Looking for an alternative to NinjaTrader

B

bluelou

I've been using Ninja for about 2 years now for automated trading and I need to find an alternative solution.

Unfortunately, the product no longer meets my needs since I need to customize my tick data feed (using the IQFeed API) before it enters Ninja and Ninja won't allow this. I know this for certain since Ninja did try to accommodate me but after several emails their techs said it wasn't possible.

Sure, Ninja was never really good for autotrading but I was able to get by by using it for entries only and manually managing my stops and limits.

RightEdge looks promising and it appears to have changed quite a bit since I last looked at it 2 years ago. I'd like to hear from RightEdge users.

Here are my basic requirements:
1) Ability to manipulate tick feed from data provider API before it enters the trading platform.

2) A platform designed for autotrading w/auto reconnect capabilities, etc. Efficient memory management when working with large amounts of tick data. Backtesting/simulation capabilities. I don't need real-time charting or manual order entry.

3) The ability to run multiple strategies concurrently. On the order of 10-20+ strategies.

4) My preference is to stay in C# but I'd consider something like R or Ruby, and/or open-source if there was a stable application out there that was well-documented and had at least a few hundred users.

BTW, I've used TradeStation and I tried OpenQuant and I'm not interested in those platforms.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Lou
 
lou,

tradelink supports dtn.

I am not sure what you mean by manipulating the tick feed, but tradelink is open source so you can do whatever you want if you need it.

you're also able to modify the ticks as they arrive in your strategy if you needed to do that for some reason.

it records and plays back tick data at between 200-300,000 ticks/second.

it lets you black box trade, will detect if a feed drops and attempt to reconnect to server automatically. You can trade at least 100 strategies per ASP instance at once if need be, and you can run up to 4 ASP instances at once.

it's open source and .net, so it supports any .net language. all tutorials are in c#.

http://tradelink.googlecode.com
 
Quote from bluelou:

I've been using Ninja for about 2 years now for automated trading and I need to find an alternative solution.

Unfortunately, the product no longer meets my needs since I need to customize my tick data feed (using the IQFeed API) before it enters Ninja and Ninja won't allow this. I know this for certain since Ninja did try to accommodate me but after several emails their techs said it wasn't possible.

Sure, Ninja was never really good for autotrading but I was able to get by by using it for entries only and manually managing my stops and limits.

RightEdge looks promising and it appears to have changed quite a bit since I last looked at it 2 years ago. I'd like to hear from RightEdge users.

Here are my basic requirements:
1) Ability to manipulate tick feed from data provider API before it enters the trading platform.

2) A platform designed for autotrading w/auto reconnect capabilities, etc. Efficient memory management when working with large amounts of tick data. Backtesting/simulation capabilities. I don't need real-time charting or manual order entry.

3) The ability to run multiple strategies concurrently. On the order of 10-20+ strategies.

4) My preference is to stay in C# but I'd consider something like R or Ruby, and/or open-source if there was a stable application out there that was well-documented and had at least a few hundred users.

BTW, I've used TradeStation and I tried OpenQuant and I'm not interested in those platforms.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Lou
More...

I can see that you need to leave NT as a QA requirement.

What ar your non stationarity requirements?

What looping requirements do you impose for correcting erroneous data?

TIA.
 
@ Tradelink
I took a look at your google site but wasn't sure what to make of it. I see you've posted on ET a lot but I've never seen any replies to your offer here. PM me w/your phone #. Is there anyone else on ET using Tradelink? How big is the user base? How do you support the product? Do all of your revenues come from consulting fees or are there other charges?

Regarding "manipulating the tick data feed":
I mean that I don't want raw ticks coming into the strategy code. Think of it as a custom time-frame. I need to customize the domain, the tick "timeframe", before the tick feed hits the strategy. All of this can be done by using the data provider's API. The problem with Ninja is that Ninja can't be used for autotrading if you manipulate the datafeed API. Ninja will only allow raw tick data into their platform.

@ Jack
I'm focused on strategy development and computer science isn't a strength for me. So, I'm not sure how to answer your questions about looping or non-stationarity. Did you have a suggestion regarding a platform?
 
Quote from bluelou:

@ Tradelink
I took a look at your google site but wasn't sure what to make of it. I see you've posted on ET a lot but I've never seen any replies to your offer here. PM me w/your phone #. Is there anyone else on ET using Tradelink? How big is the user base? How do you support the product? Do all of your revenues come from consulting fees or are there other charges?

Regarding "manipulating the tick data feed":
I mean that I don't want raw ticks coming into the strategy code. Think of it as a custom time-frame. I need to customize the domain, the tick "timeframe", before the tick feed hits the strategy. All of this can be done by using the data provider's API. The problem with Ninja is that Ninja can't be used for autotrading if you manipulate the datafeed API. Ninja will only allow raw tick data into their platform.

@ Jack
I'm focused on strategy development and computer science isn't a strength for me. So, I'm not sure how to answer your questions about looping or non-stationarity. Did you have a suggestion regarding a platform?
More...

So far, I have not found it possible to use a single platform. From my experience, platform developers and proferers do not do trading nor do they concern themselves with trading strategies.

The interfacing of ATS's with data and with trading platforms both have serious contemporary issues that need to be dealt with.

Usually if a person uses the tooling on a platform, the in situ set up gets sluggish very very rapidly.

I prioritize several things regarding doing trading. Error free data within the non stationary windows is most important. You do not have that at present.
 
Quote from bluelou:
... but I was able to get by by using it for entries only and manually managing my stops and limits...
More...
Bluelou,
Why did you need manually to manage stops and limits?
Thanks.
 
I understand you need a platform that allows users implement their own datafeed interface. Among very few choices here is NeoTicker. It offers licensed users a well-documented API so that users can implement their own datafeed. (In your case it will be IQFeed interface with custom data filtering.) I suggest you ask the question regarding customising IQFeed data on NeoTicker forums. There is a chance what you want is supported out of the box or someone has already done it.

NeoTicker should tick all the boxes in requirements 1), 2),3) and 4). It also gives trading strategies full control of limit and stop-market orders. Support for stop-limit orders is very limited and depends on what broker you use.
 
@abbatia,
My trades can last for several days and if I keep Ninja open for more than +/-3 consecutive days the memory leaks build up over time and end up crashing the program. If you're running an automated strategy and Ninja shuts down, then, upon restarting Ninja, you can't just restart your strategy and pickup where you left off. For me, that means that I use Ninja for entries only and manage the stops and limits manually. I can't afford to miss an exit b/c Ninja can't manage memory properly.


@LeeD
Thx for the info on NeoTicker. I'll check it out. I don't use stop limits so that shouldn't be a problem. But, I do use a custom trailing stop. I would think that any .NET based platform would enable me to implement that.

TRADELINK:
FWIW, I did speak to Josh @ Tradelink. My first impression is that I was impressed with what he had to offer. Can anyone here comment on their experiences w/them?
 
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