Lightspeed vs DAS Trader

[mm99 1]

Curious if anyone has experience with Lightspeed trading platform? If so please post your opinion vs DAS!

 

Main reason I am looking at it is I used a Mac, and it seems to support OSX vs DAS which I need to run in a Windows VM.

 

Thanks!

 

[laurnew 0]

I was with Lightspeed and switched to DAS. For so many reasons, I am much happier now. I s'pose it depends on what your needs are but my needs were not met with LST. Do you have specific questions?

[CassA 0]

Hi Laurnew,

 

Reasons on why Lightspeed fell short would be helpful. I'm evaluating Lightspeed because my DAS sim account freezes/crashes almost every day. One negative for me is that Lightspeed doesn't have a sim account, so there's not really a fall back for sim trading if things trend bad. I've read many posts about sim accounts complicating DAS so there's a draw back to sim accounts too.

 

Specific questions would be:

 

1. How do the Buttons compare, if you used them?

2. Lightspeed is also a broker. So, is DAS being better strictly a platform issue? For example, commissions are similar to IB, but DAS is better.

3. Were you able to get VWAP to display correctly in charts? My Lightspeed demo is suspect.

 

Thanks.

[laurnew 0]

Hi CassA...happy to answer your questions from my perspective but keep in mind that thousands of people use and like Lightspeed.

 

I could not get a handle on the Lightspeed Trader buttons. I just couldn't get it figured out...certainly not like the sensitive DAS buttons. Lightspeed usability just isn't comparable. It just depends on what your needs and trading style are....truly. It can't hurt to check LST out for yourself but IB is a much more developed company with great support around the clock. It's not just DAS that is the consideration.

 

I had several situations where I was actually given the wrong info as it pertained to some of my trades. Lightspeed has a small team and limited resources.

 

I've had a few issues with the DAS platform too. One of the tips that one of the customer service guys told me to do, is to keep a backup copy of my desktop somewhere else....like on my desktop. For some reason, if it gets corrupted and needs to be uninstalled to clear the issues.....my desktop version will not be lost if I then open the backup that is stored there, once the software is reinstalled. Perhaps you need to uninstall your copy and start again. Next time, save a copy to your desktop and re-save it from time to time with the updates to your layout as you develop it. They can talk you through uninstalling at DAS and provide you with a download link to reinstall. It's not really a big deal like it sounds.

 

The charts at LST are ridiculous. Do not fool yourself into thinking that you will be able to use them. One of my teachers uses LST as his brokerage and trading platform but he pays big money to subscribe to Esignal for ALL of his charts, which are excellent.

 

DAS is not perfect but for me it's awesome because of the SIM, the sophisticated IB brokerage linked to it (where I can also trade options and futures) and the functionality. I have not been a trader for all that long and I'm sure there are other solutions out there and will be more in the future but I do think that DAS and IB are platforms that I can grow with so for now, that's where I am!

 

Hope this was helpful to you...

Laurie

[CassA 0]

Laurie,

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Buttons: They seem more complicated to setup in Lightspeed. I really like the Buttons in DAS (that's what I use for orders for the most part). Easy to setup and understand.

 

Desktop: I save a new desktop file every day, e.g. my_YYYYMMDD.dsk. So, I'm not sure .dsk file corruption is an issue since I have 1 a day.

 

Charts: I was watching some charts in the LST demo today. I have a friend that uses Lightspeed, and he also subscribes to Esignal.

 

Cass