I also have serious problems for the last couple of days. Especially orders were not accepted (it never turned to green) around 3pm till 3:30pm. It hurt me only Thursday when I couldnt get out of my losing position /mb_html/frown.gif In addition to this, many disconnections and inaccurate quotes made it very difficult to trade. [This message has been edited by TraderWJ (edited Apr 01, 2000).]
I have been following this debate since its start. The comparison I make, and the problems I see reported, is with Pref tech. After much mind bending and shifting funds across the continent, I have returned to Real Tick. The deficiencies which are deadly are these: Unclear cancellations. Unstable connections. We are all looking for the Holy Grail of near instant execution, which should be possible with current technology, but it has to be measured against risk management. The sum of the remarks about IB for stock trading is that as of this date, connection is still unstable, and cancellations are not guaranteed. I wish it wasn't the case. They could have my account tomorrow. The most impressive part of their operation is the courtesy and fullness of DEF's replies here. In closing I will also add that the changing of price / volume is much too complex, although I think custom macros can help with that.
After your words of praise I feel remiss about taking so long to respond as I haven't checked the newsboards for a few days. Regarding any connection problems, I have full confidence that these issues are being addressed at the highest levels and if not yet resolved, will be resolved ASAP. I can't provide any further details as I have not spoken to our technical staff in the states. We are all looking for the holy grail. Direct access just hi-lites how far away we are from it in the US. When an exchange or broker provides a poor execution, there is no intermediary to hide the fact. We (and all direct access brokers) are dependent on ECN's and exchanges to confirm receipt and/or cancellation of an order. In the event an order is shipped to an ECN which fails to acknowledge an order, there is not much we can do except chase it down. However, ECN's are not always responsive to queries. Without a reply from the ECN, we can not confirm the status of an order. Similar issues are occuring more and more frequently with option orders. As a market maker on the options side, I've always believed strongly in "honoring your market". This does not seem to be the case with many specialists. When a specialists or DPM turn off the autoex system and passes an order into the pit, a customer can not modify or cancel an order. Executions take longer and probably at a worse price. All I can say in this regard is to write a letter to the SEC and Aurthur Levitt complaining about this abuse. Regarding the price and size change menu, I disagree completely with you on this issue. For a fast price change, I have not seen anything more accurate or quicker than the drop down menu or clicking above or under the price to move your price one tick. For large changes you can type in your order. However, that is a matter of taste. We can do our best but we will never be able to please everyone. If you have a better suggestion, let us know, maybe we can implement it in a new release. In short, when problems with our software or network have occurred, my experience has seen that they have been quickly sorted out. Unfortunately not all problems are under our control. Many of the issues discussed above exist because of regulatory and exchange practices or loopholes.
As an active trader, I would like to report that the connection was very stable during this week. Excecution and cancellation were both satisfactory. Quotes were still inaccurate sometimes for certain stocks. Especially I noted that INCA was often lagging more than several seconds. ps. I trade only NASDAQ stocks.
dear def it has been very helpful to have your answers regarding IB. Another active IB thread that needs imput from an IB representative is on silicon investor, SI subject #32122. This would be a great help.
mikev, i scan through that thread every now and then. However, since I am based overseas and that thread seems to deal with more pressing issues or things completely outside of my domain, i would not be the appropriate person to respond. i know senior management in the US read keep tabs on that thread and have contacted clients directly regarding their comments. i'll make the recommendation but i can't make any promises. i've made a committment to responding here on a best efforts basis but given the constraints of my time, have not gotten involved in any other forums. on another note, looks like there will be a vast improvement on NASAQ trades within a week or so. Orders of less than 1000 shares become SOES eligible and if I am not mistaken, will have to be honored if on the SOES system. I'm crossing my fingers, but if the system works as designed orders sent to reliable ECN's and/or SOES (which ever has the best price) should be confirmed and executed immediately. (i believe within a month or two after that, orders upto 10,000 shares will become SOES eligible)
Trading stocks with IB has improved dramatically over the past month or so. It was hit or miss for me up until about April, but this has been my experience lately. 1. Trades through ECNs go through like lightning. If there is no matching order, my order gets represented immediately on level 2. (Through just about any ECN, even BRUT sometimes, go figure.) 2. I can't comment on MM executions since most of my trades are executed via ECNs. I'm not sure if executions go to SOES or Selectnet if no ECN is available. I've never had much luck trading with MM's anyway. 3. Cancels also go through immediately. 4. Shorting hasn't been a problem. I've had maybe a few stocks I wasn't able to short; one of them today I couldn't short with Cyber either. 5. Data connection problems are much rarer now, although they do occur on occasion. (And reconnections are pretty quick.) I like the page layout, but I would prefer some kind of combination of that with order entry you see with level 2 brokers (although it sounds like they may add level 2 soon.) Order entry could be more streamlined. I think the best alternative would be to have the horizontal listing of stocks on top like they have now, with a level two box below that immediately inputs the stock you're trading when you click on bid(sell) or offer(buy). Then you could adjust your price, qantity and order type in the level 2 order entry portion, which I find to be much quicker.
My stock trading with IB is very effective, and am happy with their service. Ditto MJT's comments above as order entry is the only problem with the system. Then again too many bells and whistles would change the fundamental nature of the system, which is that of an order entry platform.
Should you want additional info on IB I suggest visiting the link below, there is more current info and activity: http://www.siliconinvestor.com/stocktalk/subject.gsp?subjectid=32122