To the readers of Elite Trader: We have long admired this site and all of Baron's hard work to make this one of the premier trading sites on the internet, and wanted you all to be among the first to share in our exciting news. This is a copy of the press release that has just been issued to all the news services and news wires, and I have a feeling it will be hot news in our industry. For Immediate Release July 1, 2002 Contact: Rob Keller 602-977-0777 ext. 107 rob@echotradeonline.com ECHOTRADE AND VAN BUREN SECURITIES MERGE TO FORM ONE OF THE LARGEST PROFESSIONAL OFF-FLOOR TRADING FIRMS CHICAGO, Illinois â July 1, 2002 -- ECHOtrade and Van Buren Securities today announced they have joined forces and merged to form one of the largest professional off-floor trading firms in the industry. The new company will keep the name ECHOtrade in order to capitalize on the strong brand image built in the marketplace. âThis merger is a win/win for both companies and our traders,â stated Jeffrey DeWit, president and CEO of ECHOtrade. âWith our trader base and technology infrastructure, and Van Burenâs proprietary trading software and solid 6-year performance record, we have a powerful formula for growth, as well as a more complete solution for our traders.â âECHOtrade has quadrupled in size over the last year during a time when other off-floor firms have been shrinking,â said Vito Sisto, president and CEO of Van Buren Securities. âAt Van Buren, we offer our traders access to our proprietary trading tool which is among the best in the industry. Weâre excited to be able to offer this cutting-edge technology to more traders.â The trading tool developed by Robert Gregg of Van Buren is currently available to only a select group of proprietary traders at the company. With this merger, ECHOtrade will offer the tool to its entire trader base as a premium service. Gregg will assume the role of director of trading for the new company. Sisto will serve as president and CEO of the new company, while DeWit assumes the role of managing director and will work closely with the software and technology divisions of the company. Rob Keller, currently ECHOtradeâs chief operating officer, will also assume the role of managing director and will continue to focus on internal trader development. ECHOtrade is a professional trading firm dedicated to the needs of the serious, off-floor trader.* While only professional traders may open an account, the company also sponsors new traders interested in obtaining their Series 7 license to pursue trading with the company. ECHOtrade has 11 trading offices nationwide. For more information, visit http://www.echotradeonline.com or call 866-700-ECHO. * ECHOtrade is a registered trademark of ECHOtrade, LLC. ECHOtrade does not solicit retail accounts. Please note that trading securities involves substantial risk and there is no guarantee that your trading will be profitable. copyright 2002 ECHOtrade, LLC We are very excited about the prospects of combining the talented teams and traders of our firms. Van Buren's proprietary trading tool is something that I believe our trader base will benefit greatly from and give new traders a powerful weapon in deciphering the moves of the market, and Van Buren's traders as well as our own will benefit from the lower fees that are now possible from combining the power and leverage of our respective firms into one. One of the first benefits all our traders will notice is that starting August 1, 2002, (the conclusion date of the merger) all ECN fees will be free. Both firms are in in a strong financial position, and this merger of equals is one created from a desire to combine two powerhouses into one mammoth proprietary trading firm in our continuing efforts to supply our traders with the best trading environment and support on the street. Recently it seems that many of the prospective traders we talk to either chose to join ECHOtrade or have joined Van Buren. It seems that Sterling Trader's speed has been the attraction to both of our firms, and now combining both firms' software refinements into one is another benefit that all traders will enjoy. To our traders, you will still be working with the same people you have worked with for years, and Van Buren's traders will still have access to the same people they currently work with. The staff of both firms will be involved with the combined entity. Traders from both firms will enjoy a much larger trader base to exchange ideas with, more offices to trade from, and a greater access to proprietary techniques, software, and information than ever before. Vito Sisto has impeccable credentials including a Nortwestern MBA and years of industry experience, and will head up the firm as I will work closely with the software team in speeding up the future releases of the software which offer some of the most exciting tools and ideas that our industry has ever seen. We are excited to show off some of the innovations that are currently being implemented into what we believe offers the fastest executions of any platform we have tested. This is one of the most exciting events in the history of our firm, and we are excited about what the future holds for our traders. I will be available by phone or email for any questions, 602-977-0777 ext. 169 or jeff@echotradeonline.com. Thank you all for all of your positive feedback over the years and we will keep working for us and our traders to be the best we all can be. Sincerely, Jeffrey DeWit President, CEO ECHOtrade
On behalf of the Van Buren management team, I would like to express to the professional trading community our excitement about the merger with our new partners at ECHOtrade. The traders of our new firm will truly have an offering of trading platforms, professional service, and proprietary trading tools unmatched in todayâs professional trading industry. These organizations bring together the industryâs most talented and driven group of trading managers and leaders. I would like to congratulate the traders of our new combined firm, who really are the winners in this merger. The only thing more exciting than this event is what lies ahead for our traders and for our firm. Looking forward to an even more prosperous future for everyone, Vito Sisto
So what is the new combined companies trading platform going to be? Sterling? If so how about some comments on it from current users. Thanks.
Sounds great!!!!!!!!!! I've always heard good things about Van Buren and judging from Vito's post on elite I feel like this is an excellent "marriage".
The firms will have access to all of the current platforms and then some. Both firms will have access to Sterling, ECHOtrader, Peace, RiskRTW, all of the current platforms either firm uses as well as the upcoming release of ECHOtrader II. Also available as previously mentioned are the proprietary Van Buren trading tools that our traders will be able to access.
Avalance- I've only used Sterling for 3 months and i know there's a lot of features that i'm not that familiar with...but I'd give it an 8.5 out of 10. executions are superfast(more to do with echo servers i guess)..the Sterling guys are constantly making improvements..in the 3mo's i've used it, i've sent 2 emails requesting a feature..and both have been added. There are some features that I'd still like to see added....like 52wk hi/low alerts..and the ability to layer studies over the chart instead of under it(for example...placing RSI over the whole chart like Realtick does) i don't use stochs too much , but it would be nice to have that available)