Possibly only $500 difference if trader is trading in 200 share lots. Seasoned trader, first million, trading 2000 is .0055, goes down as per trade size goes up. Not sure about "same" as in benefits. Don
Mom0, I think Don meant flat as in neither short nor long. This is not an endorsement in any way. I've been following this thread and I believe the salient facts about Bright are to be found here. The bottom line is that their business model provides supply for a clearly proven demand. Anyone who berates them for providing supply where there's demand is wasting his time. Convenience stores exist for a reason. It's because they're convenient.
i trade from home with my own dough. if someone trades 20:1 margin or even 5:1 overnight and they blow-up, who pays? TIA
Believe it or not, we're closer than you might think in terms of our evaluation of Bright. I come from the 'buyer beware' school of market ethics. Isn't there an old business school saw about 'business is the art of deception'? I can understand how you would interpet some of the claims above as moving beyond salesmanship into dishonesty. I didn't know that any of those claims were being made by Bright. The convenience store analogy was just meant to illustrate that even though doing business at a convenience store doesn't make sense when viewed solely in terms of fiscal responsibility, many people do it anyway.
Again, there are posters arguing that Bright is "expensive" for the intraday trader without posting where they currently trade. Let's resolve this issue. For those claiming Bright is "expensive" why don't you post the B/D where you trade and the commissions you pay. If you do not want to post your commission schedule than at least post the B/D and I will compare for myself.
Might make more sense to have anyone paying <b>more</b> than Bright's posted rates to mention the firm they trade with. If you look at Dustin and Shreddogs' posts earlier on this thread, you'll see that they found Bright's commissions (not posted, but Bright's lower, negotiated rates), to still be much higher than what Echo was charging. Note that even Don will point out that Echo is a very solid, stable and ethical firm. Interactive Brokers, a much larger and more solid firm than Bright (and a public company) charges cheaper rates. Personally, I trade retail at Genesis, and pay only a fraction of what Bright would charge. I don't know about Assent, but I am unaware of a single daytrading firm that charges <i>more</i> expensive rates than Bright. Granted, they are cheaper than non-daytrading firms, such as Fidelity, E*Trade, etc. But more expensive than everyone else (Echo, Genesis, IB, etc). Seriously, does anyone trade at a competing daytrading firm and pay a higher rate than Bright charges? That said, the Brights are to commended for their business savvy. If they can convince traders that their rates are 'worth' it, then more power to them. My concerns are that they lure in newbies that don't know any better, churn them out with 'low risk' strategies generating high commissions and overnight interest charges, and then find new traders as needed to fill the empty seats. As others have said on this thread, experienced traders don't need help in deciphering which brokerage firm is best for them, but the newbies could use a little assistance (or at least some balance in the information they get).
Echo, since 2001. pooled together group of REMOTE traders, over the years and have negotiated with Echo, on rates and, lets simply say - 0.0025 - 0.0030 or better, plus all the intraday leverage and overnight. $300/month software fee (keep a good chunk of cash at Echo, however) EricP continues to make INFORMED posts, for newbies to understand the general ballpark, and HOW the game is played. IF your firm, gets you started and educates you THAT IS awesome. simply keep in mind, as you grow your trading over the years KEEP on them to work with you on lowering your rates. IT should be a beneficial relationship for both parties.
This is the essence of the issue for me. One could argue that Bright's approach to newbies, which you described (fill the seats, pitch a few 'low risk' strategies, collect high commish and other fees then churn them and find a warm body to fill the seat), is unethical. In my view it's borderline, but really it's basically business as usual. You mention 'the information that newbs get'. I see it as the information that newbs arm themselves with. The internet is a wonderful thing. If you Google Bright Trading, the first page has links to ET and T2W entitled 'Ratings for Bright' or 'Experience with Bright' or whatever. Any newb who follows those links gets here and any competent newb then does about 5 minutes worth of searching and finds this thread and reads through it. They can then make an informed decision. http://www.google.com/search?q=brig...-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1 Having said all of this, I believe that Shreddog gave the best posts in this thread.