OEC Questions

[n00btrader 10]

Considering the OEC platform, have some questions..

 

1. Has it ever gone down for you or given you problems?

2. How does it compare speed and reliability wise to TransAct, Ninja/Zenfire, TT, CQG?

3. What do you pay as negotiated commission rate? Cheaper to go through an IB? Which one?

4. Does it manage positions overnight/maintain GTC stops?

5. Can you define multiple custom OCO bracket order settings and save them, like NinjaTrader ATM strategies?

6. Their site says orders are held server side. So is it not direct market access then since orders are routed to their servers first, before going to the exchanges? How much delay does this induce?

7. Is the demo account, live market data? I compared what they list as GCL to CL on TOS, I assume they are the same CL contract, and the OEC qoutes were off?

8. Can you use their market replay type feature if you haven't recorded the market session you want to replay yourself, ie can you download the replay data from them, like you can on Ninja and TOS? Can you trade this market replay?

 

Thanks!

[brownsfan019 17]

Considering the OEC platform, have some questions..

 

1. Has it ever gone down for you or given you problems?

It has gone down from time-to-time but nothing in recent memory. It constantly improves with each new upgrade.

2. How does it compare speed and reliability wise to TransAct, Ninja/Zenfire, TT, CQG?

You'd have to get a demo for all of them and size it up for yourself. OEC's speed has never been an issue for me.

3. What do you pay as negotiated commission rate? Cheaper to go through an IB? Which one?

What each trader pays is negotiable and is a function of the size being traded. I do not know if it's cheaper through an IB as I trade directly through OEC.

4. Does it manage positions overnight/maintain GTC stops?

You can manage overnight positions through the software.

5. Can you define multiple custom OCO bracket order settings and save them, like NinjaTrader ATM strategies?

I do not use the custom OCO thing in OEC trader, but there is a very nice custom order designer w/in the software.

6. Their site says orders are held server side. So is it not direct market access then since orders are routed to their servers first, before going to the exchanges? How much delay does this induce?

You will not notice any delay on your orders. This also means that if YOUR computer goes down, your orders are still out there which is a huge thing for me personally. If my computer or internet goes down, my exit orders are out there.

7. Is the demo account, live market data? I compared what they list as GCL to CL on TOS, I assume they are the same CL contract, and the OEC qoutes were off?

I believe demo is live data but there could be some nuisances with it. You'll have to contact OEC directly to see why the demo data could be off from another vendor. The best comparison is live data to live data. Demo is there to play with and test things out.

8. Can you use their market replay type feature if you haven't recorded the market session you want to replay yourself, ie can you download the replay data from them, like you can on Ninja and TOS? Can you trade this market replay?

Thanks!

No idea on this as I don't use market replay. Maybe someone else can chime in that uses this feature.

[Moyyim 10]

6. Their site says orders are held server side. So is it not direct market access then since orders are routed to their servers first, before going to the exchanges? How much delay does this induce?

Not noticed any delay. Its important for me orders are server side and worth checking with any broker. I'd note that "bracket orders" using the "Strategy Order Builder" are held on the clients PC. I dont use the S.O.B so not an issue for me.

 

7. Is the demo account, live market data? I compared what they list as GCL to CL on TOS, I assume they are the same CL contract, and the OEC qoutes were off?

Are you comparing OEC demo to live TOS ?...I believe the TOS demo is delayed data

[n00btrader 10]

IYou can manage overnight positions through the software.

 

Not noticed any delay. Its important for me orders are server side and worth checking with any broker. I'd note that "bracket orders" using the "Strategy Order Builder" are held on the clients PC. I dont use the S.O.B so not an issue for me.

 

Are you comparing OEC demo to live TOS ?...I believe the TOS demo is delayed data

 

 

Thanks for all the replies.

 

To clarify, on the overnight positions, is there a minimum account size needed, ie 25k, to get GTC stops that don't have to be re-entered after the close/re-open each day, like some futures day trading brokers, ie TransAct, do?

 

What is the point of server side orders if they are not available for OCO? My understanding is that with brokers that don't offer server side orders, any order other than the OCO bracket feature actually resides directly at the exchange. It is only OCO orders that reside client side anyway. I don't see the benefit here from server side orders over other brokers if its not available in OCO.

 

Yes, TOS live is my current charting platform and what I would compare to. I did not see OEC CL demo data match my TOS live data. Are there different live vs demo feeds with OEC?

[trader4 10]

Regarding your first question, which is the most important, I would definitely have a backup system, and plan on Open E Cry going down or having a connection disruption once a week. OEC rarely gives warning or acknowledgement when server issues are occuring. Questions regarding connection issues have been posted on message boards for the past few years. Normally company spokespeople will state it is your problem with your internet connection. OEC has positve aspects, but connectivity issues are not one of them. Just be aware that they will occur. This morning it happened to me all ready, not a major disruption, but the DOM went blank for a brief period. The firm, now owned by OPXS, should dedicate more funds to server and client support and remedy connection issues.

[brownsfan019 17]

Regarding your first question, which is the most important, I would definitely have a backup system, and plan on Open E Cry going down or having a connection disruption once a week. OEC rarely gives warning or acknowledgement when server issues are occuring. Questions regarding connection issues have been posted on message boards for the past few years. Normally company spokespeople will state it is your problem with your internet connection. OEC has positve aspects, but connectivity issues are not one of them. Just be aware that they will occur. This morning it happened to me all ready, not a major disruption, but the DOM went blank for a brief period. The firm, now owned by OPXS, should dedicate more funds to server and client support and remedy connection issues.

 

WHAT? Once a week it's down?

 

No way. I am on this thing Mon-Fri and it has not been down in any recent memory.

 

Your statement is blatantly false and incredibly misleading.

[daedalus 10]

^+1

 

 

I've been with them almost a year now and i've only remembered them going down once in that time period.

 

But to put that in context for you previously I was with TradeStation and they would be down almost weekly at some points.

[trader4 10]

OEC was down for more than 15 minutes two weeks ago, and today it had been down since 11:30 AM EST – more than an hour. In no way is saying there are connectivity problems with Open E Cry false or misleading. If you work for Open E Cry recommend to OptionsXpress that they provide more server support or at the least provide alerts when connectivity issues are occurring. Open E Cry has many good aspects, but NO ONE should deny issues exist with connectivity. If someone is considering Open E Cry as a trading platform they should be aware that problems do occur, any attempt to deny this is fiducially irresponsible. It is more important that Open E Cry works to become a better platform than shirk accountability and jeopardize client funds.

[SIUYA 11]

I had my first OEC outage today - been using for 3 months now and this was the first.....not a problem as i was ready to pack up and had no positions on.

[MBAGearhead 10]

Quotes and DOMs were out today for less than a minute (just my guesstimate) but charts did not work for 30-45 min. after that. They slowly came back and began to populate. I called and they said they lost chart data for just a blip but with all client's trading software calling for data all at the same time after the blip, the servers were bogged down and it would take time to repopulate all the chart data. This also happened a month or two ago as I recall. Overall not bad considering DOMs worked, orders worked, etc. I agree with Trader4 that it would be nice if they sent out an alert to notify clients of issues!

[trader273 10]

Nothing is perfect all of the time. Now if you want to see real problems with outages and slow charts, give TS a try:rofl:

[Tams 20]

OEC was down for more than 15 minutes two weeks ago, and today it had been down since 11:30 AM EST – more than an hour. In no way is saying there are connectivity problems with Open E Cry false or misleading. If you work for Open E Cry recommend to OptionsXpress that they provide more server support or at the least provide alerts when connectivity issues are occurring. Open E Cry has many good aspects, but NO ONE should deny issues exist with connectivity. If someone is considering Open E Cry as a trading platform they should be aware that problems do occur, any attempt to deny this is fiducially irresponsible. It is more important that Open E Cry works to become a better platform than shirk accountability and jeopardize client funds.

 

My friend has been simming on this thing Mon-Fri and it has not been down in any recent memory.

You must be trading real money.

[brownsfan019 17]

Yep, there was an outage on Thurs.

 

Came back and was good after that.

 

Now if only those that ACTUALLY TRADE ON THIS could comment here that would be nice. But some think their opinion is needed all over the forums, even w/ something they know nothing about.

[brownsfan019 17]

8-2-10 Update: Software running as expected.

[brownsfan019 17]

8-3-10 Update: Software running as expected.

[brownsfan019 17]

Update since last update: Software running as expected

 

Thought it'd be good to track the good days since a couple only want to focus on the occasional blip. Maybe we'll find that the software does run as expected the overwhelming majority of the time.

[brownsfan019 17]

Update since last update: Software running as expected

[brownsfan019 17]

Update since last update: Software running as expected

[MBAGearhead 10]

OEC (live platform) had a reconnect just after 9:30 CDT. They said just after it happened that cause was unknown. Quotes and DOMs work but I have mostly blank charts so cannot trade. They are slowly repopulating as every client is likely maxing out their server's output to download chart data. Hopefully this only caused me to miss LOSING soybean trades...

 

UPDATE: 10:03 CDT - all my charts are finally back up. Now that I can see soybean charts - I missed a soybean short signal that I would have made $1600 on and a long that I would have lost $600. Thanks OEC for costing me $1000! I will let this forum know if/when they report what caused this outage and what they are doing to prevent it from happening again.

Edited August 25, 2010 by MBAGearhead

[no_sandbags 10]

Perhaps it was you that cost yourself $1000, by choosing

not to have a back-up system . . . if that is the case

 

Considering that a decent back-up can be had in the

neighborhood of $25/month, the cost is not even a factor

based on your experience this morning

 

Few professionals would choose to play this game

without options. And I don't care what or who you use,

there will be problems from time to time . . .

[MBAGearhead 10]

Perhaps it was you that cost yourself $1000, by choosing

not to have a back-up system . . . if that is the case

 

Considering that a decent back-up can be had in the

neighborhood of $25/month, the cost is not even a factor

based on your experience this morning

 

Few professionals would choose to play this game

without options. And I don't care what or who you use,

there will be problems from time to time . . .

 

Thanks but this thread is about OEC not about other options. Quotes and DOMs were down briefly too so unless your $25/mo. backup can transfer my trading capital in seconds to another broker and I can place the same orders there, your point is moot. Of course every broker has problems from time to time but that doesn't mean we have to accept that as a fact of retail trading. We must continue to push our brokers to develop software, redundancies, and infrastructure that virtually NEVER fails.

[no_sandbags 10]

View it as you see fit . . .

 

And yes, a back-up system entails having another broker

already in place

 

Problems ARE a fact of trading and the technology systems

we use, and not just on the retail level

 

View it as you see fit . . . just don't blame your results on

someone else

[trader4 10]

No one here has blamed their results on anyone else. Technology latency is an issue to contend with, but when it happens this often you have to question the capability of company causing it. At the very least OEC should state why their operations are encountering problems with connectivity and what they are doing to prevent it in the future.

[MBAGearhead 10]

ChrisM at OEC said the brief disconnect was caused by too much load on the server. They have allocated additional resources to that server to greatly minimize, when a disconnection does occur, the amount of time it takes for the server to catch up on all of the data requests. He agreed that improved communication to OEC customers when problems occur would be helpful and is passing along this concern.

 

That's all I know for now. Until next time...

[Coicah 10]

After playing with various trading platforms out there, I have to say OEC Trader is by far the most visually appealing and user-friendly. What's the deal with most of the broker software out there looking like it was written in 1985? I have to give OEC major credit for making such an appealing product with a modern feel.

 

The connectivity issues seem to be the biggest problems plaguing OEC and that's truly a shame because I thought I had finally found the perfect broker for me after falling in love with the software. Seeing as how this thread hasn't been updated since August, connectivity issues have either improved or did everyone leave this broker?