I've just heard so many bad things about IB's customer service. Why do you need customer service? Are you one of those traders who put an order and then start calling them to see what happened to your order?
I am amazed when I read posts such as yours. Doesn't your high speed connection ever go down? Power outage, hmm? Sure I have bb, a cell phone, cable modem, and will soon get DSL as a backup, but things can and do happen These are the things you need customer service for, not as you imply or others on this board have implied that a trader needs their hand held. If that is what people refer to as customer service then they really need broker assist trading at higher rates. I replied because I have honestlly thought about IB, but I am concerned that if shit hits the fan and I have an outage they are going to be slow to respond, atleast slower than my current broker which is Velocity Futures. Does X Trader occasionally have issues. Yes, but the big banks use it, not TWS, atleast to my knowledge.
Thanks for all of your responses. Now I am sort of torn between Choicetrade and IB. I'm new to options trading and will be starting with 1 or 2 contracts for swing trades. IB seems more attractive in terms of the commissions. Their minimum charge is $1 per trade while Choicetrade has a $5 minimum charge. If I trade about 40 contracts in a month then that is a big difference for a small account. If I eventually get over the $5 min per trade then the difference won't matter. In terms of service, I have heard bad things about IB. I don't need my hand held as insinuated earlier. I thought about it and rarely is there a need to ever call a broker, but it would be nice to know that if I have a problem that they will resolve it quickly. Right now, I'm leaning towards IB. Any more comments?
If you are just experimenting with trades of 1 or 2 options and you are not leveraging positions, and you are not shorting in-the-money options (which would be relevant assignments), there is no question you should use IB for the meanwhile.
(about one month later) IMO Choicetrade is much more concerned about the individual customer than guess who.
Why don't you save yourself some aggrivation and go with Think or Swim. I've traded with other brokers and these guys are hands down the best. I don't care what anybody says. They've already proven their value to me. Their commissions beat the $5 minimum at Choicetrade, and their customer service kills IB. Once you are trading a little more you will be able to negotiate a better rate too. I wouldn't recommend anything but thinkorswim to a new options trader.
About everyone says good things about Think or Swim (assuming the fee per contract isn't an issue). Choicetrade does not have a minimum fee of $5. They charge $.75 per contract if the trade is 21 or more contracts, otherwise $1 per contract. Perhaps you mean the cost for stock purchases (re: the $5). Or perhaps you mean Tradeking who have a $4.95 minimum fee (and charge $.65 per contract). For someone who trades of 50 contracts or more, you overcome the $4.95 initial fee $.65 per contract (using $.75 as a baseline).
I really dislike haggling. If I generally do about 100 10-lot trades per month, would they give me as good a price as IB's standard rate, or would I have to "negotiate" over time to get the price down to that level?
If you choose IB and ever have a problem with them, be prepared... I speak from my own experience--still not done with them.
The following link shows the Barron's March 6, 2006 broker survey results. TOS was rated 4.5 stars (just under OXP), and Choicetrade was rated as 4.0 (scroll down, under the active trader list). There are several other brokers there with a ranking of 4.0 plus as well. http://webreprints.djreprints.com/30450.html