How much does you "trading rig" cost each month?

[Reaver 10]

How much does it cost you each month to trade, as far as data, platform, etc?

 

I am on a longer term scale right now, but am thinking about getting more intraday as my finances allow once I quit my full time job...I am trying to get a basic concensus on how much I should set aside for monthly bottom line expenses.

 

 

Thanks for the info.

[jperl 11]

How much does it cost you each month to trade, as far as data, platform, etc?

 

 

Data: I use interactive brokers. Data $10/month if I don't trade, otherwise just commissions which run $4.80 round trip. There may be other fees for other exchanges other than Globex or ECBOT.

 

Platform: charting software: Ensignsoftware which links to IB for data. $40.00/month

Front end for IB: zerolinetrader $70/year (yes that's for one year). Provides simple and effective DOM for one click trading including scale ins, scale outs and reversals.

 

Other than the computer itself, nothing else.

[TinGull 10]

I pay 50 bucks a month for my data plus exchange fees which I think racks up another 50-60 a month, InvestorRT for charting which is 40 bucks a month and commissions at 4.75 rt doing average 8-10 trades a week, so that'd be around 190 bucks a month for those.

 

All told around 330 a month. My internet is 30 bucks a month if you wanna count that in.

[Reaver 10]

Thanks for the responses....hey Tin I believe Think or Swim offers an internet rebate...didn't you used to use them?

[brownsfan019 17]

Nate - if you decide to daytrade futures, an inexpensive way to get going is to trade through Open ECry. Reason being they will provide you all the data you could possibly want, free charts and free trading software. Normally I cringe at hearing 'free' but this is not bad at all, esp if you are looking to test the water. You can also take their data and plug it into other charting services, like Multicharts, if you want a more robust charting platform.

 

So, at OEC, outside of your normal brokerage commissions and internet cost, there's no other fees if you use all their stuff. If you add in Multicharts, that's a one-time up-front cost.

 

Not bad in my opinion as I have at one point paid $100+/mo for data and $500/mo for my trading platform and then the cost of a charting package as well.

[TinGull 10]

I did used to use them and for 40+ trades a month I used to get a check back for 40 bucks to cover my internet expense. That was pretty sweet. No one else I've ever come across does that.

[Reaver 10]

I agree Tin. That is pretty unheard of.

 

Brownsfan, thanks for the info. This may be naive, but is it possible to use MP and open ecry, as far as using them for data etc as you mentioned? I imagine I'd be able to plug the data into an application that supported MP, but I just wanted to ask. Thanks.

[brownsfan019 17]

No idea Nate as I don't use MP. As long as you plug the data into a charting package that supports what you need, I don't see why not. For example, on Multicharts I can run minute charts, volume based, etc. etc. even though you cannot run all of those specifically on OEC's built trading software.

[Reaver 10]

Thanks man I will check it out Brownsfan. Good idea. I am kind of dense when it comes to the needs of a day trader...but I would definitely like to give it a shot as finances allow to see if it suits me better. Thanks for helping out.

[Soultrader 12]

I used to pay close to $300/month for data and platform. Plus another $100-$200 a month on trading book expenses. I found Sierra charts to be extremely cheap in terms of costs as well.

[TinGull 10]

Yea, if Sierra would have a platform for the Mac, I'd be ALL over it. IRT is the cheapest solution I've got for being on a Mac that I've been able to find.

[Reaver 10]

So it seems Sierra Charts is a good direction to lean. Thanks for the info.

 

We should all sign a petition for TinGull and send it to Sierra charts to make it compatible with Macs. LOL

[TinGull 10]

NO kiddin!!! So, for those who use Sierra, here's a Q. When I trial'd it a few months back I found it very clunky. (yes I do use some windows progs on my Mac via parallels) What was the learning curve? The reason I ask is because I would really like to do some cost cutting of my rig. If I were to use the 33 dollar Sierra with my TransAct feed, my cost would be 33 bucks a month instead of almost 200 a month. SOOOO....with all the headaches that I would endure using Windows alone, do you feel the headaches learning to use Sierra as well are worth the cost savings? If I have to I will use the PC side of my Mac more often...it'll hurt, but I can do it.

 

Thanks

[Reaver 10]

Yeah it seems saving $150 a month would be very beneficial to the bottom line. I am anxious to hear the answer as well, simply because it helps me get a running start on it all.

 

Right now I am using SMR and Ensign (about to drop ensign though, it's sort of redundant for what I am using it for). I'd like to know what kind of curve I'll be looking at once I make the switch.