Potential Buyer....Some Questions

Before I drop big money on the platform, it would be great to know the answers to these questions. Sorry if they've been answered already (couldn't find a definitive response on the boards or MC wiki):

1) Is easylanguage incorporated into Multicharts.net? If I buy multicharts.net, does it have easylanguage capability?

I'm a noob programmer and feel easylanguage/powerlanguage is best suited for my needs. However, if Multicharts.net includes both easylanguage + C + VB, why would I want to buy the regular Multicharts?


2) Regarding historical backtesting; NT isn't an option for me because it doesn't allow intrabar order generation. NT calculates entries on next bar open even if a trade was signaled during the formation of the prior bar. This is unrealistic and unacceptable for my purpose. After combing through the forums here and some of the MC wiki, I'm still cloudy on the IOG and bar magnifier capability.

Using an example, during a historical backtest in Multicharts:

Say I design a strategy that buys a breakout 5 ticks below a prior candle low. The current candle trades ten ticks below the prior candle low. During a backtest and walk forward testing, will Multicharts enter a trade 5 ticks below the prior candle low?

If yes, what are the correct setting parameters to replicate that condition (IOG = on, bar magnifier = off etc)?

Would Multicharts require historical tick data for this strategy to backtest properly?

Or would one minute bars suffice, and MC just assumes the entry at 5 ticks below prior candle during current forming candle (a sort of rough guesstimation)?


3) Can a fully licensed instance of Multicharts run on a computer with no internet connection?

IOW, does multicharts continually need to "call home" to verify Digital Rights Management in order for the program to run properly (not including live trades, of course)?

I plan to run two instances of Multicharts on two separate computers. One computer will be used for live trading and be connected to the internet. The other computer will be used for backtesting and strategy design and will not be connected to the internet. Is this workable?


4) I trade through Interactive Brokers. MC currently has a TWS version integrated into IB's TWS platform, which I find lacking in some key features I need. Is the standalone Multicharts and Multicharts.net version fully compatible with Interactive Brokers for trading?


Thanks very much.

Hello veritasig,

1) Is easylanguage incorporated into Multicharts.net? If I buy multicharts.net, does it have easylanguage capability?

No, MultiCharts with EasyLanguage/PowerLanguage and MultiCharts .NET with VB.NET/C# are two different products. There is no product including both EasyLanguage/PowerLanguage and VB.NET/C#.

2) Regarding historical backtesting; NT isn't an option for me because it doesn't allow intrabar order generation. NT calculates entries on next bar open even if a trade was signaled during the formation of the prior bar. This is unrealistic and unacceptable for my purpose. After combing through the forums here and some of the MC wiki, I'm still cloudy on the IOG and bar magnifier capability.

Using an example, during a historical backtest in Multicharts:

Say I design a strategy that buys a breakout 5 ticks below a prior candle low. The current candle trades ten ticks below the prior candle low. During a backtest and walk forward testing, will Multicharts enter a trade 5 ticks below the prior candle low?

Yes, you can find all required information here.

If yes, what are the correct setting parameters to replicate that condition (IOG = on, bar magnifier = off etc)?

IOG=ON for auto-trading in real-time; IOG=ON and BM=ON for backtesting

Would Multicharts require historical tick data for this strategy to backtest properly?

Yes, for realistic bakcteting you will need to enable Bar Magnifier to load ticks or intraday data.

Or would one minute bars suffice, and MC just assumes the entry at 5 ticks below prior candle during current forming candle (a sort of rough guesstimation)?

For most realistic results 1 tick bar Magnifier should be used.

3) Can a fully licensed instance of Multicharts run on a computer with no internet connection?

IOW, does multicharts continually need to "call home" to verify Digital Rights Management in order for the program to run properly (not including live trades, of course)?

I plan to run two instances of Multicharts on two separate computers. One computer will be used for live trading and be connected to the internet. The other computer will be used for backtesting and strategy design and will not be connected to the internet. Is this workable?

You will find the answer here.

4) I trade through Interactive Brokers. MC currently has a TWS version integrated into IB's TWS platform, which I find lacking in some key features I need. Is the standalone Multicharts and Multicharts.net version fully compatible with Interactive Brokers for trading?

Yes, at the moment MC and MC for TWS are almost the same in terms of working with IB.