Share New Research 
Does the average manual trader, using a charting package like TradingView, ThinkOrSwim, etc, see different realtime charts than a QuantConnect algo would during live trading? I ask because of the following from the QuantConnect FAQ. regarding historic data differences.
"QuantConnect builds our TradeBars from tick data. While doing this we filter out ticks which our vendor believes are "suspicious". These suspicious trades include ones which are rolled back, reported late, or traded via OTC markets. This makes the bars a more realistic representation of the asset price but it might vary slightly from popular web-portals like Yahoo etc. Although this results in slightly different prices we believe its more important to have realistic backtests than match Yahoo."
We primarily trade in small cap stocks, which are heavily traded by retail discretionary/manual traders who are making their trade decisions based on what they see in these common charting packages. I'd be super concerned if the average trader is seeing different charts than my QuantConnect algorithm during live trading.
Any insight on this is much appreciated; thanks guys!
Jared Broad
Many chart platforms are powered by BATS or IEX exchanges as they do not have distribution fees on viewers. The BATS/IEX prices are quite different from the primary exchanges (roughly 5% of volume) with differences of $0.1-$0.25, along with lags as they're less liquid.
QC is powered by the full SIP feed. It's a 100% representation of the L1 quote and trade feed; with the opening and close prices of the MOO/MOC bars being built from the specific tick that the exchanges send to denote the opening/closing auction price. Our feed is piped over fiber to the colocated racks, with no internet latency... for sure ours will be different.
Overall I think the differences will not be noticeable to the human eye though. Just people carefully analyzing backtests =)
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The material on this website is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy, or a recommendation or endorsement for any security or strategy, nor does it constitute an offer to provide investment advisory services by QuantConnect. In addition, the material offers no opinion with respect to the suitability of any security or specific investment. QuantConnect makes no guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of the views expressed in the website. The views are subject to change, and may have become unreliable for various reasons, including changes in market conditions or economic circumstances. All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. You should consult with an investment professional before making any investment decisions.
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