averaging 2 million shares a day, sometimes as high as 7 million shares. I average around 200 trades a day, and have been doign that for 6 + years. I have been around for awhile, I post on yahoo under this tag, and even at some other sites as wallstreetplaya. I dont mess around, im just wondering how anyone can use IB if they do some serious volume! Heck I trade LULU everyday and average about 500k on that one alone, and that is just warming up!
You are talking about scalping penny stocks and liquidity rebates, which is totally different from what IB provides. A trader doing 2 mil shares a day on stocks above a few bucks AND trading stocks for actual price movement could easily use IB. All the pros pay per share anyways.
and liquidity trading. Its nothing for me to go into LU for 100k at a time or other penny stocks under a buck for a few hundred k its just the nature of the beast I guess. I have been trading this way for years and it has been profitable for me so I plan to stick with it. to answer your question I trade with 500k in my trading account (primary) I have some others that I trade with also I have an ameritrade account with a few hundred k in it also and one ameritrade IRA that I can daytrade every 3 days thanks to the great new rules imposed by ameritrade! I have an old datek direct account as well but the balance is minimal.
Because most people here don't trade your volume nor style, I presume. As a newer trader, I would have gone broke on commissions if it weren't for a low per-share commission structure like IB's. I trade $15-50 stocks in lots of 100-500 shares, and make 25-100 trades a day. Let's say today I made 60 trades averaging 300 shares each: >Schwabbie @ $10/trade = $600 + ECN + 'remuneration' thru Penson + software fees = $600 + ?? = $600+++ >IB @ 1¢/share x (60 x 300 shares) = $180 period. The value depends upon your style, I suppose. I'm more fascinated by the people who pay unnecessary commissions than I am about IB itself.
the damn ECN fees and "two minute rule". I trade 3,000-5,000 shares per trade usually, and with a .05 per share ECN fee, that's an extra $15 to $25 per trade on top of the $9.95. Not to mention if I post an offer to sell 5,000 shares, fill on 1,000 , then 5 minutes later have to post a lower offer and fill another 1,000, then again.....that adds up big time.
Here are some of the Cyber facts about trading costs from their site: _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Completed or partial executions of the same stock in the same direction within a two minute period in excess of 5000 shares are subject to a $0.005 per share fee. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Commissions slightly higher on the sell side: SEC fees are assessed ($0.0000301 x sell price x share amt) for all SELL side orders. It is assessed for all SELL orders executed by CyberTrader and is added to any total commissions charged by CyberTrader ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Any additional execution fees will be added onto the base commission. The schedule for execution fees is as follows: EXCHANGE/ECN FEES Type of Execution ..... Per Ticket Fee..... Per Share Fee ARCA Direct ...... N/A ....... $0.005 ATTN Direct ...... N/A ....... $0.005 BRUT Direct ...... N/A ....... $0.005 BTRD Direct ...... N/A ....... $0.005 INCA Direct ...... N/A ....... $0.005 Island Direct ...... N/A ........ FREE MKXT Direct ...... N/A ....... $0.005 NTRD Direct ...... N/A ....... FREE REDI Direct ....... N/A ....... $0.003 SUPERSOES/SUPERMONTAGE N/A ....... $0.002 NYSE/AMEX ....... N/A ....... $0.005 Cancel Fees ....... FREE ....... FREE SelectNet Preference ... $1.00 ....... Applicable Venue Fee SelectNet Broadcast ..... $2.50 ....... Applicable Venue Fee ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Data* & Software fees Monthly Fees ... CyberTrader.Com . CyberX2 . CyberTrader Pro Level I .................. $25 ......... $25 ...... . Included QuoteViewSM** -(Level II) ............. $50 ........... $129 ........ $249 Above data fees waived if previous months trades equal or exceed ............. 10 Trades ..... 20 Trades ..... 50 Trades ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Just thought some would be interested to see where $9.95 does not equal $9.95. Schwab/Cyber aren't the only ones who do this either. Also, check out each broker's SEC Rule 11Ac1-6 at their web site. It shows their 'kick-backs/pass-thru/remuneration/order-flow/whateveryouwanttocallit' fees, that they collect as a rebate from their clearing house, at your expense (sometimes as a portion of the spread). Sorry I couldn't line up the columns...
X2 is not their premier platform. CyberTrader Pro is a nice platform. If commissions are the issue, then go elsewhere. If you are a light trader, 2-3 Round trips a day it is excellent.