Any aussie or kiwi traders here? Got a question..

I don't scalp but heres a ping...100mile north of Brisbane,512/128 ADSL, 6GB-$AUD 69 a month.

Pinging www.interactivebrokers.com [206.106.137.3] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 206.106.137.3: bytes=32 time=301ms TTL=234
Reply from 206.106.137.3: bytes=32 time=280ms TTL=234
Reply from 206.106.137.3: bytes=32 time=280ms TTL=234
Reply from 206.106.137.3: bytes=32 time=291ms TTL=234

Ping statistics for 206.106.137.3:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 280ms, Maximum = 301ms, Average = 288ms

Guess you can compare it to what you got there,up to 300ms sometimes ok
Market hours 0930-1600 = 12.30am-6am

If your just using a single laptop you maybe ok even with just dial-up access,I don't think theres f.a differance in execution time with broadband,its more when you've got multi monitors needing to be fed info that the dial-up falls over/chokes ,especially if you've got heavy volume happening.
I think this broadband is maybe only 50ms or so faster on a ping than dial up...i'll hook up later and do a dial up ping for you, i think it was like 320-350ms from memory
 
50 cent

Yes I have also wondered about the latency thing in the past as others in these parts have too. The ping times tuna puts forward are representative for pretty much any east australian location. If you sniff around you can also get unlimited ADSL 512k packages for around A$80 [if 6GB is not enough !] - depending on which wholesale network you wish to use.

With regards to latency and scalping I think everything else remaining the same, its not that much of an issue [ie its probably not going to make you more or less profitable]. Lower ping times would be nice, but the fact is as long as we have to cross that big ocean there will always been that differential ; this goes for whether you use platform software which is connected directly to
the exchanges, or whether you go through a broker's server first. With IB I would guess it would not be significantly different.

Less related to pings (but affects how quickly your order gets moving) is your PC or trading setup. Put it this way, you don't want to make the mistake IMO of running say Esignal and IB TWS and say possibly button / ninja / futures trader all on the same machine trying to scalp eminis - particularly if you watch a few CME time & sales. [Eurex feed only you might be able to get away with it.] A better option is to have a 'clean PC' with simply IB TWS [and as few symbols as possible] and say one of those front ends, and basically no other programs. Then have another PC to run Esignal by itself. I think TWS by itself is fast, but when there's other stuff running and consuming the processor you could get a slight lag at the wrong moment and you've missed your spot. You want the processor on this PC to be used as lightly as possible. If one's not scalping, all this stuff is less of an issue. So yes it is possible to scalp (and the definition varies !) eminis with IB & esignal down here.

Cheers
 
Hi, thanks for your help!

You are right about the computer slowing down in fast markets.. on the last Fed day eSignal froze (not an esignal problem - simply my cpu clogged). It is recommended to close the time of sales windows like you mentioned. In fast markets they are useless anyway.

Well, if quotes and executions are timely, I guess there is no problem..

Thanks
50
 
Hi,

Trading from New Zealand and I havent had any problems in general with esignal or IB.

DSL (broadband) is run by a monopoly, NZ telecom, so the packages either limit the data you download or limit speed. It is not the same as in the states. That being said, the service here has been more than enough for trading.

Following ping times:

E:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>ping gw2.ibllc.com

Pinging gw2.ibllc.com [208.245.107.4] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 208.245.107.4: bytes=32 time=270ms TTL=107
Reply from 208.245.107.4: bytes=32 time=271ms TTL=107
Reply from 208.245.107.4: bytes=32 time=270ms TTL=107
Reply from 208.245.107.4: bytes=32 time=271ms TTL=107

Ping statistics for 208.245.107.4:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 270ms, Maximum = 271ms, Average = 270ms


E:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>ping cm2.esignal.com

Pinging cm2.esignal.com [216.23.234.57] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 216.23.234.57: bytes=32 time=261ms TTL=110
Reply from 216.23.234.57: bytes=32 time=260ms TTL=110
Reply from 216.23.234.57: bytes=32 time=261ms TTL=110
Reply from 216.23.234.57: bytes=32 time=260ms TTL=110

Ping statistics for 216.23.234.57:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 260ms, Maximum = 261ms, Average = 260ms

Stuart
 
Got a 1,500 / 512 mbps ADSL here with 35GB cap (~AU$140/month). I load about 600-900 MB of datafeed per day (eSignal).

But the jump from the wild west over SA penalizes me more than any of you lucky guys... :(

My average to gw2.ibllc.com is 336ms... :( :( :(

However, my average to eSignal is only 288ms! :eek:

I've bothered to ping a whole lot of brokers/providers' websites, and here the most interesting ones to look at, in order of speed from highest to worst (average of 10 pings each):

1) VelocityFutures: 275ms
2) eSignal: 288ms
3) GHCO: 305ms
4) ManFutures: 322ms
5) AdvancedFutures: 324ms
6) TradeStation: 327ms
7) Interactive Brokers: 337ms
8) FFastTrade: 414ms


As you can see, it looks like VelocityFutures kicks the crap out of anything, at least from here. FFastTrade on the contrary...? From what it looks like they have a UK-based server, so I wouldn't be too sure about that though. Execution might be different.

But if Velocity is really 60ms faster, then I know which broker I'm gonna ditch! 60ms is $hit-loads! :eek:

Any similar research from you people would be appreciated. I recommend PingPlotter (freeware version is fine), you get it at www.pingplotter.com.

P.S: No, the actual winner is actually www.coca-cola.com with only 17ms round-trip! :D
 

Attachments

Hey, I had another good look at the SFE and found sth really interesting...

The YT (3-year bonds) on the Sydney Futures Exchange have traded a total volume of over 2,000,000 in December (21 days) - That's essentially 100,000 contracts/day, pretty equal to DAX! :eek:

The SPI volume is growing, too, but still not worth it. Check it out yourself: http://www.sfe.com.au/index.html?content/prices/marketsummary.asp

Isn't that quite something? With 100K/day that's plenty of liquidity!

Maybe not as volatile as overseas markets, but bhink about it. Here might be a chance for some to trade our home market, with realistic pings well under 100ms (!) and without having to do crazy hours!

Any thoughts on this are appreciated.
 
The 3s and 10s are more an insto market. Especially with the 3s you have huge volume sitting on the bid and ask several levels deep, so not much good for intraday scalping I would think. Especially as it moves very slowly. I swing trade the 10s over several days, prefer it because of the higher tick value and easier to buy bid/sell ask.

SPI can be thin during the day, but I don't daytrade it and rarely exit on stops so there is not a real problem liquidity wise for me.
 
Hi scientist

zen is spot on with the sfe bonds. Look at an intra day chart and it will make you puke if you are used to trading the bobl/bunds or treasury notes. Also agree better for daily swing trading. The spi is also a shitty market too if you are used to europe & usa. But as we've discussed before, if the nights get too tough it may be worth a look one day.
cheers
 
Hey Cobbers... :D

Yeah, I've just been looking at the SPI200, Oz T bonds etc for the last few hours. And I've spent (wasted?) $30 for the eSignal subscribtion fee.

I agree with both of you - The markets aren't very interesting. I always wanted to have a look into them though. I've traded the SPI for a day once, the only remotely moving market here, but it sucks. For scalping most certainly, but I think for the 5m charts, or better even 15m charts, SPI would be very nicely tradeable intraday swing-wise... Not to mention of course the fact that the comms for SPI are sth like $30/RT which doesn't really contribute to liquidity either - LOL. Jesus!

Certainly the 3Y bonds can make you puke! What an ugly thing to chart! There's really no opportunity there. Shame we don't have any decent markets here.

Well, it's interesting to look at though. I was thinking about trading the SPI during the day, kind of "on the side" with little watching and just larger swings, and I might do that sometime. On the other hand, the only halfway interesting thing on SPI is the open, and that, again, gives me another time zone conflict, because I've got to get up 3h earlier than you east side boys over there... :p

No, I think I'll stick with DAX. The European markets are the "perfect" time zone for me really, or as good as it gets.

Hey, I used to like sleep till 1-2pm WA time, worked the US markets from 10:30pm my time (9:30am EST), worked till like 6am my time, went to bed at dawn, went to sleep till 1-2pm, then woke again and over. Or sth like that. That really sucks. US markets aren't very Aussie-friendly unless you're a vampire.

So I've changed things a little, gone to DAX, now things are a lot better. I wake at 9am my time, have time off (well am supposed to but then usually just stare at the screens anyway LOL), then start working at 3pm my time, DAX opens at 4pm, then trade till 7pm, then have a few hours break, then trade DAX again from 10pm (1/2h before US open) and until 12:30 my time, when the German equities shut. I can go to bed at 1:00am and still wake in the actual "morning". It's a lot better.

I suppose over there in the east, things are all quite a bit different again. In Sydney, DAX would open at 7pm, trade the open (best time) till 10pm, then trade again from 1:30am (ouch) till 3:30am (ouch).

I think trading the DAX open could be very attractive to a Sydney / Brisbane / whatever resident - particularly if you still have a day job.

Yeah, questions over questions. Well, there's always the HSI just 'round the corner. Matter of fact, it's the most volatile index in the world... :p
 
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