Are you getting a good short balance interest rebate at these commission levels ($0.003/share)? I pay more ($0.009-$0.01/share), but get a short rebate, such that the net of the two is approximately 0 (i.e., the total short rebate basically offsets total commissions). I have a market neutral portfolio, so my short balance is always significant. Wouldn't work for a mainly long portfolio. Also, not prop trading. I have a prime broker.
"what is the ideal rate for a brand new trader? would .006 be acceptable?" .006 is never acceptable. Unless you are at Maverick/towerhill/greatpoint capital or what ever they call it now. That is the only place I know that charges such outrageous rates and tries to convince their traders that .006 is the norm and that better rates don't exist. But from what I hear they have lost most of their traders due to the fact they refused to lower rates for their top traders. Seems like someone finally called them out on their rates and they failed to take it seriously. .002 - .003 seem to be the norm these days. Those that try to justify higher rates are scams. Any place thats charges .006 should be asked why. I would be interested to see how they justify these rates.
Reading people argue over .002 or .003, cracks me up. Serious guy these are cheap executions and traders are crying. If you took as much time focusing on great trades instead of worrying about a tenth of a penny, you might want to consider a different career. Cheap executions, they are leveraging you out...stop crying and learn how to trade. Of course this is my opinion.
Oops... you just revealed something about yourself : ) That difference can mean quite a bit of money for successful high volume traders.