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Hi all,
It's been my unofficial "hobby" over the years to maintain an informal
review of lag in various datafeeds over the internet, mostly dealing with
those that are compatible (or can be made compatible) with TS 2000i, plus of
course, TS6/TS7. This stemming from my ongoing interest in microstrategies,
where every split second of price action counts.
It was with much "hooplah" that TS turned on it's "new and improved" CME
direct datafeed this past weekend, touting improved speed and reliability.
So of course I was very interested to see just how much faster TS's new
direct datafeed would be.
(Please note, all content of this email is based on my opinions based solely
on informal observations.)
I compared a tick chart, a 1 min chart, and a quote sheet in all cases.
Bottom line: After comparing TS6 with eSignal, QuoteCom, and Realtick...
nothing has really changed (!!!)
Realtick is still the fastest out there, followed by eSignal, followed by
TS6, with QuoteCom last.
In fact, the delay between eSignal and TS6 appears to have not changed
whatsoever... still ranging from about 1/4 second to about 1/2 second delay
depending on volume. So I'm frankly puzzled over the claimed "speed
advantages" touted by TS.
NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS: Over the last 6 months, TS6 has been the most
reliable data feed out there. By that I mean, short of a complete Globex or
CME outage, TS6 has had the fewest unexplainable outages, or interruptions
of it's own feed, which they deserve great credit for. Whoever is running
their server farm should get a raise...;~)
Some clarifications: I've stated before, but it's worth mentioning again,
that in my humble opinion, Realtick, although fast as lightening, is a very
difficult datafeed to contend with on anything other than their own
proprietary charting and manual order entry system, especially if you're
attempting to implement a custom auto trading system using just their data
feeds.... My observations have repeatedly shown 2 or more mini-outages
requiring the user to re-sign-on PER DAY on average. This combined with
their deactivation of auto-login in the client server, makes for a cludgy
ATS at best, and at worst, a dangerously unreliable setup for auto-trading.
QuoteCom and eSignal have been close in local outages and interruptions of
data, with the advantage that they, like TS6/TS7, will keep attempting to
log you back on without any user intervention.
Finally, a side note. I recently checked out both FutureSource and DTNIQ.
Both lagged behind TS6. FutureSource was a surprise to me as it boasts a lot
of professional users (and is priced accordingly!!!). When I tried to speak
to some of their techs on this issue, I was promised a demonstration of
their "non-demo" servers, but this never materialized, so I have to go with
what I was given.
DTNIQ is not a great surprise to me regarding it's lack of speed.
So, in conclusion, nothing has really changed in terms of speed that I can
so far see. Hopefully this new CME connection can enhance and not degrade
TS's good reliability, which is still worth a lot IMHO.
Best regards,
Gene Pope
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