Best Broker for Automated Trading

[abattia]

I use NinjaTrader (which I'm very happy with) to do automated daytrades in stocks.

My broker's technology is letting me down on account of unacceptable unreliability and unavailability, and I want to find something better ...

The following brokers apparently integrate their technology with NinjaTrader:
- Interactive Brokers
- MB Trading
- Patsystems
- PFG (Peregrine Financial)
- TD Ameritrade
- Trading Technologies
- Vision Financial Markets
- Zen-Fire

If you also auto-trade, and execute these auto-trades through any of these brokers (with NinjaTrader or any other platform ...), please use the attached poll to share your views on the RELIABILITY of your broker's technology (from the standpoint of executing your auto-trades).

Also, please add any comments below ...

I want to establish which broker technology is most RELIABLE from an automated trading standpoint.
- Is the technology always fully available during trading hours (04h15 - 20h00 EST, in my case) without downtime or server re-boots?
- Do technical issues with the broker's technology ever prevent your trading computer from taking trades, or cause it to miss set-ups?
- Do you find you are having to use "work arounds" to adapt your "ideal" trading scripts to what your broker's technology actually allows you to do in terms of order handling?
- Is your broker's technology good at dealing with multiple automated trade orders, all issued in a short time-frame? Or do orders regularly get "lost" ...?

(I don't want to prejudice the poll by stating which broker it is that I'm unhappy with ... and with who I have expereinced all of the above problems! I'll do that once I have had a few replies ... assuming I get any, that is!)

 

[Esq Esq Esq]

We trade through Genesis. They are probably one of the most reliable for auto-trading.


what do you primarily trade? We trade equities for the most part.

 

[abattia]

Thanks, I'll try to find out whether they integrate with NinjaTrader.

Have you tried any of the others listed?


In answer to your question, I trade US equities.

 

[Esq Esq Esq]

Quote from abattia:

Thanks, I'll try to find out whether they integrate with NinjaTrader.

Have you tried any of the others listed?


In answer to your question, I trade US equities.

I've only traded with IB - but not US Equity. And not Automated

The rest I doubt are firms you want to be trading automated with.

I have had no experience with them and I've never heard of anyone using them (who is seriously trading automated).
They may be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I don't know.

Also - It may depend on auto- frequency (HF, MF) and on your sensitivity to speed of quotes and execution. If you dont care too much - then it won't really matter which broker you chose - the one that is cheapest I guess.

If you care about speed, then you need to do much more digging.

 

[abattia]

Quote from Esq Esq Esq:

... It may depend on auto- frequency (HF, MF) and on your sensitivity to speed of quotes and execution. If you dont care too much - then it won't really matter which broker you chose - the one that is cheapest I guess...

I am trading low frequency (a small number of times a day).

However, the set-ups appear in narrow windows - i.e. suddenly and need to be acted on quickly, and the trades will generally be over quickly, whether they are winners or losers ...

On several occasions recently I have seen winning set ups pass me by where my auto-order was rejected because my broker's platform was "down" in some way at that moment ...

Extremely frustrating!

I want to find a broker technology that other automated traders have found stable, reliable, and available 100% during trading hours ...

 

[heech]

ZenFire and Vision Financial Systems are for all intents and purposes the same system. (Different hardware servers, same software.) I talk about this elsewhere... but I autotrade Ninja + Vision, filling ~350 orders a week. I've been using this combination for 7 months now... so probably right around 10,000 orders filled? Obviously the combo is working pretty well for me.

Pats, IMO, is a nightmare. I'd stay away from it. Data is horrible, with glitchy ticks all of the place. The server is also rebooted at 5:30 PM EST every day, meaning you need to reconnect manually after that point. (In the case of Ninja, you actually need to close/reopen Ninja entirely in order to reconnect.)

I haven't used TT, yet. The startup costs made it a little less interesting for me (~$300-$500/month for FIX gateway access), although it seems like a quality platform. TT is also still not compatible with ICE/NYBOT products (on Ninja), which restricts it from my point of view.

IB's alright. But I don't really like having to go through TWS to get things done. You also have to deal with daily shut-downs with IB, as well.

I used TDA for quite some time. Worked well for me, no real complaints. There were a few quirks in terms of the broker adapter with Ninja, so you do have to be "careful" in handling events.

 

[abattia]

Heech,
Thank you for the full response.
I have contacted ZenFire and was told they don’t offer stocks (they do offer futures and forex).
Vision Financial Markets on the other hand do seem to offer stocks, and so I will contact them.
And that’s very reassuring that you’ve had a good experience with Vision, as it would seem your requirements for reliability, stability, and availability are somewhat more demanding than mine.
Thanks again.

 

[heech]

Quote from abattia:

Heech,
Thank you for the full response.
I have contacted ZenFire and was told they don’t offer stocks (they do offer futures and forex).
Vision Financial Markets on the other hand do seem to offer stocks, and so I will contact them.
And that’s very reassuring that you’ve had a good experience with Vision, as it would seem your requirements for reliability, stability, and availability are somewhat more demanding than mine.
Thanks again.

When you say you "contacted ZenFire", I assume you contacted Mirus... the principals at Mirus = principals at ZenFire. Mirus is futures only; they're an IB for either RCG or Dorman.

ZenFire's back-end, like I hinted at before, is based on Rithmic.. and "Vision" is just a white-labeled version of Rithmic. Vision, last I heard, is in the process of making equities happen... I'm not sure if they're done with the regulatory process yet.

In any case, Vision or TDA are both choices I'd have have no concerns with. IB ain't bad either. TDA doesn't get enough credit. They've been buying up quality technology solutions for a while, and have invested quite a bit in their API. I'm still waiting to see how they integrate ThinkOrSwim.

 

[abattia]

Thank you again, sir. Much obliged.

 

[ScoobyStoo]

Can also vouch for Vision. The Rithmic setup is as good as you will get in the retail marketplace and their support is excellent. If you colo with the Vision servers in Chicago you are looking at extremely low latency.