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Most Reliable Multicharts Broker (Specific Criteria)
I want to use Multicharts automated trading to trade only liquid futures contracts (GC, CL, SI, ES, YM, etc). I plan to have the system up and running 24 hours a day, trading through the night. I have an alternative backup internet and an alternative backup power. I know that automated trading systems must be watched closely, and modified accordingly, especially in their infancy and adolescence. Being that I cannot be awake 24/7, my priority in choosing a Multicharts broker is reliability when I cannot watch it.
I've been doing my own research but the opinions of experienced members in these forums is always of great value. If you have first hand experience in using a Multicharts broker for automated trading, please do make a suggestion. I would greatly appreciate your insight.
Considering the specific criteria below, what is the best brokerage firm for Multicharts?
1 - Reliability: The brokerage firm's systems are rock solid in reliability and almost never go down (except for weekend updates). Multicharts will be Automated Trading even when I am not present. So reliability is paramount. Meaning all across the board the brokerage firm's connection to Multicharts is a tried-and-true reliable one. This means the brokerage firm's ORDER system and POSITION tracker system has no issues communicating with multicharts and does it flawlessly. (There is no point to reliable software and hardware on my end if the brokerage firm's back end systems are not reliable or have communication issues with Multicharts.)
One example of reliability might be if you have knowledge of any of the Multicharts automated brokers not having system crashes during the flash crash of May, 6th 2010. If a brokerage firm was still receiving and routing orders to the exchanges properly during the flash crash of 2010, that is worthy of being mentioned here.
There is a clear distinction between a brokerage firm's reliability for Automated Trading and the quality of their Live Data Feed. However, feel free to give extra points to the brokerage firm if their live data feed into Multicharts is also fast and reliable / does not drop out.
2 - Good to Great Execution: Fast order routing and decent fills on orders (including stop orders). Naturally market conditions will greatly affect order fills, I understand this. I just need the brokerage firm to do their part. Which is to have fast reliable execution through Multicharts' Automated Trading.
Some brokerage firms have reliable execution and decent fills on 10 minute time frames or larger only. Meanwhile other brokerage firms can deliver good execution on time frames as small as 100 TICK, or even smaller. I believe in trading multiple products on multiple time frames, so I am looking for the firm that has great execution and great fills across all time frames and does not falter on smaller time frames. However, I am not interested in nano-second high frequency trading or 1 tick, or 5 tick charts.
* You can neglect commissions cost; If necessary, I can lease seats from the exchanges to lower commissions cost.
* You can neglect data HISTORY; I use other sources for data history and backtesting. An uninterrupted LIVE DATA FEED to Multicharts is far more important than data history.
It may be the case that the best combination is one firm for the most reliable data (like DTN IQ) and another firm to be used as the broker for execution. If this is the route you suggest please suggest at least one for each (at least one firm for data and at least one firm for brokerage) My priorities remain unchanged, centering on reliability and execution.
Thanks!
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
I have read your entire post, and I have a number of suggestions and comments.
1) Do Not leave automated systems unattended. You seek 100% guarantees that a system that might not go down, and that is impossible. Consider that exchanges could go down, and as such, you want to monitor what happens when the glitch is over.
2) Here is another creative solution for you: Try two different tara feeds for different instruments and accounts to see which one executes better for you. I recommend one of the data feeds to be Rithmic, and you can choose something else like CQG.
3) Regarding flash crash (2010): the issue was not the stability of the feeds, and if I go by memory both Rithmic and CQG were pretty stable. The issue was the spread that went 12 points wide on the ES, so those automated trading systems that were trading short time intervals could have been triggering orders left and right. In an event like this besides stability you are concerned with liquidity and spreads. You should close out everything in an event like this, and this is why you should not leave a system unattended.
4) For MC the DTN/IQ combo would be good because so many of the executable data feeds lack historical data.
James To from DTN/IQ will give you really good service and assisted many of our customers, just as a side note.
Lastly, this is not a self-promotion statement but a fact that brokers say "We have this feed..." and " this platform.." in reality very few know the short coming of or the benefits of the technology they use, and with automated trading systems you must be set up right for execution, hosting and redundancy.
Thanks,
Matt
There is a substantial risk of loss in futures trading.
Trading futures and options involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. You may lose more than your initial investment. All posts are opinions and do not claim to be facts. Please conduct your own due diligence. Use only Risk capital when trading Futures.
1 800 771 6748 local 561 367 8686 email [email protected]
You are most welcome. You are on the right track using MultiCharts for automation.
I wish you the best of luck.
Matt
Trading futures and options involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. You may lose more than your initial investment. All posts are opinions and do not claim to be facts. Please conduct your own due diligence. Use only Risk capital when trading Futures.
1 800 771 6748 local 561 367 8686 email [email protected]
I just spoke on the phone for about 40 minutes with Matt of Optimus Futures. He answered questions I had about Automated Trading for 40 minutes straight. If you guys need to talk to someone about this topic, I found Matt's knowledge on automated futures trading and hosting to be tremendously helpful.
Optimus Futures is one firm I am considering as they do provide solutions to what I am looking for. But what impressed me was despite their own solutions being a good fit, Matt also proposed numerous alternative solutions to me to consider, some of which were of no benefit to him or his firm. Thanks Matt!