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It is not the same. As far as I understand, Ninjatrader has their own server at the CQG facility. Therefore I assume that they don't have the same redundant infrastructure as CQG, but I am not too familiar with their set-up. E.g., CQG separates real-time and historical data, thus further reducing latency.
CQG is arguably the best charting platform there is. You can do almost everything and their data is flawless. Their order routing is really good speed-wise, and you also have various "Smart Order" types. Connectivity with MATLAB and Excel via RTD. Functions like the Order Ticker and TFlow with Pre-Trade Analytics are quite useful. The Formula Toolbox makes it easy for non-programmers (like myself) to get started. The autospreader is supposedly very good, but I have not used it.
CTS is also rock solid, but it lacks some functionality such as ATM (pre-fixed targets for scaling), and I think their DOM "jumps" around too much. But it seems you can remedy those issues by wrapping Sierra Charts around it (?). Frankly, I'm surprised more don't use that combination. I assume it is because it's not that visually appealing as other options, but I prefer stability over aesthetics..
CTS offers great value. They even let you have access to their API for free. I have not used their historical data, so I can't comment on that.
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
All this sounds like very subjective bias. Problems you are describing are non existent in real life situations as they are not backed by reality facts/needs. Look at your internet latency in ms (use ping for that) and you will see how many ms approx your feed is lagging (that's best possible scenario) plus processing delay of your PC. Even if you have strategy that places orders, meaning reaction to price data is "immediate" you will still have outgoing tcp/ip latency, not mentioning data server processing delay to accept you order. All that exceeds your 100ms for sure. And no so called professional rely on microsecond order deliveries, even on banks. They trade big blocks that take time to fill. That inventory lurks for long time in market, so even 1second delay to enter/exit means nothing. The only exceptional category of "professionals" are HFT robots, but AFAIK these do not use ordinary PC's and ordinary links to exchanges. These use custom hardware and custom chips to move orders and calculate logic.
Second, where did you get those funny HZ numbers for charting? It's obvious, that the faster 64bit pc you have the better it will crunch anything and HZ number will change. Even if we suppose that NT7charting code is slow running NT7 64bit on faster machine completely nullifies this delay. Usually not a chart but indicators on it lag and slow chart then. On fast machine you should be unable to differentiate any chart formation differences on any platform so where is problem then? I would like to see real life profiling information on chart speeds for NT7 vs MC, SC, I/RT, etc until then it's all marketing speculations. Btw. personally I got impression that "Professional" CQG trader is slower that NT7. And yes, I know a lot o professionals that use NT7.
Third I'd like to see person who is capable reading and reacting (taking orders) on 100ms chart. If you have strategy that trades at those speeds (would like to learn logic and scripting language of it ) your chart can show slower dataseries and strategy can use faster internal dataseries.
Lornz, I did compare CQG Trader (through AMP Trading) and CQG Integrated Client (through CQG directly) and observed no difference in visible latency, using their respective DOMs. I cannot at all, speak to the back-end of the implementation. Thanks for the information.
Also, the jumping on the CTS DOM of which you speak, is likely related to their buffering levels. You need their 'FastSmart/FastTrade' buffer to get the fastest data from them. This comes with the $200/mo package. The basic, $25 package, includes 'Normal/Smart' buffering which does filter DOM data. The Sierra Chart implementation uses 'FastTrade' which is unbuffered/unfiltered.
I agree on aesthetics vs performance. Sierra Chart, in particular, could be 'prettier', but it is very efficient and highly functional. It is also rather inexpensive.
I too am surprised more do not take advantage of it, as made obvious in my posts.
Sierra Chart, in its default form, is not the prettiest software ever conceived. It is highly configurable though, and can be adjusted to look rather appealing. That aside, it is quite efficient and fairly priced. It has been far more stable for me than NinjaTrader ever was, for my purposes. I believe it is coded only in C++. CTS T4, however, is coded in .NET/C++. I agree that the usability of Sierra Chart needs some work. It is not as intuitive as it could be.
Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I've only used the $25 package as a back-up.
It's hard to beat the X_Trader DOM, though. Add CQG IC for charting, and you got the ideal setup for intraday discretionary trading (imo). If you can stomach the $4000 a month, that is... (I can't)
I am interested in how you trade to see the big differences you are talking about. I have only traded with NT, TS, SC and agree that SC is the most stable of those 3, but boy is it a pain to work with. TS is the most user-friendly, but slow and NT is the middle for me.
Never even heard of CQG, but will check it out. Seems interesting. I just look at how I trade and it would only impact me in very fast moving markets of which I tend to stay out. Very curious on how you trade to where it makes a substantial difference. I find that enlightening.
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They just about mirror each other. I use CQG Trader for my order entry via DOMTrader and I use Ninja for my charting. If your concern is simply the efficiency of order routing and execution without any special order types, I'm sure Ninja's DOM is just fine. If you're concern is latency, I doubt there's any difference really to hinder your trading ability. My preference for using CQG's DOM Trader is simply for the order types and features that are non-existent through NT.
I've used all sorts of platforms in the past including Bloomberg and I've found that my current combination of CQG + NT works perfectly for what I'm looking to accomplish while keeping my overhead fairly low (this is a business we're running). Hope this helps with your question.
I'm using Sierra Chart DOM in combination with MultiCharts charting, and a little SC charting (for CDV). I really like their DOM for the most part, it lets me do what I want.