Multicharts - Anything else I should know ?

[Tums]

Quote from tmarket:
The main problem with MC is with choosing a good datafeed and maintaining the data (for example problem with volume bar charts using MC and Esignal). They should use a TS model and provide data as this post on TSSupport forum suggested. :
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Then they will lose focus, and the product will become like Tradestation. LOL

 

[Andrew Kirillov]

Quote from tmarket:

There is also a problem with MC not using the TS SDK such that some DLLs are incompatible.

I am afraid the statement above isn't correct.

MultiCharts supports all dlls written according to the functionalities documented in TradeStation API.

Jurik dlls use undocumented features of TradeStation. This is the only reason why they don't work in MultiCharts.

On the whole, around 99% of dlls written for TS will work in MultiCharts.

 

[tortoise]

Quote from rtstrading:

What data feed are most using for Multicharts?
Tough to give up TS with its data.

Esginal? $ ?

So use TS data with MultiCharts.

 

[Tums]

Quote from rtstrading:
What data feed are most using for Multicharts?
Tough to give up TS with its data.
Esginal? $ ?

I use IB for futures and options. Yahoo or MSN for EOD stocks.

 

[Anekdoten]

Any word on ISP disconnection/hiccups interfering with auto trading ?

Word is automation cannot reconnect, they must be manually restarted when such an event occurs.

Thank you

Anek

EDIT: As far as data I'm using TS data just fine.

 

[Tums]

I have not tried auto-trade yet.

 

[Tums]

My Volume Bar charts and tick charts have a tendency to hang after a data interruption.
Noticeably after the IB server reset, or ISP router reset at midnight.

Minute charts seem to survive better.

 

[elaskaris]

Quote from Anekdoten:

Any word on ISP disconnection/hiccups interfering with auto trading ?

Word is automation cannot reconnect, they must be manually restarted when such an event occurs.

Thank you

Anek

EDIT: As far as data I'm using TS data just fine.

You are correct. At this time there is no way to re-sync your autotrading strategy with your IB account when it times out for any reason (computer reboot, power failure, internet hiccup).

Essentially your Marketposition variable is automatically reset to "0" (meaning you hold no position), whether or not you were holding a position when the connection was dropped. If were *not* holding a position when the connection was lost you could simply re-open the chart, reapply the strategy and enable autotrading to pick up where you left off.

This would be problematic for me, as my system holds trades for several days. I wouldn't want to risk the strategy losing sync, because I would need to manually manage the position form there on. This essentially defeats the purpose of having an automatically traded system.

On the plus side, Multicharts is a rapidly evolving software package. Autotrading is still in beta and TSSupport is aware of the numerous issues they need to resolve.

 

[Andrew Kirillov]

Quote from elaskaris:

You are correct. At this time there is no way to re-sync your autotrading strategy with your IB account when it times out for any reason (computer reboot, power failure, internet hiccup).

Essentially your Marketposition variable is automatically reset to "0" (meaning you hold no position), whether or not you were holding a position when the connection was dropped. If were *not* holding a position when the connection was lost you could simply re-open the chart, reapply the strategy and enable autotrading to pick up where you left off.

This would be problematic for me, as my system holds trades for several days. I wouldn't want to risk the strategy losing sync, because I would need to manually manage the position form there on. This essentially defeats the purpose of having an automatically traded system.

On the plus side, Multicharts is a rapidly evolving software package. Autotrading is still in beta and TSSupport is aware of the numerous issues they need to resolve.

Hi elasklaris,

MC 3.1 beta 3 version won’t turn the auto trading off after the connection to the broker has been lost. At first, we thought that if the connection is lost for even a few seconds we’ll lose the feedback from the broker which will inevitably result in desynchronization. However, our customers have told us that their strategies don’t generate signals very often: new orders are only generated once an hour which means that if the connection is lost for 5 minutes nothing is going to be affected. This is why we have decided to give up the timeout upon the connection loss. I hope you’ll find the new behavior more user-friendly.

As for the synchronization of trades after a reboot I don’t see a way to do that. First of all, the positions at the broker and in the program will differ. This position must be closed either manually or automatically. I’m afraid the program won’t be able to make a better decision than you would.

 

[elaskaris]

Quote from Andrew Kirillov:

This position must be closed either manually or automatically. I’m afraid the program won’t be able to make a better decision than you would.

Andrew,

Thanks for the heads up. So after a reboot you can turn your strategy back on and continue trading (if it was holding a position at the time of connection loss)? It would be nice if the currently held position could be closed automatically by the strategy.

For those of us with more than 1 type of money management stop (profit, trailing, time), the exit is the most critical part of the strategy.

Evan