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Zen-Fire vs Trading Technologies vs DTN IQ


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Zen-Fire vs Trading Technologies vs DTN IQ

  #1 (permalink)
 timefreedom 
Indianapolis, IN USA
 
Experience: Advanced
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I have used (and like) Zen Fire data but it would be nice to view daily bars and it would also be nice to have access to $TICK data (and perhaps other internals such as $TRIN or $PREM, etc.). How does Trading Technologies and DTN IQ data compare to Zen Fire in terms of reliability, pricing and access to market internals? Thanks.

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  #2 (permalink)
 
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 Big Mike 
Manta, Ecuador
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timefreedom View Post
I have used (and like) Zen Fire data but it would be nice to view daily bars and it would also be nice to have access to $TICK data (and perhaps other internals such as $TRIN or $PREM, etc.). How does Trading Technologies and DTN IQ data compare to Zen Fire in terms of reliability, pricing and access to market internals? Thanks.



I think it's important to also consider your platform. Using NT, I've had data from eSignal, IB, Zen Fire, and IQfeed.

Zen Fire is the best in my opinion, not only in actual raw tick data and no problems/anomalies, but also with integration into Ninja.

I would rate eSignal second best, but also is very expensive.

I would rate IQfeed third best, it is semi-expensive and has some data flaws (irregular spikes/anomalies that if you email them, they will "fix" (ie: delete) which is kinda worrisome) but its major flaw was NT integration, the client API left much to be desired and had much slower performance than Zen, which is native to NT.

I would rate IB last, at terrible and to be avoided at all costs, not only due to poor data but also the crappiest integration with Ninja and the most problems as a result.

I, too, want $TICK and etc with Zen. But I've lived without it for over a year. I may try again when NT7 is final, and will try IQfeed again since it is the only 64-bit client available for NT except for IB, which I wouldn't touch. (eSignal has no x64 port). I guess it is my wishful thinking than with the new x64 API on IQfeed that they may have fixed some prior bugs, but in reality it's probably the opposite... ugh. Only time would tell.

Mike

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  #3 (permalink)
 
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 TraderJ 
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I think IB is fine for minute / daily data but dont use their tick data.
With IB, you would have to make your own continuous futures contracts if you want to backtest a strategy.
I use IB to trade live, but on half hour bars.

DTN IQFeed is good but slow. (esignal is fastest). You get 2+ (maybe 3) years of futures historical minute data which is better than esignal. Unfortunately the way they make their continuous contracts sucks. They just have fixed day swapover and with no backadjust. This works ok for some (like CL, ES) which move to the following month on the particular day. It sucks enormously on things like gold which kind of have 3 active contracts. The most active is not necessarily the nearest month.

esignal is fastest and the continuous contracts are organised best, but you dont get as much historical data (last time I checked) and it is expensive when all you are using it for is strategy development. I am considering getting esignal ondemand and then exporting continuous contracts and importing them into ninjatrader. Anyone else done that?

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  #4 (permalink)
 
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 gdplus1 
Chicago
 
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To trade eminis, a data feed with the following symbols $TRIN, $TICK, $PREM, $ADV will be very usefull. To get datafeed with symbols like $TRIN, $TICK, $PREM, $ADV, there is a cost effective data feed from TraderBytes for $15 on over 700 indexes and they have a 1 month free trial too.

I think this datafeed using the free quotetracker with it's charting and paintbars will help until the Ninja7 option. My 2 cents.

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  #5 (permalink)
HarryThompson
nashville,TN
 
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Hi,
I use zen-fire as a backup feed and have found that on busy volume moments it tends to lag a bit. Over all though it is excellent for free. I wish IB would start collecting real tick data since I use it to trade from. I hate having 1 feed to view charts and another to trade from since they always differ a small amount.

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  #6 (permalink)
 hurderp 
Chicago, IL
 
Experience: Intermediate
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Just a thought for those who want market internals, which I use religiously when trading indexes like TF, for example.

Open an account at ThinkOrSwim. Their platform has come a long way, and setting up internals is a snap. There are no monthly charges or minimums, and it's nice to have if you want to dabble in a multitude of stocks, futures, fx or options. It's all in the same platform, no changing between accounts.

I use NT to trade futures, but also keep ThinkOrSwim open for internals, at least.

Hope this helps.

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  #7 (permalink)
 
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 papa15 
Wake Forest, NC
 
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Can anyone give a good lay-man explanation of the difference between Zen-Fire and TT data feeds. For the average retail trader is there a noticable difference? How do these data feeds compare to the data feed from Open E Cry?

Thanks for helping a non-techie out.

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  #8 (permalink)
 
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 Big Mike 
Manta, Ecuador
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papa14 View Post
Can anyone give a good lay-man explanation of the difference between Zen-Fire and TT data feeds. For the average retail trader is there a noticable difference? How do these data feeds compare to the data feed from Open E Cry?

Thanks for helping a non-techie out.

TT is filtered, I believe it comes in 250ms bursts. There is also no historical backfill with TT. I know that Amp for instance charges an extra .25c or so rt for Zen Fire, so I guess TT is cheaper, but I would really go for Zen Fire if you are using NT.

Never used Open E Cry. But have used eSignal and IQfeed, and Zen Fire is pretty much the best if you only need futures data and use NT.

Mike

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  #9 (permalink)
 waverider 
Brisbane Australia
 
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Just to add my 2 cents.

I use ZenFire and back it up with a secondary connection to IQ for EOD data and internals (and you could add FX if you liked). I've actually had less issues with IQ than with ZF in Ninja ... Perhaps because they have fixed problems, perhaps because I don't use them for live contract data (just live internals) ... I never get disconnects or anything...

I'd like to know other cheap options for internals, and can offer one myself. Fund a small account at Think Or Swim and you get their charting package which is really quite neat. You don't have to trade with them, and the data is live, including all the internals, sectors, and a myriad of other data ... just an option .. I know some people do this ...

Regards,

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  #10 (permalink)
 
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 Snoop 
Toronto, Ontario
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: NinjaTrader, Multicharts
Broker: IB, IQfeed
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I contacted iqfeed tech support via chat yesterday. I've had an ongoing cable issue but wanted to rule out a vendor issue. Person helped me determine the problem was elsewhere. Now I'm not much for customer service (I prefer relaibility and never having to talk to them) but I couldn't help but be impressed when someone from iqfeed called me today to follow up and make certain there were no lingering issues. Quality.


On anothe note: I stumbled upon an email that some of you might be interested in given zenfire's many problems recently. It was dated Aug 16th following an ISP outage and noted some proposed changes that would please most users:
As the premier network and market data solution, Zen-Fire is implementing the following steps to prevent or minimize the impact of large-scale internet outages in the future.

1. Inform traders of a potential issue

Zen-Fire is working to integrate a RSS feed alerting users of the status of Internet connections. This service will be used to alert potential issues and keep traders informed on the latest developments.


2. Provide an alternate login to check order status and flatten positions

A new web based trading application will be available next month that will provide a mechanism for traders to check the real-time status of orders and positions. Traders will be able to send a 'Flatten' command directly to the engine and avoid any 3rd party trading application. This tool will only show orders that have made it to the engine and can be used to confirm the status of 'pending' orders on other platforms.


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Last Updated on May 8, 2013


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