StockFetcher Forums · General Discussion · I would like feedback, pro /con, on prophet.net<< 1 2 >>Post Follow-up
woofys
212 posts
msg #32732
Ignore woofys
8/1/2004 7:36:55 PM

I am thinking of taking the plunge. Before I do I would like to know what is thought of them generally. There charts jump around alot. And I have heard they dont like answering email enquires. Is there anything ealse I should know?


robdavis
69 posts
msg #32734
Ignore robdavis
8/1/2004 10:49:44 PM

They're on or at near the same (kind of average plus) level as BigCharts, but Prophet's customer service is better than that of BigCharts.

Between 2000 and 2002 they used to be lousy, and below average, their charts used to crash every 30 minutes, then they found a couple of bugs, and, as a consequence, their charts improved a lot. Why? I believe they used 80 per cent of my input, when I sent them a long e-mail after I cancelled my (silver) membership with them about two years ago.

Back in 2002, (thanks to yours truly and possibly other users), they made many fixes and got rid of many of their bugs in their charting software, but then they stopped all development, all software verification, and all bug fixes completely. There have been no visible improvements (that I've been able to see) between 2002 and 2004. They even retracted one of their improvements, i.e. the collapsible (and now rigid) left panel.

Their charts are good, but not the most user friendly. For me a huge distraction is the small size of their charts (thanks to a rigid left panel), or, alternatively, when detached, the huge number of flickering and flashing ads.

Or, for example, their SMA(90) when applied to volume is false and misleading, but no one seems to care bad enough; no one seems to be interested enough in making any corrections to it anytime soon.

Or, for example, at around 9:30 or so their open prices (for many stocks) are often false and misleading until later during the same day, i.e. they make corrections about open prices after 10:00 a.m., but no one seems to care badly enough; no one seems to be interested enough in making any corrections to this issue anytime soon.

Or, for example, their streaming chart comes to a screetching halt at 4:00 p.m. EST, without any notification to you, the user, even when you're trading MASDAQ stocks. And Nasdaq stocks continue to trade till 7:00 p.m. EST! My guess is they care about you, the user, but not too much! I suspect they're mainly interested in selling, and selling, and selling, and selling, and selling, and selling, and selling (memberships and advertising) only.

Their live, real-time streaming charts are primitive, outdated, old-looking, old-fashioned, and ugly, but still somewhat BETTER than that of many of their competitors (in terms of reliability and stability).

When I was a customer with them, in 2002, they DID answer my e-mails, and they were FAIR and HONEST with me, on my account.

If you spell out what you mean by, "I am thinking of taking the plunge", maybe I can help you even more. Membership? Bronze? Silver? Platinum? Or gold? Intraday trading, or EOD trading? Streaming chart? 40 or 60-day intraday charts?

Keep in mind, if you know where to look, a huge number of their services -- including real time streaming quotes -- are available elsewhere, for FREE!



siliconhippy
37 posts
msg #32747
Ignore siliconhippy
8/2/2004 8:38:35 PM

I agree with Rob completely. I canceled my silver membership a couple of months too with Prophet. They used to be great, but their charts especially are of such lousy quality it is embarrassing.

Apart from that and the issues with crashes (include watchlist updates in their MarketMatrix), the structure they have is pretty good (Industry Rankings, a full suite of stock, option, ETF, Mini, Indices all with dynamic charts.) But they need updates ! E.g., the ability to change time periods viewable with ETF/other rankings, a MAJOR chart quality upgrade, and perhaps the ability to display several charts on the same page (e.g. index charts.)

Rob, can you name your alternate favs that look better than Prophet? My interest is in good charts with intraday/streaming data, and industry/sector/ETF/index rankings over selectable time periods (1,3 months, YTD, 1 year etc.) with the ability to click chart from name titles.

siliconhippy


robdavis
69 posts
msg #32748
Ignore robdavis
8/2/2004 10:36:45 PM

Siliconhippy,

For EOD trading my favorites are A) BigCharts' Java charts (because they're free and reliable), B) Prophet Java charts (because they're also free and reliable), and C) SF flash charts (and I find myself using SF increasingly more and more often).

For intraday trading, my favorites are A) eSignal (they have excellent customer service, highly accurate and reliable quotes, beautiful and user friendly charts, but they're also pricey; I used to pay approx $100 per month), B) Medved's Quotetracker (but only IF one pays a small registration fee... this fee gets rid of their distracting advertising messages; and only IF one has access to cable or other dedicated ISP... this is a must for the accumulation of one or more day's historical data on one's own PC).

And, of course, there are many, many other similar services available from other companies on the Internet. I must have tried 25-30 services before I was able to decide which ones I liked the most. Lots of companies are getting better and better every day. About one year ago even excite.com came up with some pretty decent *tech* charts; I use them once in every blue moon. They're decent and also FREE!

I hope this helps.

Rob


woofys
212 posts
msg #32754
Ignore woofys
8/3/2004 6:32:44 PM

Robdavis and siliconhippy, thank you both for the help its really appreciated


risjr
229 posts
msg #32761
Ignore risjr
8/3/2004 11:44:56 PM

So what do you guys recommend for real time charting software??

Thanks in advance

Ron


EWZuber
1,373 posts
msg #32762
Ignore EWZuber
8/4/2004 1:36:04 AM

I am using Money.net real time charts. They are inexpensive and they have improved the quality considerably over the past year.
One problem they still have is the volume bars misrepresent the actual volume on the 5 minute and one minute charts ( maybe the 30 min. also ).
If the chart is refreshed after the bar is complete then it will reflect the correct volume.
Also I don't like the way the charts look when expanded. They don't expand vertically only horizontally so this function is kinda funky.
Other than that I like these charts and they are interactive for drawing trendlines.


robdavis
69 posts
msg #32763
Ignore robdavis
8/4/2004 2:59:12 AM

Ron,

Low-low budget: For real time charting software I recommend quotetracker.com. It is free and it's also amazing how it's getting better every day.

Moderate budget: For real time charting software I recommend quotetracker.com; pay up to $60 per year and you will have no distractions. Amazing charts that keep getting better.

Medium to high budget: For real time charting software I recommend esignal.com; pay them $99+ per month, and you will have amazing charts, backtesting capabilities, and the world's most reliable streaming quotes. Receiving the world's most accurate streaming quotes is, in itself, worth the price of subscription.

For the record, I have no financial interests in these services; I'm getting zero, nil, nothing, nada, for recommending them.

I hope this helps.

Rob



cegis
235 posts
msg #32768
Ignore cegis
8/4/2004 9:55:56 AM

Ameritrade's Streamer and Command Center has free RT charts, but there's a limit to 5 charts at a time. (Personally, I rarely run into this limit, as it's hard to fit more than 5 charts on the desktop, even with my dual-head hi-res configuration.)

Obviously, you need a brokerage account with them to get Streamer/Command Center...

HTH,

C


SOYLENT
3 posts
msg #32773
Ignore SOYLENT
8/4/2004 6:46:29 PM

Ron --

Regarding trading software for realtime:
If trading is your life and passion, eSignal is the ultimate gadget for charting.

Otherwise, just take the free quotes from your broker...

-c



StockFetcher Forums · General Discussion · I would like feedback, pro /con, on prophet.net<< 1 2 >>Post Follow-up

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