Futures For YouQ&A
Futures For YouInside The Futures World
Want to find out how the futures markets really work? Carley Garner is the senior strategist for DeCarley Trading LLC, where she also works as a broker. To submit a question, post your question at https://Message-Boards.Traders.com.
Answers will be posted there, and selected questions will appear in a future
issue of S&C. Visit Garner at www.DeCarleyTrading.com and subscribe to her free e-newsletters. Her books Currency Trading In The Forex And Futures Markets, Commodity Options, and A Trader’s
First Book On Commodities, are available from FT
Press.
SOME PLATFORM HIGHLIGHTS
What are some highlights of popular trading platforms?
Futures brokerage firms typically offer trading platform options including a “free” version along with an array of premium platforms for additional cost. Last issue, we discussed various types of platform subscriptions and capabilities. This time, we’ll focus on a few of the more popular trading environments available, their costs, and highlights.
The free trading platforms provided to brokerage clients are often developed in-house and are, therefore, only available at the firm offering it. Don’t automatically assume the platform is inferior to the high-cost options. In fact, one of the most efficient and feature-rich platforms we’ve made available to our DeCarley Trading clients is accessible at no cost to clients. Don’t forget, brokerage firms only make money when their clients trade, so strides are made to ensure it is as easy for clients to pull the trigger.
Premium platforms are developed by third parties whose sole purpose is to generate revenue via platform subscriptions, sales, and fees. These vendors don’t benefit from trading commission or any other fees you pay to your brokerage firm. Accordingly, they have an incentive to continually improve their product for traders. If they didn’t, traders would opt for the free options. For those looking for upgraded charting, complex order types, the ability to save settings or host contingent orders on a server, a premium platform might better accommodate.
Some of the most popular paid-for platforms are QST (Quick Screen Trading), NinjaTrader, Cunningham Trading System’s T4, and Rithmic’s R-Trader. Each platform has significant capabilities with various strengths; consequently, I’ve arranged to offer all of them to my brokerage clients along with free platform choices. I cannot do these platforms justice in a brief description, but it’s worthwhile to provide a synopsis.
QST: This may be the best all-around paid-for trading platform for trading futures and options. QST offers a robust charting package with near-unlimited choices of indicators, drawing tools, and the ability to create your own indicators. It also enables traders to trade from a price chart and enter option orders from an advanced option chain, and provide some option analytics. The only downside might be the cost. At this time, the base package started at $50 a month plus $0.50 a trade, but if you’re looking for the premium version, the price goes up to $300 a month.
NinjaTrader: This platform does not offer option trading, but it does offer futures traders a means of charting and order entry at a reasonable cost. Users enjoy methods of quick order entry, convenient strategy placement in which traders can instruct the platform to enter and exit positions based on predetermined parameters. In addition, there are automated strategy vendors with programmed systems that can be purchased and executed via NinjaTrader.
NinjaTrader can be purchased or it can be leased for as little as $60 per month for live trading, but traders must arrange for a datafeed. Data can be purchased on a monthly or per-trade basis. A good broker can point you in the right direction. It is free to use NinjaTrader for end-of-day charting (no intraday data).
Cunningham’s T4: The T4 is a no-nonsense platform for option and futures traders. It excels in its ability to execute option and futures spread orders and its quick futures order-entry DOM. Some might consider the fact that it only offers one method of order entry, the DOM panel, as a negative. Perhaps the compelling argument for this platform is ease of account access.
The T4 offers three ways to log into their trading account to monitor positions or enter new orders: via the traditional desktop version (downloaded software), through a web browser, or on a smart phone. The cost varies by package, but traders can access the base version (which would meet the needs of most traders) for a cost of $0.50 per trade with a $25 monthly minimum.
Rithmic’s R-Trader: The highlight of this platform is its simplicity without sacrificing function. It offers a clean interface with user-friendly controls. Traders can execute options and futures but must upgrade to the pro version to access charting. Even with the cost of integrated charts at $20 a month, this platform is affordable at $0.50 a trade.
Trade Navigator: This is a powerful trading environment for multiple asset classes with a seemingly unlimited number of features. It is unique in that it has the ability to display extensive historical price data with continuous charts, whereas many platforms are limited to the current contract month. In addition, there are no shortages of indicators, trading tools, and charting functions. Trade Navigator offers a high-end option analytics tool. This platform runs about $60 per month for the base package. It can also be purchased outright.