have to work the trade a bit once it's rolling.
I just hate giving too much away to them in the first place.
but 'You pays your money, you takes your choice.'

Everyone should also remember that these are probably the most difficult trading conditions since the 1930's.

Options.
 
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