This is a question for Multichart representatives:

I ve been trying to use this setup:
1) ZEN FIRE data feed (NOT brokerage, just data source) - to feed my chart of Russel 2000 Mini
2) IB TWS connection (as brokerage platform receiving orders from MCDT)
3) MC chart trader for sending orders to IB and visualizing orders over the chart

My goal is to use quality data feed (IQFeed, Zen-Fire, etc.) just for charting, MC discretionary (chart) trader as a front-end (sending orders to brokers platform) and I want the orders visualized on the chart by MC.

But I cant make this happen. When the data source (ZenFire) is different from brokers feed (IB), creating an order doesnt do anything at all.

Is this even possible to achieve? Or am I doing something wrong? Am I wanting too much? Do you understand my question? :-D

Thanks for your time

Petr

I just downloaded two EL guides I found on the forum here. They are in relation to TS. As I understand it, EL for MC is different. Is there such a guide for MC EL, or are these TS ones worthy of the time investment? Thanks much.

You can connect IB and ZF on the same MCDT, watch the ZF chart, and send orders on the IB DOM/Chart.
Symbols are different, so you have to select the right ones for both.

Multicharts 7 Beta is now out and available to download from the multicharts website.

More info:

MultiCharts Blog

Well today after NT7 blew up on me again non-stop, I really got fed up and kicked into high gear.

I'm looking at Neoticker as well as MultiCharts. But this thread will be about my experiences with MultiCharts.

First, you can download MultiCharts here:
Trading and Charting Software for FOREX, Stock, Future and Option Markets

I'm running 6.0 beta 2 (the latest available as of this post).

MultiCharts is the same cost as NinjaTrader, at roughly $100/mo or $1500 for a lifetime license.

There are two major differences between MultiCharts 6 and NinjaTrader 7. First, MC does not have a DOM. No manual order entry. It does support automated strategies and executions, but for discretionary traders you'll have to rely on an external platform for order execution. Version 7 of MC should correct this. Second, MC 6 indicators are built on the EasyLanguage platform, whereas NinjaTrader uses C#.

For me, if I do end up switching to MC I will keep NinjaTrader open just for my DOM and minimize everything else, and rely on MC for charting. It's the charting in NT that is causing me so much grief lately. It also means I have to convert a handful of my favorite indicators from C# to EasyLanguage. I've started working on that.

The list of other differences between the two platforms is extremely long, but I have to make a few general observations.

Advantages:
- MC's interface seems very polished when compared to NT's

- MC is incredibly quicker, far far faster than NT. And remember, I have a powerhouse of a system (Core i7 overclocked to 4ghz, 12GB ram, RAID 0 drives w/hardware raid) so this speed improvement with MC is due to better design.

- MC handles multiple dataseries (multiple time frames) with ease. It's second nature. There is nothing to it. IT JUST WORKS. With NT7, it does everything but work.

- MC has its Quote Manager separated from the primary charting application. This means an easy to use "module", if you will, to manage everything to do with quotes/streaming data. It was a breeze to setup IQfeed continuous contracts and to tell MC6 to cache the data locally, as well as to define session templates (trading hours).

Disadvantages:
- My favorite indicators have to be re-written from scratch. C# is far more powerful than EasyLanguage, so the hobbyist in me, the one seeking an automated strategy that trades while I guzzle cocktails on the beach, well he'll be sticking with NT for that development.

- No DOM. Yikes! No more to say. You can't trade with MC alone if you are a discretionary trader. Huge, huge disadvantage. But rumor has it, MC7 will fix that oversight and is only a few months away. The question becomes: will we get a v1.0 DOM, or will we get a v7.0 DOM (how good will it be?). Sure, it isn't a huge inconvenience for existing NT users to just have a DOM-only open and trade MC charts, but for new deployments it would really suck, and besides, I want a better DOM than what NT offers and my hopes are that MC will deliver one.

Tie:
- Community support. MultiCharts can piggy back on the TradeStation community, since the majority of all TradeStation indicators work in MultiCharts without modification. NinjaTrader has an huge community as well though, and while in shear numbers it isn't as large as the EasyLanguage community, the community makes up for size with quality.

I'm just getting started, so I'll post more soon.

Mike