Platform & broker suggestions

M

Member51

I'm new to automated trading and need some advice to get started. First off, I have extensive c# and .NET experience so my first preference would be a platform that allows me to code in c#. I've looked at tradelink and it looks reasonable.

Question #1: Are there any other free or low-cost platforms based on .NET?

I'd also like to test my strategies without too much initial investment.

Question #2: Do I have to open a brokerage account and fund it even before I'm ready to make real trades, so I can test my strategies?

So far, with my limited exposure, I'm leaning toward IB (broker) and tradelink (platform).

Question #3: Any other suggestions to get help started and going in the right direction?

Thanks in advance.
 
Quote from Member51:

I'm new to automated trading and need some advice to get started. First off, I have extensive c# and .NET experience so my first preference would be a platform that allows me to code in c#. I've looked at tradelink and it looks reasonable.

Question #1: Are there any other free or low-cost platforms based on .NET?
More...

NinjaTrader is the most popular. NinjaScript = C#. Its free when not trading live.


I'd also like to test my strategies without too much initial investment.

Question #2: Do I have to open a brokerage account and fund it even before I'm ready to make real trades, so I can test my strategies?
More...

No. You can "paper trade" or as NinjaTrader calls it, trade on a "Simulated Account". All free. Eventually you'll just need a quality data feed like their Kinetick ($50/Month).


So far, with my limited exposure, I'm leaning toward IB (broker) and tradelink (platform).

Question #3: Any other suggestions to get help started and going in the right direction?
More...

Check into NinjaTrader, it has some limitations, but you'll probably like it for just getting started. From within NinjaTrader you can download intraday futures tick data to play with using Market Replay or backtesting. Eventually you'll want to signup with their IQFeed provided data feed called Kinetick. Best bang for buck data feed for NinjaTrader ($50/Month). Watch their tutorials, you'll probably get the hang of it quick.

Interactive Brokers is your best bet if you can afford the deposit.
 
Thanks Mr_You! I'll give NinjaTrader another look.

I also started looking at using the TWS API directly (using Java). Although not my first language choice, I could make things work with it.

What value add would NinjaTrader provide that TWS API would not?
 
With NinjaTrader (or other platforms) you can switch brokers or data providers or separate the two easily. AlgoTrader looks like a promising open source Java-based platform. Though I've never done it, I've read its relatively easy to port strategies between platforms/languages.

One thing I forgot to mention is IBs data feed is based on snapshots. Its really good/quick as a broker for order execution but they do not provide a tick-by-tick data feed.

So ideally you would use a separate data feed provider (such as IQFeed/Kinetick) and IB as your broker service.
 
Does Ninja Trader provide free intraday data for papertrading, or must you pay for a data feed service for that? Thanks.
 
Quote from hlpsg:

Does Ninja Trader provide free intraday data for papertrading, or must you pay for a data feed service for that? Thanks.
More...

NinjaTrader does not provide free intraday streaming for papertrading so you must secure a source whether that is from a supported brokerage account or a paid for market data service.

List if supported technologies is here - http://www.ninjatrader.com/tour#Connect
 
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