Hi All- I've been day trading my accounts profitably for a few years using TD Ameritrade and Scottrade platforms. I'm tired of the crappy executions and high commissions, which I figure have probably cost me thousands over time. I have decided to move to a more professional platform, what would you recommend I use? I will most likely have a few hundred grand in cash, will trade only equities and ETF's, margin is not hugely important, I want to have good charting and execution. IB seems to get alot of mentions on here, is that a good place to start?
IB's charting is rudimentary. The obvious choice for your requirements used to be CyberTrader, but now that Schwab has folded it into their StreetSmart Pro platform, it is far less useful. Still probably the best choice though, provided you do the minimum number of trades per month to get it for free. I'm actually interested in this question as well, as I have to recommend a broker to a relative. I'll probably rec IB, but they don't need charting.
Don't bother using IB charting, use QuoteTracker or some other 3rd party charting software with an IB account.
I find the quality of IB's executions to be great. Limit orders routed to their primary exchange are often filled with price improvement. Same for forex.