m_c_a, Why wouldn't you want to go to a professional firm? It's like asking, I already drive a Ford Taurus, are you sure I'd rather have a Ferrari for the same price? I have been pro for years, I would never go non-pro, to any firm. Does IB have conversions? Pro firms do. Does IB have bullets? Pro firms do. Does IB have good software with level 2? Not from what I have heard. Does IB have the ability to spray multiple orders? For example, you have $25K in your account and you are long 1000 shares of AOL, you put a sell limit at the bid and the bid disappears. You know you won't get filled, and want to enter a lower limit order. You are tapped on margin and must wait for the cancel to get processed, what, maybe 45 seconds with the AOL specialist, before you can enter another order. At a pro firm you can send the next order before your cancel comes back. And if you think it is going to keep going, say Greenspan is speaking and Spu's are tanking, with a pro firm you can get an electronic fill on 2000 bullets and send two market sell orders (short the downtick, can't do that at IB) and get short 2000 shares. All these orders can be placed at the same time, no waiting for margin to get calculated. I don't know of anyone who has gone from trading professionally to going to an IB account. Trading pro is like a drug, once you see the difference it makes to your bottom line, you will be hooked. Pro traders, if they don't like the firm they are with, only shop for another pro firm. We don't even consider non-pro firms anymore. Eddie
I see no need to use a pro firm other than if I wanted to scalp equities 500 times a day...which I don't. just my humble opinion.
Exactly- What do you perceive the differece in trade $10k at Echo or trade naz and sp e-mini with IB or other firms ? You are such a good stock picker you should stay with the picks longer point is pitfalls around earnings and pre- announcments are too numerous NOT to make a mistake. any damn news and you are losing money. With the stock indecies same can happend but rather macro way. I don't care about bullets and other mumbo-jumbo cause I can short any futures on a downtick. Some firms let you daytrade and hold your money in a T-bill same as getting unused portion of your money parked in Money Market. And don't tell me trading stock is "safer" he he he he
Since IB is also set up as a LLC, can't they offer the same arrangement as what EchoTrade is doing with regards to not having to maintain a 25k account after Sept. 28 in order to daytrade? Just curious.
Why can Echo do this and not IB Easy they are a professional firm. They are not being held under Regulation T which is why professional firms started. IB can't do this because they don't require a 7. They are both LLC's but Echo is one of the 13 firms who are professional. Regulation T is what is being changed. Does it matter for Echo because we aren't being held by it. No This is why IB is SIPC insured and Echo isn't. IB you can't do bullets or have professional margin. rtharp TraderJim you forgot another good thread I started (and how I learned of Echo) http://elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=819 Professional Margin Rates of 10-1
Does anyone know if getting a Series 7 (and 55, etc...) means having to pay the "professional" fees for data from that point on, even when using it to only trade your personal accounts? For example, you start trading with Echo or Worldco. You sign up for QCharts, which you only intend to use from home to trade your own private (not Echo/Worldco) accounts. Is your monthly NYSE exchange fee now $127.25 instead of $1? -vitajex
Yes, you will be considered a professional trader then. It can't all be advantages, the world is not so kind. But that is very easy to get around. First, you only pay more if they know you are pro (which a lot of people *ahem*, and I am not saying you should do this, but they answer no). If that's not your cup of tea, the rest of the pro's just sign up under their wife's name, or girlfriend, or mom -- they are not pro (we hope ). Hope that helps. -Jim
jmcgraw, You can't beat the tax benefits of being at any pro firm. At the end of the year, instead of having to lug 50 pounds of trading statements down to your accountant's office, you get one summarized statement, a K-2 (about the size of a W-2). It is a one-half page, one-line summary of how much dough you made in the year (hopefully a positive number ) With a K-2, since it is a partnership return on investment, not regular income, you also do not have to pay FICA or SS tax, giving you a raise right from the start. Good luck Courtney