tradesation vs ninjtrader

[jimnovak]

can anyone help me please?
i have using tradestation platform for a good few years. i have to say charting,tools,featues are absaloutly great and you can use easylanguage to create your own indicators,trade strategies and hence it is quite capable. but i am not happy with their choice of brokrage(gain capital).
i really want to use interactive brokers and apparently i can use nt as front end. just want to know if nt can do all that tradestation can do or where it falls behind and where it is more capable. i have downloaded a free nt for now but it can take a while before i fully assess it.
so i appreciate any input that you all can give me.

[jtrade]

Jim - as you have doubtless read, many TS users are unhappy with GAIN. I closed my TS forex account because of it. IB are vastly superior & Ninja can be set up as a front end - you can use the DOM or Chart Trader (or both) as you wish. Many will warn that if using IB data, as it is only a snapshot, or filtered feed, the charts are no good. I never found this to be the case : very rarely a high or low might have been one pip out & the charts were much faster around news.

I still have a Tradestation account as I chart other instruments in longer timframes, but I'd say my Ninja charts are just as good now and in some ways better. IB's TWS is also greatly improving - it is a very versatile piece of software - but for day trading and charting, NT is still a long way ahead.

HTH.

[jimnovak]

thank you for your much appreciated and detailed response.
your response though brings about more question for me
- what do you exactly mean by ib using a snapshot of data. that sounds quite iffy to me?
- i assume ib datafeed (on nt) can go back to many years?
- i also take you're happy with nt as front end compared to ts platform?
i'm also primary trading fx. want to be able to do tech analysis on charts, no less than ts is capable, and be able to write my own indicators and strategies..thanks again

[NinjaTrader_ChristopherJ]

thank you for your much appreciated and detailed response.
your response though brings about more question for me
- what do you exactly mean by ib using a snapshot of data. that sounds quite iffy to me?
- i assume ib datafeed (on nt) can go back to many years?
- i also take you're happy with nt as front end compared to ts platform?
i'm also primary trading fx. want to be able to do tech analysis on charts, no less than ts is capable, and be able to write my own indicators and strategies..thanks again

Hello jimnovak,

Just as a heads up IB does not provide historical tick data within NinjaTrader and Tick based charts will only be built while connected.

I am not familiar with the exact amount of data IB provides however if you require additional historical data you may use another data provider within NinjaTrader for data and then connect to IB for order execution.

If you are looking for a data provider only for real time and historical data I recommend using Kinetick: (Our Preferred Data Feed Service Built Specifically for NinjaTrader 7) which supplies at least 120 days of historical tick data, two years of minute data, and ten years of daily data, much more for popular Equitiy, Future and Forex instruments

www.kinetick.com

I have provided a link below to our Help Guide that goes over Multiple Connections.

http://www.ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt7/multiple_connections.htm

[jtrade]

Yes, Jim, I prefer Ninja as a front end to Tradestation's Matrix, which in any event is / was useless for cash forex (fine for futures) due to the fractional pips issue (which may have been resolved).

I'm not a programmer but have managed to migrate and add to everything I use from TS. There's a lot of help on this forum and I'd also recommend Bik Mikes Trading Forum as another great resource.

[jimnovak]

thank you j. you've been a great help.
and chris thanks for info provided.

[NinjaTrader_ChristopherJ]

No problem at all, glad to help out.

Have a great day and Happy Trading!