Meta Trader Data Delays

[Eric Johnson 10]

Hi, hope to save somebody some money. I have CMS forex free charting for Meta trader and VT Trading Systems. During fast moving markets the Meta trader delays and drops live data, also back fill data, sometimes skewing indicators. VT keeps up much better. I like the older VT trader version 2.0. it crashes less.

I posted some forex trading ideas on the technical trading forum. Also I programmed some alerts for moving average envelope bands for VT or Quote tracker, posted on the coding forum.

[FXLegalEagle 10]

Hi Eric,

During fast moving markets the Meta trader delays and drops live data, also back fill data,

 

Could you elabroate and explain this, as I intend to trade through FXCM Australia and ALPARI UK. Do you see me facing any data and feed delays with them and is there anywhere of checking for feed delays. Especially during the News breaks.

 

Thanks your input would be much appreciated.

Rgeards

Kev.

[Eric Johnson 10]

Hi, the reason I mentioned it is because I am supposed to have data feeds from the same company, and MT delays quotes. There are ways to improve it, like making sure there are not too many data feeds (market watch window) open. For my testing I had about 3 pair charts open for both platforms.

I recommend getting a MB Trading free demo account, and /or a VT Trader free demo charting account. Especially the MB gives me a pretty reliable stream and will time stamp quotes if you set it up properly in the watchlist window (right click on the column label and add time). It has a charting beta version, but it can be unstable with it running.

If your MT demo just temporarily freezes up, or has data gaps in back fill, it is not a good sign. Otherwise do the testing during announcements comparing quotes. Keep in mind that they will not be exact, as MB has a variable spread, and you may have a fixed spread. The delay that I am talking about can be up to 10 seconds, so you will see it if it is major. Also I usually use the EUR /USD because it has the high volume.

Good luck with this, VT trader is my preferred platform and has free feeds. I do use MT for longer term charts, because it is a more stable platform. VT is just technically amazing, and does offer auto trading and custom indicator alerts. Anyhow let me know if you have set up questions.

[BlowFish 10]

Do you find VT's 'bookie' feed matches MB on the whole? I guess so as you are using it for charts.

[Eric Johnson 10]

Yes they move very closely, there is also a time stamp VT also. Of course during fast moves there is only a sampling of the thousands of orders per minute, at intervals available. I can trade pretty well off VT charts to my actual fills on MB. Actually there is time stamps on the MT market watch window (right click on the word "symbol" and select time). They do not include seconds though. I think you can delete the extra pairs so you are not streaming too many at once.

Edited February 3, 2010 by Eric Johnson