RIGHT!!!
Is IB good to futures scalping?
- Thread starter shelupinin
- Start date
RIGHT!!!
dcraig , learner... thanks guys, I understand, will open an account at IB soon...
IB is BAD for scalper. Yes execution is fast. But you also need to consider other factors like
-quotes quality
-trading platform
-commissions
1) Quotes. They do not provide you with every tick. I think that for professional scalpers the quality of market data is #1. But you can subscribe to third side data provider...
2) trading platform. It is not intended for scalping. AFAIK many scalpers pay $1250/month just to use TradingTechnology XTrader.
3) commissions. As a scalper you will generate a lot of commissions. Again IB is not the best.
As for executions, again, IB is GOOD.
-quotes quality
-trading platform
-commissions
1) Quotes. They do not provide you with every tick. I think that for professional scalpers the quality of market data is #1. But you can subscribe to third side data provider...
2) trading platform. It is not intended for scalping. AFAIK many scalpers pay $1250/month just to use TradingTechnology XTrader.
3) commissions. As a scalper you will generate a lot of commissions. Again IB is not the best.
As for executions, again, IB is GOOD.
def
Sponsor
I work at IB but I disagree with all the comments above:
1. Ticks come in faster than the eye can see or a human can react. This is by design as in fast markets our data feed is excellent.
2. the book trader and other 3rd party software such as button trader are specifically designed for fast order and scalping entry.
3. commissions: our unbundled rates are very competitive for hight volume traders.
4. this one you left out: in these times of uncertainty, you should consider a firms financial strength. IB stands out in this regard.
http://individuals.interactivebrokers.com/en/general/about/ibgStrength.php?ib_entity=llc
I worked with IB but left. The major reason was bugs in API and it does not relate to current thread. I can explain in detailes if you want.
As for above.
1) Yes your trading platform sends not every tick from the market. It may be good as there is no delay other systems (based on TCP-IP) may experience. But you do NOT receive every tick and EVERY tick can be important for the SCALPER. My orders were executed while on your charts market did not touch these levels
. And nowadays many systems provide UDP data so you have no delay even with fast markets.I still have access to TWS and can see price delay - at least at the chart - from the other brokerage data. Strange enough your quotes have lower delays while there can still be delay here, not tested. I suppose that GUI drawing (chart drawing) is considerably slow.
Do the scalper pay attention to the chart or to the quotes? I think both are important.
2) So your trading platform is not good and you yourself suggesting third party programs, right?
3) Yes I am familiar with unbundled scheme. And costs diminish greately if you trade volume. But there are firms which provide low commissions from the very first trade.
4) I have no doubts
.RR
I forget one MAJOR thing why IB is BAD for scalpers.
it is... MARGIN.
IB still has high level intraday margin requrements for most futures. And WORSE thing it is IB periodically change (increase) intraday margin requrements when there is instability at markets.
Some brokerages offer you $500 intraday margin per contract. IB offer you $2000 and when market is really moving it is $4000. There is NO difference between overnight and intraday margin.
And that time (last summer) IB lost many high-volume traders who left because of high margin level. After that last winter they again rose margin to $4000/contract.
That was my second major reason why I left IB.
IB is NOT intended for scalpers. Definitely NOT.
While it is GOOD firm for beginngers and long time traders.
Sorry for my capital letters but I still can not hide emotions when I think about IB.
RR
it is... MARGIN.
IB still has high level intraday margin requrements for most futures. And WORSE thing it is IB periodically change (increase) intraday margin requrements when there is instability at markets.
Some brokerages offer you $500 intraday margin per contract. IB offer you $2000 and when market is really moving it is $4000. There is NO difference between overnight and intraday margin.
And that time (last summer) IB lost many high-volume traders who left because of high margin level. After that last winter they again rose margin to $4000/contract.
That was my second major reason why I left IB.
IB is NOT intended for scalpers. Definitely NOT.
While it is GOOD firm for beginngers and long time traders.
Sorry for my capital letters but I still can not hide emotions when I think about IB
.RR
def
Sponsor
Quote from RedRat:
I worked with IB but left. The major reason was bugs in API and it does not relate to current thread. I can explain in detailes if you want.
As for above.
1) Yes your trading platform sends not every tick from the market. It may be good as there is no delay other systems (based on TCP-IP) may experience. But you do NOT receive every tick and EVERY tick can be important for the SCALPER. My orders were executed while on your charts market did not touch these levels
I still have access to TWS and can see price delay - at least at the chart - from the other brokerage data. Strange enough your quotes have lower delays while there can still be delay here, not tested. I suppose that GUI drawing (chart drawing) is considerably slow.
Do the scalper pay attention to the chart or to the quotes? I think both are important.
2) So your trading platform is not good and you yourself suggesting third party programs, right?
3) Yes I am familiar with unbundled scheme. And costs diminish greately if you trade volume. But there are firms which provide low commissions from the very first trade.
4) I have no doubts
RR
don't buy your argument as latencies via the internet and the ability of a human to react are > than any tick update.
charting has nothing to with with the data feed.
also, don't mingle or try to jigger my words. book trader is very good. it serves the purpose for the scalper. i don't suggest 3rd party programs. however, I have enough experience to know that one platform will not suit all.
Still there IS delay. I read many scalpers threads here at ET and all they suggest to use X-Trader.
I personally use ATS for trading. And when I miss ticks my ATS performance is BAD - really BAD. You introduced nice feature "5 sec time bars" but it WAS buggy at least in first releases.
You can not use features like "constant volume bars" when you know that you are missing ticks.
I agree, but I think visual information is the best for human eye. I am not scalper personally but I am sure that scalpers also use charts.
I am sorry here.
Yes you can not include everything into trading platform. But you continuously "improve" it disregarding the end user requirement. You introduce new features like (I dont know actually) bond trader, other staff. But users on public www boards require different things! And why not spend more time on charting if it is slow?
As mentioned elsewhere, speed here in the U.S. is very good. What I have noticed with CME futures is that when placing an order at the market, my purchase is instantly shown in the data and the slight delay (I'm guessing less than 1/2 second) is in the order confirmation gettting from CME to IB and back to my TWS. So don't worry about how fast your order will get executed.