Feed throttling: not every tick reaches the screen

[Fairman]

Feed throttling: not every tick reaches the screen

Some brokers do not send every quote. To save bandwidth, they limit the update rate, sending perhaps a few ticks per second at most. A busy market produces many more internally.

The effect on a chart is a smoothed version of reality. Short spikes may disappear. Highs and lows are less extreme than on a faster feed, and the exact timing of moves is blurred.

For a strategy that relies on fine timing, the throttled feed is a handicap. Signals arrive late and slightly distorted, and the platform's idea of the market lags behind the broker's own.

There is no easy way to know how much is being filtered. Comparing tick counts with another broker or a vendor over the same period gives a rough measure.

Asking support about quote throttling is a reasonable step. Some brokers offer a faster feed on certain account types or through different connection methods.

A rough test: record the number of ticks per minute for the same pair at two brokers during the same busy hour. A large difference in counts shows that one of them is smoothing the feed.

How many ticks per minute does the broker deliver compared with others for the same pair?