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A couple of months ago I was in the position of asking similar questions and I
received considerable help so it's pay back time.
Prior to posting a note to the group, I had evaluated both BMI and DTN and the
available software. I have owned and used SuperCharts EOD since v2.1 (now 4.0)
but my experiences with Omega made me extremely reluctant to send them more
money for TradeStation. Also DTN was out question with TS. I therefore needed to
find an acceptable alternative which would work with either feed. After using
several products with EOD data to get the feel, I settled on Ensign Windows. I
then asked about both feeds and received positive responses regarding data
quality and timeliness from users of both. Both BMI users and ex-BMI users
seemed to be nearly unanimous in criticizing BMI's customer service.
I found the sales reps from both BMI and DTN cooperative and helpful. Aside from
BMI's premium prices for the same Bridge data transmitted by DTN, I was
extremely put off by BMI's insistance on charging me $160 to send a satellite
dish from TX to NM. I was also attracted to DTN's policy of a free trial month -
and they mean free - not one thin dime is charged for anything (not even a
deposit although they do request a CC number) until it's a "keeper". Both DTN
and BMI use the same data feed from Bridge data and shared the same Galaxy4
satellite until it died some weeks ago. BMI was considerably faster in getting
realtime customers moved to Galaxy3 and back to trading. While DTN was able to
quickly shift non-realtime customers to Galaxy3, apparently the wider realtime
bandwidth requirement could not be met by Galaxy3. DTN realtime customers were
initially switched via a complex procedure to SBS6, however DTN is now shifting
all customers to the very high power Telestar5 satellite which promises superior
transmission and possibly a smaller dish.
While loss of a satellite is a rare occurance, I'd have to give BMI and "A" and
DTN a "C" on that front. I've had extensive contact with DTN customer service (I
had two bad boxes) and it is absolutely first rate. The bad boxes caused some
delay in getting setup but since getting online I've found the DTN feed to be
both fast and accurate. I've taken the time to verify and compare samples from
the CME Time and Sales posted nightly to the DTN/Ensign data and found
everything within bounds of quality and timeliness (about 1 second delay).
I've also found Ensign Software to be a "AAA" software company. Not only do they
issue a constant stream of enhancements - they added several features at my
request while I was still demoing the software - but they are very responsive to
problems and inconcistencies with the software. Little known is the fact that
Ensign includes a very powerful trading langauge called EPSL. WOW is available
for both DTN and BMI - I have the realtime trial copy here - however I have not
used it.
I suspect cable vs satellite will vary according to your cable company. Cable
company here in the mountains strings wire on the ground so I was not about to
trust them to keep a realtime feed running (I get my TV via satellite from
DirectTV). Some cable companies inturrupt signals for commercials. If I had a
very reliable cable company with no interruptions, I'd probably opt for cable,
otherwise satellite should give you much more reliablity.
Earl
-----Original Message-----
From: steven poser <swp@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: realtraders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <realtraders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tuesday, June 09, 1998 12:10 PM
Subject: GEN:Real time products
>I have been a technical analyst in the bond and currency markets for
>many years and I am now getting going in trading for myself. I would
>like any recommendations or warnings on some of these products. Is DTN a
>good idea for example? It is incredibly inexpensive! Do you use the
>cable or satellite version? Or should I go with the big guys like Bridge
>or Reuters data feeds. As for technical analysis programs, I have used
>Aspen Graphics for years and like it alot. But, Window on Wall Street
>Daytrading is less expensisve. Does anybody have any experience with it?
>
>Thanks in advance for all the help.
>
>Steve Poser
>
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