Maybe they charge the fees because they know most people will pay without complaining or leaving. Just look at the cell phone companies. One just added a new $.50/mo fee to every cell phone contract. The projection is that it'll add an additional $50MM a year in revenue. A whole lot of customers would have to leave for that fee *not* to make sense. Small changes, big results. IB is in this to make money, plain and simple. Just like we are.
don`t get me started with phone companies, another over-consolidated area where gov. screwed consumers.
The point is, companies like IB and the cell phone companies are in enviable positions - they have captive customers and possess pricing power. They can lower commissions and make it look like you're getting a great deal. But on the back-end, they can add small fees that individually are painless, but in the whole significant to their bottom lines. And they'll generate enough to offset the "lowered" commissions. All in all, IB's edge is huge compared to its customers.
why don't you present proof that they are double charging on exchange fees? they don't make any money off exchanges fees. your insinuations are just that without any proof. 'IB is in this to make money, plain and simple. Just like we are. ' it is presumptuous on your part to compare yourself to IB.
why don't you present proof that they are double charging on exchange fees? they don't make any money off exchanges fees. your insinuations are just that without any proof. get a clue, many brokers with comparable trading commissions, don`t charge any bundled data fees period provided you trade enough minimum volume, do some research, this is not an ad for other brokers, but do some due diligence and get some quotes, and compare IB`s cost - hidden as they may be. And they have better platforms to boot.
In my opinion every trader should have at least 2 brokers. There are numerous reasons for this/advantages. See, MFG