Hello traders,
For the past few months I've been learning about trading, and I want to get started soon with my own account. I've also been browsing the forums here just to see what the community is like. Right now I am trying to sort out the various things I need in order to start trading, and I'd appreciate some advice from those with experience. Some relevant background information about my trading plans:
- I plan to trade full-time.
- I plan to trade intra-day.
- I plan to focus on futures--namely E-minis, but maybe a few others as well--because I feel there are several advantages to futures, including leverage, liquidity, and even some tax advantages.
- I plan to use technical analysis to trade.
That said, I am a bit overwhelmed with getting set up and choosing the appropriate products and services I need in order to trade. These are the four main components I am currently concerned with and their associated criteria given the above:
1. Broker
- Commissions & fees
- Service during peak market hours and high volume
- Emergency service (e.g. canceling open positions by phone)
2. Data feed
- Real-time, tick-by-tick updates, not filtered
- Service during peak market hours and high volume
- Historical data
3. Charting & analysis software
- Stable (no bugs)
- Preferably not a resource hog, but the computer it will be running on is pretty well equipped
4. Trade execution module
- OCO/OCA/Bracket orders
- Enter, modify, and exit positions quickly and easily
Some of these are packaged together in various ways, which brings up the other question of how exactly am I to integrate them. Below are likely candidates for some of these areas, and any help in understanding how I would put together some (hypothetical) combination of these would be fantastic.
Brokers:
- Interactive Brokers
- Mirus Futures
- Infinity Futures
- FuturePath Trading
Charting and analysis:
- NinjaTrader
- Sierra Charts
- Amibroker
- PhotonTrader
Please share your experiences with any of the above, and feel free to point out anything I've overlooked (that's why I'm here, ain't it?).
Happy trading
-Arcanine
For the past few months I've been learning about trading, and I want to get started soon with my own account. I've also been browsing the forums here just to see what the community is like. Right now I am trying to sort out the various things I need in order to start trading, and I'd appreciate some advice from those with experience. Some relevant background information about my trading plans:
- I plan to trade full-time.
- I plan to trade intra-day.
- I plan to focus on futures--namely E-minis, but maybe a few others as well--because I feel there are several advantages to futures, including leverage, liquidity, and even some tax advantages.
- I plan to use technical analysis to trade.
That said, I am a bit overwhelmed with getting set up and choosing the appropriate products and services I need in order to trade. These are the four main components I am currently concerned with and their associated criteria given the above:
1. Broker
- Commissions & fees
- Service during peak market hours and high volume
- Emergency service (e.g. canceling open positions by phone)
2. Data feed
- Real-time, tick-by-tick updates, not filtered
- Service during peak market hours and high volume
- Historical data
3. Charting & analysis software
- Stable (no bugs)
- Preferably not a resource hog, but the computer it will be running on is pretty well equipped
4. Trade execution module
- OCO/OCA/Bracket orders
- Enter, modify, and exit positions quickly and easily
Some of these are packaged together in various ways, which brings up the other question of how exactly am I to integrate them. Below are likely candidates for some of these areas, and any help in understanding how I would put together some (hypothetical) combination of these would be fantastic.
Brokers:
- Interactive Brokers
- Mirus Futures
- Infinity Futures
- FuturePath Trading
Charting and analysis:
- NinjaTrader
- Sierra Charts
- Amibroker
- PhotonTrader
Please share your experiences with any of the above, and feel free to point out anything I've overlooked (that's why I'm here, ain't it?).
Happy trading
-Arcanine