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Scalping Micro e-Mini's is my day job - Is NT8 best for scalping?
My day job is scalping Micro e-Mini futures. I have tried swing trading and have bad experiences. I have been scalping Forex for nearly 15 years before moving over to Futures. I make plenty of income to support my family and my risk management is ironclad.
QuestionWhat Platform is best for scalping Micro e-mini's?
What drew me to Ninjatrader was that I can see the candlestick charts tick value with Kinetick. I like that I can use custom addons to get in depth understanding of the volume. I like the custom super-trend indicators like red bearish and green bullish, etc.
Before I get married to NinjaTrader is there a better platform that is ideal for Scalping?
I use both Sierra Chart and Ninjatrader. I only use Ninjatrader in demo. I prefer Sierra Chart for scalping. Seems to me that Sierra Chart is faster in execution, but I'm just going by how it feels. And some of that could be because Ninjatrader is in demo mode. I like the options for indicators better on Sierra Chart. However, as you mentioned, there are some ana and ama indicators by fattails that are great. The ones you mentioned are also in Sierra Chart. It really boils down to what criteria you use for placing trades and which platform has the best performance of what you need.
Multicharts is good, and there's a few others I've tried, but I always come back to Sierra Chart.
Just as a suggestion, put a little money into AMP as a "savings account" if you don't want to trade it, and try out their free platforms. Sierra Chart package 3 is one of them. If you use orderflow you'll need to pay for package 5. If you can get by with top of the book data, it will hardly cost a thing each month while you figure out your plan.
Bookmap or Jigsaw could be just what you need. Bookmap is eye opening to how orders are placed and filled. I tried it for a month a couple years ago. I think it's worth taking a look at, if you haven't already. Jigsaw is similar, but has different features, and is more costly.
There are faster and more expensive platforms that I've heard are great for scalpers. Easy to find if you do a little research.
One more suggestion: you can get a feel for Bookmap by going to their youtube site and watching a few videos. It was eye opening to me when I first saw them, after having traded forex and being taught some wrong information that Bookmap cleared up.
Trading: The one I'm creating in the present....Index Futures mini/micro, ZF
Posts: 2,311 since Nov 2011
Thanks Given: 7,341
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To me a platform in this business is like a favorite food. Nobody can tell you which one is yours, but you. (maybe your mother...lol...????)
The way I see it ...it all evens out in the wash. All software has strengths and weaknesses. What matters is finding something you can live with. Problems or issues in one platform will be different in another. But they all have their own. Switching platforms usually just means exchanging one set of problems for another. Nothing is going to be perfect. It is created by imperfect beings. Hence, it too has flaws.
I personally think NT8 is amazing. Super-fast. Extremely stable. But I have incredibly good hardware, which helps. But then I have been using Ninja for years. Starting back in NT6. So, I know it well.
I feel NT8 is great for scalping. I don't feel I do that. But from another point of view they might consider me a scalper. My trades usually last a few hours. Looking to cross a range of value.
Ron
...My calamity is My providence, outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy...
The steed of this Valley is pain; and if there be no pain this journey will never end.
Buy Low And Sell High (read left to right or right to left....lol)
I second this. There is no "best" (there may be some that aren't that great, but that's another story. )
I used NT from version 6.5 through a good part of the life to date of 8.0, and it's perfectly fine.
I use Sierra Chart now and I think it's better, but that's entirely and only my preference. Pick one and use it for a while, then decide. There are about a billion threads on FIO (maybe 2 billion) about what is the best platform, or why is x better/worse than y. The question will never be settled.
Also, "scalping" means different things to different people, not only in terms of the length of the time of the trades (my ideal time is a few minutes, but @Blash's "few hours" can also be called scalping by some) but also in terms of the methods. Not to get into any of that, except to say that "scalping" is not just one thing to all people. If you give NT a try, perhaps just in sim mode as part of a trial offer, you will know soon enough if you can work with it or not, the way you want to trade, and nothing else matters.
Good luck.
Bob.
When one door closes, another opens.
-- Cervantes, Don Quixote
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