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Which broker (with a platform) is the best for looking at charts/volume/price action/etc...? I'm using Think or Swim and wanted to separate the volume between bid/ask, did a search and someone mentioned that they get data in blocks, which is impossible to separate this data. So wanted to know which one would you guys prefer I check out that makes this possible?
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
In principle bid/ask volume data doesn't depend on your broker but on your RT data feed.
Thus if you want to get a "true" image of the order flow, you will not be able to avoid
using a platform + RT data feed combo that supports the original exchange tick data.
P.S.: Many brokers bundle (proprietary) platforms with aggregated/sub-standard "snapshot" data
in order to curb data costs. This is completely ok if you are e.g. a position trader or investor, but
certainly inadequate for intraday trading.
you need tick data to see bid an ask volume..most broker have that but most traders use it for order execution only. they run there charts on IQ data. the reason they do is you can not back fill tick data on many platforms on broker data. IQ is the only one that does unless there have been changes recently. there other reasons IQ has all the market breath indicators, it is cleaner not many bad ticks. and running charts with the broker data and order execution slow things down a little, hope it helps
Sierra Chart + CQG will let you look at Ask/Bid Volume separately as well as Up/Down Tick Volume separately.
These appear on a zero based scale just like volume bars. Here is an example of how you can construct them to see which side was more aggressive during the bar.
These are primarily charting software...but also have execution capabilities
Both have a Footprint chart (SC calls it Number Bars)
Both also have a Cumulative Aggressive directional volume indictor (SC calls it Cumulative Delta Bars - Volume)
SierraChart is the cheaper option of the 2 (costs $60/month total for platform + futures data feed). You just indicate in their setup dropdown menus who your futures broker is (provide login info) and SC will connect to your futures broker to verify your acct and receive mkt data.
If your broker does not provide accurate tick data (most don't) then you can purchase the SierraChart realtime data feed to provide high quality tick data, while will then be used in your SC tick-data charts (such as Cum Delta and Number Bars).
MarketDelta does something similar....but costs more. All the advanced traders i know use SierraChart...because it has more flexibility, plus the option to code your own studies in their C++ library platform...however, some traders prefer MarketDelta....which costs about double SierraChart for a similar package.
