I heard Andover is charging prop traders 6 cents per share commission + software + pass thrus! Trader keeps 100% of profits and has to put up 10K. Can someone verify this as it seems exorbantly expensive, especially as previous posts on this thread mention much more reasonable rates. I trade prop at Andover, NY. .006 + ECNs + SEC & NASD pass through fees. No software or sitting fees. Bullets $25/ thousand. Unlimited buying power (theoretically $20 million), 100% payout. Only put up $10 thousand. Came in with 2 year prior experience and expectation that I would trade decent volume (about 3 million per month). I scalp NASDAQ stocks but they do NY also which I believe works out to be cheaper, but am not sure. Before I decided on moving (about 4 months ago) had to do some negotiating to get this rate but seems to be pretty much standard rate at most firms now. I will probably be negotiating to see if I can get it down lower since the competition is offering better rates, rumors are .002 for 6 million shares a month. You MUST keep informed on other companys rates and then negotiate your own rates down. Every Andover office is pretty much free to set their own rates and squeeze for whatever they can get. All ECNs are .005 except 2 of them, (INCA & BRUT I believe), so all together it works out to less than .01. We should start a separate thread where everyone can post the rates they are getting at their firms. By keeping rates hidden from the public the customers are the only ones getting screwed, I'd still be paying .025 per share if I wasn't willing to negotiate and jump from firm to firm. The rate sheets they'll show you that are supposedly written in stone are worthless, they'll negotiate if you ask, specially in this environment. Good Luck.
Andover has one of the best deals on the street. I don't trade for them but a lot of traders are going there for their cheap tixs. The software is a different issue but Andover clears their own trades, hence the cheap tix charges.
I interviewed in April at Andover NYC. I was offered commish of 1.5c/sh and a $5k capital committment. I suppose each office is different (from what I gather from these threads). Did not ask about any passthrus- I'm interviewing for the first time so I didnt know to ask. No one mentioned passsthrus or desk fees or software fee, etc. So I take it the .015 is inclusive. Any feedback appreciated.
IMHO, I think you might be undercapitilized, otherwise, why would you pay 1.5c/sh, when you can go to Echo for 10K commitment and 1c/sh? nitro
Last I heard from a friend trading at a NY Andover office is...... No more prop trading. And for those using firm money, no more overnighting. Friend will be looking to leave now and looking to be a "stock" boy in a grocery store. At least he gets a salary and a discount on food. So much for good news out there.
I just read back a few pages and I noticed discussion of the amount of owners money put up to trade. I didn't realize these amounts were so low. I came from a firm that does not ask for any money put in. The commissions were a flat 1.2 cents. The payouts were not as high (which seems fair considering all risk is the firms). And most importantly, the firms money was quite substantial when comparing it to the number of 10,000,000 that I have seen on here. This company has over 300 million (it was more until losses started piling up) backing their traders. Just some info in case anyone is following that line anymore.
See the first couple of posts about Andover....I think I stated correctly that they have stopped the "no cash" program pretty much.
The . 01 commission rate is a little high but it all depends on the volume that you do. If you do around 100,000 shares per day you can get a lower rate probably in the .0075 to . 0085 range If you do more say 300, 000 shares or more you should get even lower rates such as .006 or so. When you go up in size also you should negotiate a "cap." That is the max. amount that you will be charged on a trade regardless the number of shares for that trade.