Others here may have already said this in one way or another, but please realize the whole premise of this thread is pointless because a bookmap heatmap / historical market depth is useless with CQG because they do NOT provide full market depth…!!!
CQG only provide 10 ticks(!) of depth - all of which is just a flurry of algos 99% of the time (and anyone who uses heatmaps can confirm that) and besides can be seen in any basic DOM without needing a heatmap!
You won’t be able to see any big resting orders deep in the order book (important support and resistance levels) and anyone who uses depth heatmaps knows that’s the whole point.
Just curious, Have you ever tried investor/RT, Motive, multichats, or overcharts?
They seem to be alternatives to SC.
SC’s UI looks a bit outdated like it was written in C#, but the overall functionality is robust.
Hi again JulioC, yes I’ve tried them all at one point or another!
None of them are even close to viable alternatives to Sierra imo because not only is Sierra better than all of them (and has everything they have and then plenty more) but it’s also at a lower price.
If Sierra was significantly (like maybe 10-20 times) more expensive then those other options might be better in terms of pure value for money. But since Sierra is actually both better, faster AND cheaper than all of them, they’re simply bad choices in every respect imo.
So the usual reaction when someone discovers Sierra (including my own) is something like “WTF why did I not discover this earlier? All this time and money wasted on worse and more expensive software!”
Either that, or they’re overwhelmed by the sheer amount of functionality and customizability of Sierra (especially beginners). Imagine a software with an option for literally anything. But if you’re a nerd/geek/tweaker like me with very specific needs then look no further.
Yes, sadly their UI looks outdated and I believe it’s written in C++, not C#. The reason they haven’t opted for a more “modern” interface (yet) is to maintain maximum speed and performance and they have definitely managed to do that (every other chart software feels slow, laggy and draggy by comparison - with the exception, perhaps, of eSignal (which is $200 a month though but definitely super solid also).
Honestly my only gripe with Sierra is the grey (Windows) title bars. I like to have EVERYTHING in dark mode lol and 99% of stuff in Sierra can be customized but title bars are a Windows thing - specifically in Windows 10. In fact if you have Windows 7 or earlier you can even change that. Yes there are ways to do it in Windows 10 but it’s one big tricky nightmare so I’ll spare you the details. 100% dark mode, please!
If I had to pick just 3 software options (without price as a consideration) I’d say choose between Sierra, eSignal and maybe Investor R/T. They’re all way above the rest. But I guess there’s also a place for Tradingview (super comprehensive and works on anything because browser) as well as Motive and Wave59 if you’re specifically into esoteric stuff (Elliott waves, Fibonacci spirals, Gann stuff, astrological analysis etc). I only use basic Elliott wave counts, basic Fib retracements and extensions and simple Gann swings and every software either has those already or you can simply guesstimate them with your bare eyes (that’s what I do).
But again - don’t believe anything you read on the internet! Do your own testing (almost all software has a free trial anyway) and see for yourself if I’m right - or prove me wrong.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing Tradovate can do about the number of DOM levels offered in their own platform (10 levels each side only which makes a heatmap redundant) besides offering feed options that allow for this - which they currently don’t (just CQG right now which is meh). Sadly, even years after CME group introduced full DOM data, CQG isn’t offering this. Likely because their data capacity is already congested as is.
The best data feed with full DOM (800 levels instead of 10) is still Denali (Sierrachart’s in-house direct exchange feed) but I doubt Sierra would let Tradovate platform use that so you’d have to switch to Sierra as a platform (no-brainer though afaic as it’s the best platform anyway and Tradovate already offers this!) The only downside is that the data costs a little more (but 100% worth it imho).
So since I doubt Sierra would third-party what’s probably the best feed in the industry currently, there’s probably only one other option for Tradovate’s own platform right now if they want to offer a “bookmap”, which is to partner with Rithmic - which does also offer full CME market depth. And Rithmic isn’t so stubborn about sharing with 3rd party vendors. They’re also not an amazing feed, though (not much better than CQG, but definitely better).
But even if you go this route, there is still the issue of order routing direct through Sierra (which uses TT-FIX right at the exchange) and Tradovate for some reason doesn’t currently allow this (even though other IB’s clearing through the same clearing firms all do). This is scary because the TT routing has full server-side OCO and bracket order management with like 1ms-latencies which means you won’t have to worry about 50T slippage in a fast-moving market again (like happened recently with the big CQG outage).
In other words, just one CQG “hickup” like that could easily pay for 2+ years of Sierra subscription (with 1 contract only on ES - scale according to your size). When it comes to order routing, TT over CQG is a no-brainer and most pros/prop firms/banks/funds worldwide agree… So yeah.
If you’d like to support the cause for better order routing, please upvote and comment on the relevant thread via this link! =>>> Allow for Sierra Chart Order Routing
Yes, having the full book available would be best. But, any levels are good levels. “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.”
Also, the folks at NinjaTrader found out, that can put a strain on the platform. This type of feature becomes a big data issue with all of up market updates start streaming in.
We are working through adding additional levels to the book for products in support of this. You will notice ES and CL. Additional products will get this support in the very near future
The key to the heatmap is not implementing it, the problem is getting more than 10 levels for all the CME tickers, otherwise would be less beneficial having just few levels.
If you implement some nice tools with it, you can gain some nice insight with just 10 levels. Being able to see short term pulling and stacking that supports a move can be more beneficial than and order sitting 25 levels above the book for days.
