Lawrence Chan of NeoTicker answers our questions

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Lawrence Chan
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Postby Lawrence Chan » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:52 pm

6. Unlike with Tradestation, it is possible to choose one's own brokerage and datafeed provider separately from the platform vendor with Neo. This gives user the freedom to choose the service provider based on his own preference and the service provider quality. But this raises two questions:


how well the different data feed interfaces are handled within Neo? For instance, I've played with Neo demo and had problems setting up the datafeed from the EFX Group demo account, Neo was getting stuck etc. I don't expect ordinary user to be able to resolve these issues alone.


Do you offer some generic datafeed & history provider for those whose broker is not supported yet? Subscribing to a third-party datafeed provider generates additional monthly fees so that the total fee for using Neo and the datafeed may theoretically surpass the Tradestation's $250 monthly fee (which includes platform, datafeed, price history).



We did have a problem with 2 builds (33 and 34) for the connections based on brokerage interface. That is taken care of in build 35 already.

Connection to brokerage API is a tricky issue - as we all know, brokerages are not software firms, thus it is very hard for them to understand the importance of API stability and compatibility. What we can do, however, is to resolve the compatibility issues whenever they surface. We always recommend users to stay with a particular release that they find stable and do not install a new release if there are changes affecting their connection.

The cost of using a data feed can be justified if you find that you can get the best out of the feed. For example, if your trading style does not involve using sub-minute level data and that you can trade with just 5 to 10 days of intraday data, then a solution like NeoTicker with IB works great.

On the other hand, if you trade eminis and interested in using NeoTicker's real-time custom breadth generation (like SP500 TICK16) then having a high-end data feed gives you a much more stable real-time feed than any brokerage can do, because good data vendors are highly specialized in delivering data.

NeoTicker can connect to brokerage data if the brokerage provides DDE link capability. There is a build-in DDE data feed editor that any user can use to configure NeoTicker to accept data from a DDE source. That is good for basic data collection if you track a limited number of symbols.

Another solution, which some users already do, is to write their own data server / order server using the NeoTicker SDK. It has example programs and documentation on how to write basic data server and order interface for NeoTicker. Thus, you can effectively connect any feed or brokerage to NeoTicker this way.

IQFeed, Sim Server, RealTick, IB, MB are all connected through this interface.
Lawrence Chan
TickQuest Inc.
http://www.tickquest.com

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Postby christhlo2 » Wed Jul 05, 2006 5:29 pm

I have also encountered problems in the demo when trying to connect to EFX Group demo acct; the price got updated but no candlestick is plotted. Is there anyway to get an updated version for demo testing?

NeoTicker is superior to TS in terms of flexibility in languages it supported and data management. Furthermore, TS offers no forex automation while NeoTicker has EFX and IB already. I will make the move to switch if NeoTicker can do what I have done on TS.

I am tired of all the false promise and BS from TS on FX automation.

Thanks !

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Postby Lawrence Chan » Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:29 pm

Installed demo version can be upgraded by a newer demo version installer.
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Postby Lawrence Chan » Thu Jul 06, 2006 4:00 am

7. What is the Neo program stability? My demo hangs up every now and then. Are there any special requirements for preventing such a behavior that could be secured on the user's side? Is the full version more stable?


NeoTicker is actually very stable when running with a stable feed like eSignal, RealTick, etc.

The stability issue has 2 folds,

1. Windows XP even though is more stable than previous Windows releases, it has a lot of issues and can only be stable enough to run NeoTicker 7/24 for about a week.

We've found that with Windows 2K and NT, you can effectively running NeoTicker for months without reboot at all.

One of the tricks used by existing customers is to auto reboot either every day, or every week, depending on the clients' requirement.

2. Brokerage feeds are less stable because in general there are more changes to the API than say, a data feed that is in API business for many years with a fully functional API. I have high hope with the brokerages because even though the current releases of the APIs from various brokerages are not as good as the ones from the high-end data feeds, they already show the dedication needed. So, overtime I think many brokerages will offer excellent APIs and will be stable enough for 7/24 usage.
Lawrence Chan

TickQuest Inc.

http://www.tickquest.com

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Postby brwkem » Thu Jul 06, 2006 4:43 am

Any idea how often MBTrading changes there API?

I thought IB's historical data was a bit flacky, especially for equities?

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Postby TheRumpledOne » Thu Jul 06, 2006 5:15 pm

I have an EFX account, is NeoTicker free?

I thought I read somewhere that it was.

Thanking You in Advance,

Avery

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Postby Lawrence Chan » Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:11 pm

EFX is a supported brokerage.

NeoTicker is not free :)

When you connect EFX to NeoTicker, you do not need a separate data feed service, and our server provides the necessary historical data, thats all.
Lawrence Chan

TickQuest Inc.

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Postby Lawrence Chan » Fri Jul 07, 2006 12:19 am

8. Do you plan to offer an order interface with Oanda, apparently the best FX broker around? If not, I'm planning to write this order interface in C#.NET myself. I guess every Neo FX trader would like to have an interface to Oanda.


We do not have access to the Oanda API, and we have not established contact with them.

Usually if there is an open API from a brokerage and we have enough requests from our clients, we will find time to work on the project on the side.

On the other hand, brokerages sometimes open up dialog with us and contract us to work on integration with them.

One thing for certain is that the maintenance of an order interface is way more costly then most users think due to changes in the API and server side behaviour that prompt for frequent updates.

Maybe Oanda will be interested in talking to us one day :)
Lawrence Chan

TickQuest Inc.

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Postby Lawrence Chan » Fri Jul 07, 2006 12:35 am

9. Could you please inform us about the licensing policy for the new alternative search method optimizer - the Grid optimizer?


For the Grid Optimizer, it will be marketed as a separate product.

We will only offer the product on a permanent license basis.

For existing customers of NeoTicker, both lease and permanent license users, we will offer a time limited special discount for those interested in buying the Grid Optimizer, when it is officially released in couple of months.

Our vision is that Grid Optimizer will grow quickly with its own set of features that will make it a significant analytic tool all by itself.

For example, there are users of the preview release of GO thinking of using GO to work with system results obtained from text files generated by other trading platforms. Thats a great idea we have not think of already!
Lawrence Chan

TickQuest Inc.

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Lawrence Chan
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Postby Lawrence Chan » Fri Jul 07, 2006 12:38 am

I think I finally answered all the questions from the initial post of this thread 8)

If you have more questions, just ask.
Lawrence Chan

TickQuest Inc.

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