moscu

At least it should show a cue that your post is pending when you look at the thread so you don't go posting again thinking it was an error. Moscu

I been looking to use MC because it capability to open a large amount of charts and using multiple CPUs. I have run the test of MC vs TS side by side and they charts seems to be pretty close. So I started to look for data feeds and I need Forex plus some futures. So of course I looked at IQFeed. I used their calculator to see how much it could cost. To my surprise it rung to $190.00 vs $138.00 for TS. That is more than if I keep tradestation as a data provider. Here is the comparison: IQFeed One-time Initiation Fee: $0.00 Monthly Basic Fee: $80.00 Monthly Exchange Fees: $45.00 Monthly Premium Fees: $65.00 MONTHLY RECURRING FEES: $190.00 CME E-mini [$30.00/month] CBOT E-mini [$15.00/month] ICE Indexes (Inc. Russell Minis) [$0.00/month] 500 Additional Simultaneous Symbol Limit [$40.00/m] Basic Forex Data (Barclays and FXCM) [$25.00/m] TOTAL FIRST MONTH FEES OWED: $190.00 Tradestation FOREX $0.00 Platform $100.00 NasD/NYSE/AMES $3.00 CBOT Data Package #1 Mini-Sized Package and Mini-Sized Market Depth $10.00 CME Data Package #1 E-mini Equity Package and E-mini Market Depth $25.00 ICE U.S. Data Package E-miNY Only #1 $0.00 Total $138.00 I added the 500 symbols to make a fair comparison since TS allows an unlimited number. Also since I use tick charts I like that TS can give you 6 months of data. I am not sure quality wise the two data feeds compare, but I think they will come pretty close. The next alternative would be Zen-Fire but Forex is "to be announced" plus they don't post prices. Zen-Fire does not have history going to long. From this I guess one can keep TS which gives you another platform. It is nice to be able to compare MC and TS to make sure your charts are plotting correctly. TS can be use in multiple computers for backtesting. The problem with TS is when a disconnect or at startup it takes for ever to lauch the desktops/workspaces. MC has a lighting speed to open charts plus it uses multiple CPUs. Moscu

Does anybody know if IB run stops like some other brokers. The reason I like them is that they charge a commission. That is the way they make money plus they are a Non Dealing Desk. Theoretically they should not be the counter party to your trade. I been using them for more than 2 years. I use stop limit orders to enter the market and sometimes they are almost a pip over the limit. I exit thru a stop and once in a while I get a fill that is more than 2 pips over my stop. I am a scalper seeking few pips in high volatility markets. I successfully trades during the flash crash (really good day) with IB. I did not see any slippage over the usual that day and even during high news. One con about them is their report and keeping track about your trades and profits. It is probably the worst report out there. I am interested in testing FXCM since it is the largest broker out there. I would like to hear from somebody that have day trade both. One thing I like from FXCM UK is that you can be both long/short in the same pair. This open a new set of trading strategies. For me the cost is very important since I am scalping. Last year I had one month where I paid $5000 in commissions and I was only able to make few hundreds. Since then I change my strategies to look for a bigger profit channel. but If I could get half the cost I could exploit the smaller moves for a few thousands a day. Another fact that intrigues me about the retail Forex is how the fills happen. The standard contact size is $100,000. So if you sent an order for $150,000 do they send $100,000 to the Intermarket and then fill $50,000 from their own market? Basically I would like to know if there is any advantage by trading multiples of the standard contract versus non-standard. Moscu

According to WSJ Forex trading has increased to a daily of 4.1 Trillion this year. So from Kiwi's post I could calculate that retail trading is now 656 Billion a day. Forex Trade Returns to Precrisis Levels - WSJ.com

I am not sure how much the retail Forex has increased but the total did from 3.5 to 4.1 trillion this years. My bet is that retail has also increased. That seems to be a good news. Forex Trade Returns to Precrisis Levels - WSJ.com Moscu