This probably doesn't help you much, but I have been to their office multiple times and ended up not going there for personal reasons which most likely wouldn't apply to you (unique offers by industry contacts elsewhere), but the guys seemed extremely nice and honest, were willing to bargain for lower rates, and the traders there all expressed happiness with the firm. The software they use -Anvil and Lightspeed - totally kick ass. I'm not a trader there (though I do use Anvil and can testify to its badassity) nor do I have any affiliation whatsoever with the firm, but of the many, many firms I shopped around at, theirs struck me as being the best one at which I would trade.
For what it's worth, I just recently spoke to a trader who left Avatar after having numerous bad experiences with them. This trader however, traded remotely from California with the NY office. He stated that management was uncaring and unresponsive the majority of the time to his questions and needs. He was also paying a 0.01/share and trading 20,000+ daily via remote; 'way overcharged' in today's market... Best of luck.
Not sure if you're talking about the same Avatar trading go hokies. Or maybe you're just trying to bash a company that's doing things the right way because you are the competition. rich87a, I trade at Avatar remotely and sometimes in the office when I can make it into the city. They pay 100% always on time, and always address my software/account concerns immediately (which is very important to me) and your rate can be as low as $3-$5 if you trade decent volume. 20K shares a day isn't much volume but I'm sure they would give you a fair deal . I have become friends with Ray and Omar who are the partners there and you will not find anything bad about them on this board or anywhere else on the internet (unless it is the competition or someone who has never traded with them). Stop in there and speak with them and other traders in their office to form your own impression of their operation and to see the real rates they offer (not this mysterious .01/share rate from a remote trader in california)
As I said; just providing the facts as communicated to me. Since your friends with the owners, I would expect a positive story from you..
do they charge you a desk fess - ? do they charge you a software fees - ? Can you download a 3rd party software on their computer ????????
Yes. Monthly fees run around 1500-2K/mth, but that can be negotiated. Esp if you trade with them. They have many guys there doing their own thing as well. They use Anvil and Lightspeed, and last I checked neither one charged a platform fee Like I said, they got a lot of guys trading their own thing. They could install something for you, but they got to do it. They have to make sure you are not going to bring the network down. the same holds true if you bring your own equipment - they have to check it to make sure it's clean.