I've used both. Ticks do make a difference over period of time; e.g. one year. With TA you need to trade about 400 r/t month to pay fees on platform. Once you reach that threshold, then your commissions are around $4 depending on deal you cut: you also may want an exchange lease at this point. Velocity Futures offers a good deal on x-trader, a flat rate, one exchange and one product at a time (I believe).
If you've ever been to a professional shop you will likely see screens filled with x-trader domes; often times the pro version for spread trading. Of course they are probably trading 400+ a day. They also have the big pipe connected to the exchange servers.
I don't think that it hurts to dedicate one pc to charts and one to front end which is what I do. I've been looking at Photon Trader and am interested in feedback. Their pc requirements are fairly high and they claim to be among the fastest. They also recommend that you do not run any other software on your machine, although their pro version includes charts, and a $250 mo. fee.
If you've ever been to a professional shop you will likely see screens filled with x-trader domes; often times the pro version for spread trading. Of course they are probably trading 400+ a day. They also have the big pipe connected to the exchange servers.
I don't think that it hurts to dedicate one pc to charts and one to front end which is what I do. I've been looking at Photon Trader and am interested in feedback. Their pc requirements are fairly high and they claim to be among the fastest. They also recommend that you do not run any other software on your machine, although their pro version includes charts, and a $250 mo. fee.
