I use MultiCharts for the vast majority (The LifeTime license costs $1,497. For Unger Academy students is $1,097), and Trade Navigator for some strategies if I have particular ideas, I can’t code on MultiCharts.
Real trading can use any broker you want, I prefer to use Interactive Brokers.
For the datafeed I use IQFeed (about $100 per month). It's very reliable and should have a 7-day trial period (Unger Academy students have discounts here as well).
Our students can use the platform they prefer. "Trading Systems Supremacy" is about understanding how to develop trading strategies, which is independent of the platform used.
Nonetheless, I prefer and use MultiCharts. TradeStation is pretty much the same. Some use Trade Navigator.
MultiCharts has 30-days free trial periods so you can have a look and see what suits you best. We also have agreements with them for discounts if you decide to purchase, as many other students did in the past.
Most of the systems in the manual are developed using Multicharts which is somehow equivalent to Tradestation, some other stuff is run using Trade Navigator, yet if you plan to buy a software I suggest you evaluate Multicharts first.
Alternatively, you can open a Futures account with TradeStation: in this way you can get the platform for free to start coding and monitoring your own scripts.
The Tradestation language (EasyLanguage) is highly compatible with MultiCharts (which uses PowerLanguage) and this is an excellent alternative to a significantly lower cost (almost null). Although I personally prefer MultiCharts for the convenience of use, I know many professionals who are comfortable with TradeStation, therefore the choice remains at the discretion of the end user.
To get the TradeStation platform for free, the following requirements must be met:
- be a "non-professional" customer;
- open a futures account with them and deposit at least $500 (the money remains of course yours on a segregated account);
- it is also advisable to ask for the application of the "Single Tier Plan" in order to support only the cost of $50/year for any inactivity instead of $1200/year ($100/month) provided in the "Tiered commission plan" .
In addition, with this configuration you'll have free Globex market data as well as those related to the Forex market. Other markets such as Eurex and ICE have separate costs.
We would also like to remind you that TradeStation also offers a software for portfolio backtesting ("Portfolio Maestro") and once the account has been activated, you can also automate your operation on a demo account to initially monitor your strategies with virtual money before start operating with real money.
The concepts can of course be applied to MetaTrader (MT4, which is free), Ninja or other platforms as well!
Resources are mostly available for Multicharts and Tradestation and now also MT4.
The manual and video lectures delivers the know-how so the principles could then be applied using any tool, provided you can program it (otherwise you can have a look at https://mc.ungeracademy.com/description).
See also the videos: