Just burritos. As a one man shop I could never justify the cost. Besides, i still could never compete with the speed pros even with microwave.
I don't see the need for this blistering speed unless the strategies are looking for 1-2 ticks net profit per trade...and are high frequency. I'm looking for 6-20 ticks per trade.
speed is about setting the next trades up for failure. your trades that hft just matched. before you get your fill they have already stacked the book to make sure u lose they win. they are not exchange mm. they are aggressive synthetic mm who take the whole of the trades in the last second to figure out where they want to push the mkt. they are informed by filling and matching the majority of the normal distribution of trades then they push it out to the edges to force a shift in ownership. then it reverts and ur like..i was right..now look at it go and you arent in the trade. rinse and repeat. the mkt has a normal distibution for the most part until planned and group algos work hard and together to push beyond!!
If you’re looking for 6 - 20 tics per trade (which I like, btw) then retail commissions are tolerable. I’m not saying optimum, but tolerable. Paying $5/RT on $75 profit (6 tics ES) is workable with scratches and losses. It’s the scalpers who get eaten alive with retail cost structures. Good hunting!
every tick that you are filled on in the emini is 12.50. the problem isnt so much a consistent 1 tick of slippage..that can easily be calculated and worked out, but when your strategy says exit 100 or enter 100 and you fill on 38 of them and now your strategy is completely off and mkt running against you then it might cost you 3 ticks or a point because you lost ALL of your priority and are priced out of que and forced to get out on 60 at a 1 pt loss...so 3000 dollars. numbers like this make it understandable that you need extremely low exchange n clearing fees. also..that your back up plan needs to be robust and constantly working orders to be in ques. this is what the majority of algos are doing most of the time while balancing messaging to thr exchange. its clear very few on this site understand how expensuve it is to actually trade size. ken at citadel takes 2 million a day for himself after taxes and expenses from 2 to 3 ticks in futures and 1 to 2 cents per share in stocks..thats huge and we all pay for it. there is no benefit. mkts worked better before these hft showed up. plenty of liquidity with out the hft tax!!! they keep Everyone out of priority in ques because they can cancel as your orders are inflight and so are theirs..it called in flight cancellation. it is stacked against you. trust me
5 rt is terribly high for any retail account. if you are paying over 4 bucks total round turn you need to get serious and move your account. would you goto the store and pay 1 more 5 times a day 100 times a day for a gallon of gas!! then why pay more to trade. these discount brokers dont have anyway of making your trades better...
I'm at $4 R/T right now so I shouldn't be bitching. By my calculations, going with an exchange membership or trading thru a prop firm would get me down to $1.50-$2.50.