I noticed IB's commissions page says for monthly 300,001 - 3,000,000 Shares traded there is a per share USD 0.002 and a per order minimum of USD 0.35. .35/.002 = 175 shares minimum before the per share rate is relevant. This seems a substantial constraint on algorithmic trading since for many symbols the market is pretty shallow. A market-order for 175 shares on these symbols would eat rapidly through to _much_ higher asks. And to be clear on the definition of "order", that is for only one symbol at a time, right? Brokers offer no such thing as, say, a portfolio "order" (ordering a bunch of symbols at once) that might loosen this constraint, right?
So I take it the answer to my repeated request for confirmation ("Right?") is "Yes." A related question: "MAXIMUM PER ORDER 1.0% of trade value" doesn't apply to a order of 1 share of a $30 simply because $0.35/$30 = 1.1% > 1%, right? It only applies to that tier if the price per share is so low that the value of 175 shares is less than $0.35/1% = $35 or <$35/175 = $0.20/share, right?
it is all fees and it will only get worse as the retail playing field is leveled!! cme is raising fees just for this reason.
Leveled means that it is obvious that many retail are trading the MICRO GOLD and being modertely succesful at it by scalping and so in order to REDUCE this because it is aZERO SUM GAME which means that if the HFT usually are the ones making the money from ultra short term scalps that they are the ones now seeing a reduction in their ability to make as much money off of the retail. What they do then is go to the CME and say look... we are getting eaten alive so we have a PROPOSAL. Since we get rebates based on volume why doesn't the CME raise fees for retail non members and just kick back more money to us and we BOTH WIN while the RETAIL guys keep paying us ALL through the nose. THE PLAYING FIELD IS NOT LEVEL. it never has been but the clsoer to level you can get the more you persoanlly can succeed.