[BlowFish]

Absolutely! I really like the 'look and fee'l of IB's 'pseudo' ticks and find them 'reliable'. In a fast market I would far rather have a 200ms sample with timely information than a full tick feed lagging by x seconds.

I really don't believe its a big a deal as some people make out though I guess some black boxes or quantitative systems might function better with an un-aggregated feed. I guessed that was the point of your question about application. I really can't imagine too many that would be impaired using IB's data despite its compromises.

[JKLM]

OK ..I understand that RT tick chart is diferent because IB 0.2 sec snapshot data

but when I request history tick chart from IB in MC ...what would I get ?
true tick chart as it should be, or something other ?

I am asking this because I am not sure... can I test anything on IB history tick charts and expect similar results when it goes live ?

in other words ...If I trade on IB tick data ....what data should I use for backtesting and building my system ?

[Kiwi]

It depends on what history granularity you charting requests. 5 second is the finest and SierraChart only requests that when you are in a 1 hour or below situation. 30 second is used by SC for longer term backfill requests.


If you are backtesting a system based on ib tick data you need to use the same fill you will use live ... ie live.

But to be frank if you want to test based on tick data you had better pay the money and get a feed that provides you true tick data live and backfill.

[brevco]

I have used DTN IQfeed for almost one year and have never experienced a problem with them. They have been very reliable, and their customer service has been very good.

Another one I've heard about, but have not tried is Open Tick. I understand they are not accepting any new customers right now, though.

[JKLM]

I just need to see how good is IB tick data
so if anyone have historical CL data ( year or two ) in ASCI format please post it here

thanks

[darthtrader3.0beta]

Well personally, I wouldn't worry about IB data if your not on it already. Forget about the data and make your choice broker wise that way.
I think what gets lost in this is most people don't trade off 1 tick charts, most of what we do involves snapshots of ticks and throwing out data to make a usefull summary at much slower intervals than .2 seconds...
The real difference between IB and a real tick provider is probly nothing unless your doing some high frequency autotrader deal..
If you like their broker services then just go with them and if you really need tick precise data then add DTN into the mix. DTN is impossible to beat bang for the buck wise.

[Bam-Bam]

It really depends on on what you are trading and what you want to do with your charts. On something like ES, having an aggregate tick count based on 0.2-0.3 second snapshots has little similarity to what's actually happening in the market. On a true tick data feed, the charts can turn a lot more quickly.

I have some indicator based strategies that I run on tick charts. I have other strategies that I run on 5-min candlestick charts. IB data is fine for the candlestick charts but is entirely unreliable for the tick strategies. I use a different broker for charting data.

As a risk control strategy, having a separate data feed for charting works out well. At least once a week, market data on one of my brokers will freeze. It's very convenient to have another vendor to inform you that the market is moving against your position.

Good trading,

Bam-Bam

[BlowFish]

Originally Posted by Bam-Bam »

On a true tick data feed, the charts can turn a lot more quickly.

Bam-Bam

I thought they only aggregated ticks at the same price? So in theory they should turn at the same time.