I am thinking of opening an account and have read the postings. My sense is that you would have the pro's and con's regardless of which broker you were talking about. My question, which relates back to the idea that you get what you pay for, is how can IB execute at such low commission rates. All other brokers charge higher commissions plus ECN fees. In some cases IBs commissions are barely above the ECN fees charged by others. on-on
The simple answer is technology. IB's system is pretty much a derivative of the trading system used by the Timber Hill Group which is probably the most technically advanced trading firm in the world. The trading and clearing systems are very efficient and the economies of scale provided by the Timber Hill backbone make the marginal cost per trade under 1 penny.
Is anyone else having problems placing orders? I saw on some earlier posts where other traders are having the bid and ask prices disappear from time to time. I've had that problem for a while now; but now if the bid and/or ask is missing, the trade may not even get sent. I plan on contacting IB regarding this problem, but I wanted to find out first whether this is an isolated problem. I have yet to upgrade to the Java version; I don't know whether this could be the problem.
def thanks but are you saying IB has lower costs i.e. infrastructure in place from institutional business. Are the other guys also making money on the ECN fees?
greatballs,can't speak for the other brokers but if they are passing large volumes to particular ECN's I would imagine that they are receiving a discount on the basic fees. mjt, I've been in the US office the past few days where i've been in front of a TWS on the prop desk throughout the day where a significant amount of orders have been placed and executed without delay. During this time I haven't seen any prices disappear. All I can suggest is that you note the stock(s), time, etc. and report it to the help desk who can try to assist.
It's about 1430 hours (1-26-01). I can't log in to my TWS for about the past hour. Their message states that I am entering the wrong password or user name. However, I am entering the correct password/user name. I was logged in earlier, then the TWS just froze up and I haven't been able to get back in. I was wondering if this had happened to anyone else today. And, is this a common problem with IB? I just recently opened my account with this broker and this hasn't happened, except for this time. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks. BSAM
bsam i was using the system today at about the same time. i didn't have a problem. i am also a new user so i can talk about passed experience. on-on gb
Greetings everybody: I am currently testing the Demo version of the TWS and have noticed that the demo commissions are not the real IB commissions. Sometimes the commission on 1 option contract shows as $8 instead of $1.95. Also, for 100 shares, the commissions do not show $1, but $12 and sometimes $16. Did anybody had any problem with IB's account and position balances? It would have been more powerful if the total commissions appear seperately with each executed order. Is the new Java based TWS version reliable for daytrading equity options? spreads and straddles? Your help is very much appreciated.
bsam, did you ever resolve the log in problem? if not, contact the help desk (probably best using the online chat so they can cut/paste info to you). There were some issues with security certificates regarding java that can easily be resolved. michael_b: As an employee of IB take my comments for what they are. The overall positive comments speak for themselves. IB doesn't hold hands but aims to provide the fastest executions and cheapest commissions in the business. In particular, it is tough to match IB's capability in regards to option trading. However, at this time we do not offer the ability to send specific option strategies (straddles, strangles, spreads) to the exchanges as those type of orders require that they be sent into the pits. Ofcourse, legging into those strategies is not impossible given the speed of execution. I can state that there are a number of highly active ex-pit option traders using IB to trade. I've spoken to a few of them and they seem pretty content. On days that you trade, statements and confirmations are sent each evening via e-mail. You also can access your statements on-line. In addition, monthly statements are e-mailed. I believe these have been reliable since bringing all clearing in house last summer.