Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,002 since Jun 2009
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Moderator Notice
This user has been banned for six months for being rude to another member. This is absolutely NOT TOLERATED here. If you want to engage in this kind of behavior, you will have to find another place to do it.
It will be up to the user to decide if the ban becomes permanent, based on his future behavior.
howard lender is the most pleasant, most responsive and most experienced representative i ever had to deal with. howard answers my emails 16 hours around the clock within 10 minutes on average.
he is a trader himself using sierracharts.his commissions are hard to beat, everything is posted at his website meticulously.
the tt feed is the same as any other feed, for me there is no difference except for some limitations like no account information or wrong information when you take an overnight position. you will get exact information about those limitations. you will be told explicitly before you start using it.
the clearing company crossland seems to be solid, not involved in any european debt which is enough these days...
what is more important: crossland supports ach, meaning you can transfer your money out for free.
this was one of the criteria why i chose deepdiscounttrading. other brokers make you pay for your money. lets take a realistic assuption that you make 1000 bucks a month in trading. most brokers will punish you with a 3% charge for just transferrring YOUR OWN hard earned money to your own account where you can use it elsewhere.
howard has no other fees either, no silly overnight fees or inactivity fees.
most brokers hide their commissions. i do not like that at all.
howard on the other hand publishes all of his commissions on his website. it looks like self-written but it gives all information you need.
es roundturn all in with ninjatrader is 3.62
this is even cheaper than ampfutures at 3.82. amp does not publish their rates and amp does not do ach out.
deepdiscounttrading is cheap and good. i like this combination
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Hoping to try to open an account with Howard if I can find a cost free work-around on the TT data feed lack of historical data issue on NT.
Does anyone know if its possible if you have two active future's account with one data feed with historical data on NT and TT (without), if they can work with one another to make up for the TT's shortcomings in this area?
Yes this will work however you would need to purchase a multi-broker edition of NinjaTrader. Alternatively, you can use the standard edition and subscribe to Kinetick.
The following 2 users say Thank You to NinjaTrader for this post:
This thread seems a bit old, but are current clients of Deep Discount Trading still happy with their decision? From the older posts, it seems like there were several impressed with Howard and his service. Just wanting to know if this is still the case. I am considering them since I am scalping the ES.
Also, if anyone that is using them does reply to this, which data feed are you using? I tried TT with another broker and compared it to Transact, and Transact seemed to do a better job. I emailed Howard about this and he told me that their TT infrastructure is state of the art, and runs at max. performance. Just wondering what real users are saying.
Thanks for the help.
Bowie
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I am just a very small trader. I have traded ES, YM, TF, NQ thru DDT. Although my contract size is small, I have been very pleased with the fills. I am using TT feed with Sierra Charts. No problems thus far. I have a very small AMP account and use that for NT charts with the standard CQG feed.
Better yet, I have been even more pleased with Howard Lender When I have asked questions that Howard was not sure of he dug into it and got back to me later, not much later, but promptly later. Howard is extremely nice to deal with. He is TRUSTWORTHY! He has never misled me intentionally. I note that because, there are sometimes changes made that any broker does not know of...lots happens fast these days. Any misinformation is just that, not deception. Howard is an exceptional guy in this climate of greed and deception.
The RANWEB account portal updates all CME CBOT trades nearly instantly in your account. ICE trades are delayed by about 20-30 min. That is my only gripe and Howard has nothing to do with this. It is just a RANWEB issue with ICE updates.
As a note on Howard's helpfulness, I inquired about the possibility of MT4 becoming a platform for futures trading because I am a MAX TRADING SYSTEM enthusiast. That question was asked early this year and never discussed again. Upon Howard's looking into something else for me a couple months ago he noted parenthetically in an email reply: "(The Clearing Firm said that they will consider the MT4 platform in the near future)". In my book this is a real heads up thing. Howard cares and aims to help you succeed. My best experience over the years hands down.
Chuck T
The following 2 users say Thank You to Chuck T for this post:
Thank you for this very prompt and thorough reply. Sounds like I need to give Howard a call. If you can get the MT4 futures trading thing pushed through, that would be quite an accomplishment but I would bet the charting and data lobby with fight that one. :-} I also use the MAX system for forex.
I am using Howard with TT / Ninja. The feed has been great. I have a feed with another broker and I put it side by side with the TT feed, and the TT feed was much better. ( This is trading the ags, the indexes seemed better. )
I am really happy with DDT, Howard is usually quick to reply.
I trade with them everyday and never had a problem.
Whether you're a broker or a trader, you really don't want MT4 (they've made some changes to MT5 that may deal with some critical issues but it also breaks code compatibility in attempting to fix those issues).
The key issue is that MT4 abstracts things very much and the model on the front doesn't really match the backend model. If you know about trying to map OO to relational model and how hard that problem really is, I think this is kind of similar. It seems simple at first, it can work most of the time, and then you hit some edge case (and there are plenty) and what will happen is a) trader loses b) broker loses c) brokers non MT4 customers fees need to go up to compensate.
At the extreme, there's even traders who seek out new MT4 brokers. These guys have specialized in new MT4 brokers, when they win, b&c happens or alternatively there will be public rants about the broker where it won't be clear who is right as the fight is really concerning the key issue mentioned.
The model mismatch is key issue for otherwise profitable traders and the abstraction will cause issues for new traders
For the one or two MT4 brokers with no criticism about them, they are likely a case of survivorship bias or ability to pay up even when the broker is right about an argument.
EDIT: I realize you're not so much about MT4 but you're probably after indicators for that system mentioned. I don't see why the indicators couldn't be converted. I read a bit about the system and it's possible some of the MC's built-in indicators with some tweaking could actually do what the system is about.
Trading: Mini and micro US Indexes/ DAX/ FX/VIX/GOLD
Posts: 179 since Apr 2010
Thanks: 52 given,
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Been with Howard and DDT a few weeks now. He is very fast in responding to my emails and genuinely appears to appreciate my business. I'm using CTS and Sierra, set up and technical details have been resolved quickly. A pleasant contrast to other brokers who treat you like something unpleasant they've picked up on their shoes. Crossland have been v. good also (data permissions and account reporting only so far).
I've been with Howard and DDT for almost six weeks now, and I must say I'm very pleased. This is my first live account with a broker so I don't have much to compare it to, but regardless I'm completely satisfied. Howard is very prompt with his answers, I only have talked with him by email but he doesn't take more than a few hours to respond, if that. He has also been very patient with my questions and his rates are about as cheap as you can get from what I understand. I do pay $60 a month to use NT, but once I'm hopefully profitable enough I'll simply buy a lifetime license anyway.
Also the FCM is Crossland, and they have been fantastic as well. I've called them twice for technical reasons with adding contracts to my account, and both times I swear they picked up the phone on the first ring, no voicemail or directory or waiting. They've also been prompt by email as well. My account balance seems to update immediately on their online portal, and every day I make a trade I receive a pdf statement by email that night, and one at the end of the month.
Anyway I'm very pleased with the choice and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone.
I have a live trading account opened with DDT and another with IB since last year. Howard is very helpful and Crossland has been very professional until now. Nevertheless I experienced some occasional disconnections on the Sierrachart platform and had to close positions through the phone. Everything else was ok until now.
Let me jump in here again and give Howard a plug. I had an account through him for over a year and I experienced nothing but kind, professional and prompt service from Howard. I was shocked at how quickly he replied to nearly all my emails, some of which I sent late at night not expecting a reply till next day.
I had to move to an environment with server side orders due to poor internet issues on my end. Due to some unpredictable outages on this end I just couldn't make anything work through Howard's options. That reason alone caused me to move from Howard/ deepdiscounttrading.com/ crossland. I hated to leave because of Howard.
Once I decided to do it Howard was as kind to me and helpful as the day I first inquired about DDT. Crossland was extra fast getting my funds wired out, I mean within a couple hours. I was actually able to wire the funds out of my bank same day to the broker I am using now with NT7 server side orders.
I used Sierra / TT feed and had cash data (adv/decl, tick, etc...) and historical tick/minute data as part of the package no extra charge. There were no gimmicks, no up charges, no surprises. I felt I got good fills but only traded small size (1-4 contracts) in NQ, ES, TF, YM. I tried the SC / Rithmic feed (for server side orders) but did not have historical tick data available and I was not willing to make that sacrifice for server side orders. Thus my move. But having said that...
If my trading goes well and I need to open another account, providing the internet issues are solved, I plan to return to Howard with a second account. He is tops! Very trustworthy. I can not think of a broker I would rather have making my commissions.
Chuck T
The following user says Thank You to Chuck T for this post:
I don't know. I never checked that out and don't know if you can deal directly with Crossland without an IB. My experience with Crossland was only through Howard and DDT. And as stated before, it was all good.
When I was shopping around, I noticed that the commission structure was exactly the same between DDT and Crossland. But I found the service by DDT was much more superior around the clock which is why DDT has the great reputation.
My experience with DDT has been great so far. Howard is prompt in his emails and they way he communicates indicates he might just care about his customers. I have not placed any live trades yet but getting my account setup and funded was a breeze and quite pleasant compared to my last broker.
@italiantrader, what feed was this with at DDT/Crossland, and what was the cause of the disconnections? How often does this happen? How well was closing the positions through the phone handled?
Is anyone using SC/TT through DDT as their only datafeed for charting and execution, if so how well does it work for you? Is there any backfill with the TT/DDT feed, aside from what Sierra provides?
If not, since the Sierra Historical/Intraday backfill is delayed data by at least 30 minutes, how do you get complete uninterrupted data in your charts without waiting for the delayed Sierra backfill, when initially loading the program, or during a disconnected period?
The disconnections were rather frequent: once or even twice a day and they were lasting from 10 to 50 seconds. Now it happens more seldom, maybe once a week.
TT+SC got me into troubles because I always worked with OCO orders. When an OCO order was in place and there was a disconnection and a reconnection afterwards i didn't know what my actual position was and had to call the trading desk.
I still am using SC with TT feed, but not OCO orders anymore, i use only stop orders that are stored on the server. Plus i constantly have pingplotter running ( a software that constantly monitors connection speed) and screenrecord the entire trading session in order to have a proof of what might be going wrong. I also have 2 other brokers with 2 different platforms running at the same time in order to cross check prices.
Trading desk at Crossland was answering also during US night hours ( i was calling from Europe), but it took time for them to figure out what my actual position was.
The following user says Thank You to italiantrader for this post:
After much research, this is the first I have heard of this with Crossland/TT/DDT and is quite disconcerting, as I use OCO orders also and prefer them to a stop alone; clearly disconnections would be a problem. Is it possible the disconnections are due to your location in Europe, and wouldn't be a problem in the US, and were you able to determine the cause/location of the disconnections? What are your backup feeds/platforms, do you use them solely for crosschecking prices?
Are others using this setup of SC/TT/DDT experiencing these disconnections?
When I spoke with Howard about the disconnections, he said nobody else was complaining about that, nevertheless using pingplotter software I was able to detect no problems on the "european side" of the line, so I still haver the doubt. My italian broker (iwbank) and Interactive Brokers never had such problems. Anyway Howard is very friendly and you can easily agree a trial period with TT/Sierra in order to verify any possible connection problems. Anyway if you only work with OCO orders I would definitely recommend a different feed that has OCO orders stored on their server
The following user says Thank You to italiantrader for this post:
Can anyone else using SC/TT/DDT please share your experience with how long you've been using it, your location, how long you are connected for daily, and exactly how often do you get a disconnect/downtime, and how long it lasts for?
Because "Disconnections" is a serious concern, I decided to contact DDT directly about it because there is usually 3 sides to every story.
DDT did confirm that there was only "One" client from Italy that was experiencing disconnection problems for some very rare unknown reason.
Tech Support can only conclude that the Internet Service Provider (ISP) of the client "may" not be fully compatible to the ISP of the Clearing Firm.
DDT strongly recommends for the client to "Close" his trading account because neither the Client, DDT, or the Clearing Firm should need to deal with any constant complication.
DDT does not like to turn away business, but the client's "Safety" within the Futures market is more important.
Out of curiosity "ItalianTrader", why do you still maintain your trading account with DDT if you are experiencing a disconnection issue?
The following user says Thank You to Zchartist for this post:
After exhaustive research on all the popular feeds/platforms/brokers, I've since funded live SC/TT/DDT accounts, am in NY, have had it a couple weeks so far, am connected all/most of the US RTH hours and some of ETH, and have yet to get a disconnect, except during the CME close downtime for a few minutes. It is an extremely fast combo, between 6 to 15 seconds ahead of thinkorswim data during active trading sessions on CL. I also ask a lot of questions, and Howard has answered every single one quickly and patiently, to my satisfaction, and without a hint of attitude, which was not my experience at most other brokers. Based on my short experience thus far, would highly recommend this combo. I don't expect it to, but if anything changes I will post otherwise.
The following user says Thank You to Futures Operator for this post:
does that mean that your CL bars are 6-15 seconds ahead with SC/TT/DDT? Thats a huge difference. Are there other methods to measure the delay of arriving data? I want to know if ZenFire Feed is also lagging that much. I think it's also an issue where your charting station is based. Do you know where the TOS Servers are based?
Yes, that's exactly what I mean, TOS data lagged by many seconds during active/busy/high volume market, which is when I trade, not sure about during slow markets. On a lightning fast instrument like CL this can mean price being inaccurate in real time by as much as 50 ticks! I experienced this on multiple occasions, along with quite infrequent but still present freezes of data from TOS' end, not on my end, it is just not bullet proof reliable, which is important to me. The easiest method I found for data speed comparison was just to compare Time&Sales windows, and DOM's, side by side. To be even more accurate, you could record video of this, and review afterwards while pausing to compare prints/times and when how long one takes to catch up to the other. If you really want to get technical, you could set up continously running ping tests to each data server as well, not sure if that would reflect delays in real-time price prints though.
Not sure where TOS servers are based, but if you research, the concensus seems to be that they are not the fastest at delivering intraday futures data real-time, but fine for longer term charts, I still use them for backup data/live pit audio.
Additionally, I also found TT more stable/reliable than Rithmic with less issues, and it also has ICE data for DX, Brent, etc, which Rithmic does not. This was also the concensus I received from independent engineers who work with it every day along with the other feeds, and don't have a bias towards one or another. Last, the cost is also less, for what is actually the better feed, in my experience. I recommend everyone to do their own indepdendent testing for their needs though.
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My experience with Rithmic and Sierra Chart is flawless so far (about one year ) . I Never experienced any connection problems (except during weekend maintenance). Did you manage to find out what was the cause of the problems you had ? Was it the PC? the Feed? The Internet connection?
As to TT, I don't know much about them but I do know that if you want precise Tick-by-Tick bid/ask data then TT will not serve you well while Rithmic was shown to provide a 100% similarity to DTNIQ bid/ask data. Take a look at this thread from the SC support board - https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?page=doc/error.php
I never checked it myself but Rithmic is known to be very good when it comes to Speed/Latency. Did you find TT to be faster ?
Since you guys agonize about data speed/latency/etc, I assume you scalp. other wise for swing even TOS is enough.
If you scalp, you need accurate Tick and Volume and Bid/Ask data for analysis.
If you're using TT, you don't get any of that. not that its 99.99% accurate... it's not even half way to be decent for scalping. don't take my word for it, do your own checks.
As for data speed, you need to make sure you compare apples with apples.
It's a different story if you live in North America, or in EU, or in the Middle East (like me) or in Asia or in Australia etc...
Where ever you live, you need to make sure your whole setup is built for performance.
For example I'm using SC/Rithmic setup via Optimus and I can tell you that not once and not twice I got data plotted in my charts, in Israel, before friends of mine got their charts plotted with TOS in Chicago!!!
Keep in mind that TOS is java based while SC is C++ code.
That alone can give 1-2 seconds of latency when market picks up speed.
It could be even more if your PC is not a current crop beast (which it should be anyway).
Also TOS is aggregated and Rithmic is unfiltered tick accurate which means TOS will wait at least for the last buffer to fill before sending data while Rithmic will make best effort to send data the moment there is a new tick.
Guys, nothing is perfect in life.
Make sure to compare different ISPs since maybe a feed provider will have better IP routing path to ISP_A than ISP_B. this is something that you as end users have no control over it.
I can share with you that until a year and a half ago Israel had only a single fiber connection to the internet.
I was getting pings to Rithmic's POP ranging between 190-280ms and sometimes odd ones of +350ms
Since then we had 2 more fiber loops added and now I get a constant stable 165ms pings.
Sure it's not even close to the sub 30ms my american friends enjoy, but luckily TOS is so popular at their end that my unfiltered Rithmic/SC setup fills the gap to their TOS setup
And my data is unfiltered
The following 3 users say Thank You to Ticks Collector for this post:
TT does not have accurate bid/ask, but a large majority of traders who are scalping use XTrader, and XTrader pretty much dominates even to this day exchange floors, so you might reconsider the view that "[TT] is not even half way to be decent for scalping." If viewing the prints themselves and knowing the bid/ask are important, then TT is definitely not the answer. But some people do not require that, so it would be fine.
Your assumption that those of us who agonize about latency and speed are scalpers is not an assumption that will hold true in many cases. I suppose it depends on how you define scalping. I am usually looking for between 12 and 30 ES ticks per contract, so I am certainly not a scalper, but not swinging either. When it comes to reading the market, most traders tend to look at the past, whether it's the past 2 hours of the day, or whatever. However, sentiment and mood can change quickly, and unfortunately a standard chart simply cannot show this like the order book and tape can, and this is where I require speed and low latency. Having a lagging data feed totally obscures the velocity, aggressiveness, and overall mood of the market. Viewing the order book is viewing what the market actually is; charts show very useful supporting information, but only by viewing depth and prints can I truly get a feel for current sentiment to best predict what's coming up in the near term, which is usually part of a larger overall market view and goes much farther than the near term.
So, even though I am not scalping for ticks, having a data feed that has close to no latency (and having a fast platform in SC, as you mention) delivers a very true picture of what the market is really doing, and is critical for me in making decisions regarding short-term order flow, which is part of an overall bigger picture and can have a huge effect on the direction of the market for a much longer period of time than most people realize.
The following 6 users say Thank You to josh for this post:
1.
"TT does not have accurate bid/ask, but a large majority of traders who are scalping use XTrader"
That's like saying yea I know that gasoline is polluting and unhealthy, but a large majority or car drivers who drive for their livelihood do it with gasoline cars.
Driving cars doesn't crown gasoline as being environmentally friendly, same as using XTrader doesn't crown TT's feed as being something special.
Personally? I tend to first avoid, or at least doubt, anything that the "majority" agrees on.
The human herd mentality is the basis of many ills in our world
With that said, there could be many reasons why XTrader is popular (so I read. I never saw REAL user numbers. have you seen real numbers?).
It's a very mature piece of software, been around a long time. it offers many features that complement the needs of bigger traders like trading multiple accounts, its used a lot with spread traders and have many features that 99.8% of retail traders have no need for.
For example Rithmic added to their R|Trader an Iceberg order feature just recently and not long ago they added Drip order type, which meant that if you had to have any of those you had to use something else... like XTrader maybe? that means you had to use TT's feed maybe?
(btw, R|Trader is free)
Add to this that they have some patent on the static DOM ladder (even though TS and SC offer it as well) and you get many reasons why it got to be a common tool around desks and firms.
But, can you use XTrader with any data feed other than TT's?
Apparently not.
Can you drive a gasoline car without gasoline?
Apparently not.
Is gasoline clean and healthy just because it powers the so regarded internal combustion chamber engine car? nope.
Is TT's data feed top notch just because it powers the regarded XTrader? in your own words "TT does not have accurate bid/ask".
End of story
2.
Yup, in my book you're a scalper. human scalper.
2-3 handles is the noise factor of ES, or in the words of FT71, the first deviation of the Harmonic Rotation (love that name!) of ES.
7 handles can also be called scalping. not hyper scalping but still scalping since you use the same technics to get that target as you do for 2-3 handles.
True, "sentiment and mood can change quickly", but only scalpers look on that aspect which brings us to square one that only scalpers have a reason to agonize over low latency, accurate bid/ask etc.
Swingers trade setups that from the get go are meant to eliminate all those fast "sentiment and mood" changes.
"get a feel for current sentiment"?
Yup, you are a scalper.
3.
The "agonizing" bit wasn't an insult or a joke on anyone's expense, it only meant that if ppl trade very long setups for them it's just a waste of time to peruse this matter with vengeance
If you take your trades based on 240min bars, what the hell do you even have to look on market depth or use unfiltered tick data?
"get a feel for current sentiment"?
Sorry to inform you, you ARE a scalper
Neither my risk profile (nowhere near the size a scalper needs to trade), nor time spent in trades (mine, about an hour, a scalper, 5 to 300 seconds), nor size of W/L per contract traded (mine, a few ES points, a scalper, 1 to 8 ticks max), nor number of trades per day (mine, 3 to 6, a scalper, 50 to 200) even remotely approach what those numbers would be for a real scalper. I scale into trades pretty often; a scalper would never dream of it.
Since you are a fan of FT71's information, it might be interesting for you to know in this past week's AMA (at the 9 minute mark here) he specifically said "I am a short term trader; I am not a scalper...I do scalp around positions, but I am mainly looking at what is going to happen in the next hour or so in general" -- yet his first scale out is 2 ES handles. Perhaps you should join the next AMA and try to convince him that he is in fact a scalper, as you are doing with me now.
Hi @josh. I think what @Ticks Collector said was his opinion and a he was getting off topic anyway. Just best to add him to you ignore list and just move alone.
If you are happy with your trading, that who cares what it is called?
Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,002 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,468 given,
98,268
received
Moderator Notice
This thread is about Deep Discount Trading Brokerage. It is for customers to post reviews about them, or for potential customers to ask questions specifically about them.
I saw that DDT also offer other data feed for SC. Since you said TT does not have accurate bid/ask data maybe Rithmic is a better option even if it cost more.
I think it's worth everyone (especially Tick Collector) remembering that the quality of TT or any other ISV's price feed is going to depend on the FCM's implementation.
If your FCM/IB is some cheap back street operation who puts the ISV gateway server on cheap servers, across cheap telco/ISP lines, guess what, you're going to get delays. If your FCM is a primo tier 1 outfit, chances are your experience will be much better.
As for DDT, well as we know, they use Crosslands as an FCM - who as far as Im aware are a GCM at CME and others. That would suggest a healthy balance sheet, and thus a high standard of IT infrastructure. A lot of the Chicago prop community use Crosslands - so that says something.
I just found out that Crossland will soon no longer support TT data. This affects DDT, Active Futures, and others that clear with them.
If you are using DDT and Sierra Chart, these are the choices:
1) Rithmic Feed for .30 cents per contract.
2) CQG Feed for .10 cents per contract & $10/Mth.
3) CTS Feed for .50 cents per contract with a $25/Mth "Minimum".
Rithmic is slightly more expensive, except there is no historical tick data. Historical data is minute data only.
CQG is less per contract but more per month, and it is only for trade execution. A separate subscription data feed is needed for charting.
CTS is much more expensive.
For me it's down to two choices:
1) Use Rithmic or CQG, and subscribe to Sierra's data feed
2) Find another broker whose clearing firm will continue to offer TT
The following 3 users say Thank You to tomgilb for this post:
Platform: "I trade, therefore, I AM!"; Theme Song: "Atomic Dog!"
Trading: EMD, 6J, ZB
Posts: 798 since Oct 2009
too expensive, especially when their unique dome has lost its uniqueness in the world of HFT's and other work arounds
too much competition has invalidated what made TT (which made the earliest automation methods possible) so unique in the early years.
one has to constantly innovate their products, or build it to sell it business model.
the business model where you retire off your assets has long ago melted under the heat on invention and being in such a dynamic marketplace
its not surprising that TT is losing its entrenched base, as so many thousands of retail traders voted with their accounts at brokers that didn't have those fixed costs and fees, and as such, those firms lost their volume edge. Wasn't this something similar to what happened with Velocity Futures and quite a few others?
Platform: "I trade, therefore, I AM!"; Theme Song: "Atomic Dog!"
Trading: EMD, 6J, ZB
Posts: 798 since Oct 2009
I read this thread again, and in the light of so many stable names, (at least that was the old impression) have burped and bellied up....
looking at a new broker relationship has suddenly become relevant.
one thing that I do not like about this referenced broker is their 888 phone number does not work.
massive red flag!!!
can anyone else attest as to their viability?
they evidently require $5,000 initial balance and ask that you stop trading at / below $2,000
they charge $25 to force a stop out on margin violation and that's reasonable and common..
they have some of the most attractive day trade margins...
they publically state they are for high volume traders and institutions and will tolerate retail accounts (as long as you don't get in their way or take too much time), ok, those are my impressions.....
anyone else can vouch for these guys?, they really seem like a very good deal (pm me)
I just called the 888-407-7918 and Howard answered. You must have misdialed.
Howard at DDT has been nothing but helpful and courteous, with very fast responses. He posts the all-inclusive commissions, has no recurring account fees, rates and margins are low, and has many data feeds/charting packages available. I recommend them. It's just too bad that their FCM (Crossland) is dropping TT.
TT FIX through a platform like SierraChart still provides one of if not the lowest trading cost trading feeds, which is also fast, unfiltered, and stable/reliable. I have not seen a better feed in terms of speed, stability, and cost.
Those who were using TT through Crossland, what are you switching to? I have stayed with DDT and switched to Rithmic, but may open another TT account with Amp for the lower TT routing fees/more reliable feed.
It works ok to figure out daily PnL through the Chart Trade Windows and sum them in your head, plus you get daily PnL statements. There is supposed to be a summary view in the Trade Stats for Charts tab of the Trade Orders and Positions window, but it has been problematic and Sierra has been trying to iron out the issues, which may be resolved now. Some of which are caused by the TT FIX adapter not supporting overnight reporting, and having to use an Order Fill Calculated Position setting in SC. Supposedly with TT on Amp, their FIX adapter supports overnight reporting, but I am still waiting for them to get back to me and confirm this, and they haven't been responsive for a few days.
The following user says Thank You to Futures Operator for this post:
yea, +1 for Howard. Been with him since Christmas-ish, no issues, prompt and professional on the communication too. Yesterday I had a datafeed issue, and Crossland (the FCM that DDT IB's for) was being a bit slow to get back to me - so I contacted Howard about it. Got the issue resolved within an hour!
I have been asking Howard Lender some questions about his company and I am a little stumped with the latest answer he provided. By the way, he has been very responsive and cordial. Couldn't ask for better responsiveness on his part.
With that said, I though I would appeal to some current customers to help explain in more detail questions I have about using Sierra Charts and getting access to historical data.
Howard wrote the following back to me:
To make sure we are on the same page here, historical data merely refers to being able to have access to intraday, daily and weekly data on futures contracts, correct?
It seems like the Rithmic and CTS are pretty self explanatory. However, his CQG response puzzled me. If I select the CQG option, then I am basically paying the .05 cents per contract and $10 month to simply have access to placing orders on the Sierra Charts platform? And then in order to get chart data and historical information I need to purchase additional data?
Like not having a people buy your product. Every time I deal with Ninja it is - painfull. SERIOUSLY painfull.
When I have asked questions that Howard was not sure of he dug into it and got back to me later, not much later, but promptly later. Howard is extremely nice to deal with. He is TRUSTWORTHY! He has never misled me intentionally. I note that because, there are sometimes changes made that any broker does not know of...
