Does anybody here trade with e-local? What's your opinion about it? Also, do they have a good customer support in a case of an outage? Regards Raphael
I traded emini nasdaq with them, 40+ contracts a day, for 6 months. I have found them to be excellent. I am connected 99.5% of the time, and if there is a problem with my computer, one phone call to them gets me out within a minute. They pick up the phone after 3 rings all the time, unlike the people at IB. I am very satisfied with them.
I am with eLocal for half a year now and I am very happy with them. J-Trader is a great product and the connection to the server is stable. I never experienced any problems in reaching their trading desk and placing orders over the phone (e.g. when being abroad). IMHO the service they offer is outstanding - for an absolute competetive price. Markus
I was also looking into going with eLocal. Who is their clearing firm? I noticed that they charge an extra $1.50 per contract if you use their execution desk, does this still apply if you're having issues w/ J-Trader and can't execute the trade yourself? TIA Whamo
The clearing is done by RCG (Rosenthal Collins Group). I do not know if you have to pay the extra fee for phone orders even if there is a technical problem on their side - in the cases I used the order desk I had no access to the internet or I had problems with my connection (e.g. my cellular phone lost internet connection when trading abroud). IMHO even with the extra $ for phone orders the price is still very competetive. Markus
They used to have different price levels for different volume. It used to be $8.50 RT for low volume, now its $5.98 for everyone. But that's not quite true. I negotiated $5.75 per RT but I do 50+ RT's per day, and have been with them for over 6 months. But it was tough for me to get this rate, it took 10 minutes on the phone to convice them to give me the rate. They have even lower rates for high volume traders but don't post them publicly. Even at $5.98 though they are worth it for the servicce they provide. I would never go with IB for a bit less in fees, only to get burned badly when I can't reach anyone by telephone in an emergency to get me out of a trade.
I have traded over the phone with them a few times and have never been charged the extra fee. I only used the phone when there was a technical problem somewhere in the line, either my end, or their end, etc. If you trade on the phone every day, they will probably charge you the extra. But if you only use it when you can't trade online, they are pretty good about it and won't charge you the extra. They don't try to squeeze every last dollar out of you, its not like that at all, that's why I am quite happy with them.