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I noticed Ninjatrader with the most posts......
Just curious if there has been a discussion as to the strengths and weaknesses of each platform....
I am a technical trader......hate the news.......lol
Anyhow if anyone can point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.....
I don't write scripts in TOS.......I basically copy and paste......sorry......
I am not at that level YET........
However if i decide to learn to script......I plan on sticking to one platform for trading.......
I am trying to decide which one would be best to stick with ......instead of continuing to change platforms......
Thanks
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
In the end, it depends on the criteria that you define. Personally, I do not want to be married to a broker, but prefer a tool that works with various brokers:
-> this excludes TradeStation
-> this excludes ThinkOrSwim
I do not consider toys:
-> this excludes QuoteTracker
-> this excludes QCharts
I have a personal dislike for some coding languages
-> this excludes Amibroker
-> this excludes ESignal
I am not talking about quality, usability, but personal preferences here.
Most important, check the user base
I am looking at the user base, as I do not want to be the only one to use that platform. Without a strong user base the software company will lack the funds to develop the platform and keep it up-to-date. Here are some of the candidates, which do not develop their user base in a sufficient way (in alphabetical order):
-> this excludes Amibroker (no forum, external forum is dead)
-> this excludes Ensign Windows (no forum)
-> this excludes Investor R/T (no active user base)
-> this excludes MarketDelta (no forum)
-> this excludes Metastock(forum with 13,000 members, no post today)
-> this excludes Neoticker (forum with 77,000 members, 1 single post on the forum today)
-> this excludes Neuroshell Trader(could not find any forum)
-> this excludes OpenQuant (forum with 7,000 members, 3 posts today)
-> this excludes Trader's Studio (forum is dead)
-> this excludes Wealth Lab (forum is dead)
Metastock, Neoticker and Wealthlab is software from yesterday. It is declining and will probably dissappear from the market sooner than later.
Recommended platforms (my personal choice)
Now if you look for an affordable software platform with an active user base, then you are probably limited to (in alphabetical order)
If you are a FOREX trader, you may consider MetaTrader as well. Many FOREX brokers use MetaTrader as their platform. What you install on your PC is only the front-end. The broker has the backend allowing him to analyse your trades (or trade against you).
Expensive platforms
If you are trading futures and can afford it, you may also have a look at
What about releases? IRT/MD and SC releases 10-20 versions between NT releases?
There is also a distinction to be made between charting applications such as Investor/RT, and all-in-one platforms.
Using CQG Trader and I/RT for charting/analysis is a very good solution for a discretionary trader. CTS T4 with SC is another excellent solution.
It's important to note that S&P Capital IQ recently bought QuantHouse, and apparently OpenQuant will once again open the institutional framework. That should be quite interesting for .NET developers.
All in all, these platforms are just tools. People tend to get emotional and feel a need to defend their choice, but that's just stupid. Use whatever gets the job done best. Different people have different needs...
All retail platforms suck. All retail feeds suck. You will get bad, delayed or missing data and your platform will freeze at the worst time -- and retail software is severely lacking on the service side.
There is one way to get around all that, of course; trade the bigger swings. You could phone in your orders; it wouldn't matter...
