Excellent thread IMO as it is good to share our collective knowledge. So for what its worth I will share what I have learnt over last 12 months or so.
I have mainly used Hubb and adopted it after researching quite a few of the freebies & being very happy with pitchfork (p/f) capability. Found it very good & user friendly but no Stochastic or Fib capability. The freebie version means shortest time frame is daily & the data is delayed by a certain amount which I am not sure but appears to be a few hours. Eg. Not end of day (eod) as I am able to update charts intra day.
Have tried Incredible Charts & find it a lot more ?clunky? to use & while I like it generally NO p/f capacity (which I find hard to understand??).
Tried Gannalyst & really like the way it works but have to download data which they are (of course) willing to sell to you; it is available for free elsewhere & found that I can even get the data from Yahoo; this is clunky & you have to even manipulate it (reverse the order) to get it to work. Can explain more if anyone wants.
I have traded with Westpac & Commsec & have to say their free charting stuff is not worth much. (that?s a joke!) I also have been a client of Weres for years & always thought their charts were crap & just checked again & YES they are crap (really consider that the big brokers are only there to service high net worth individuals and fleece a nice %age of those portfolios.)
I have just signed up with IG & they have a basic charting package that is free (with no p/f capacity damn it) and a superior charting that costs $60 pm (from memory) but is free if you do 4 trades. Have to say damn impressed with the IG markets platform so far. Real time market data streams for free and can run the charts at 1 minute; impressive.
10c, checked your Prorealtime this evening & damn impressed. What I like: -seems to have all the drawing functions I need -easy to use (after stuffing around for a bit) -like the way the p/f?s work & for those that draw them very nifty the way it ?jumps to? the high & low price -seems to have the full range of indicators.
It appears to be an internet based program so that as I get it:
1. you do not actually download the software & need to log in each time you use it, and 2. the charts are not saved on your computer;
Don?t really understand technicalities of this as if it is stored remotely then not sure of security etc but beyond me technically. Can anyone else elaborate?
I am on the road at mo? & will have a play around when I get home.
So to summarise: -there are quite a few free software packages out there - I have learnt today that its worth keeping eyes open for alternatives -If you want live data or charts with time frames less than daily you probs will have to pay for it (through brokerage or a part of buying it) PS: also learnt from this forum about ?snipping tool?; 10c that?s one handy function as I always used Print Screen function keys and paint ? very primitive. Thanks again!
As always welcome any alternative views or corrections of what I have posted & hope it helps someone?
