I trade futures with IB and a frontend and executions are instantaneous. I dont know how you can get any faster. I guess there may be a difference that is beyond my perception, in the millisecond range or something, but it has not been a problem for the last five years.
I use IB and make good money DAY TRADING....I must be one damn GOOD amateur.....haha. Also, I would throw Etrade out of the mix. Erik
Is there a collection of the definitions of a bunch of the slang that you all use? ( swing trade, front end, etc, etc ) And then a 2nd one. Has anyone tried to arbitrage single stock futures and stock options ?
You can go to this site for the definition of Swing Trading and other types of trading. And also just type the 'front end' keyword in the Search field. http://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/02/101602.asp
I assume Fader refers to those that day trade stocks,.. since for futures i think any good retail brokers platform would do...
i can't figure out if the original poster is a troll, or actually serious. MOST traders lose money. it is NOT because of their platform. how laughable. fwiw, i read tape (since i scalp YM), but there are about 10 million ways to make money in the market it's not about having the "best software" the fastest machine, or anything else. if you are daytrading, generally speaking, a decent direct access broker is a minimum. for swings, you don't need a direct access broker. trading is about managing risk, controlling emotion, and intelligently implementing your edge, in whatever market you happen to concentrate in. it is not about having the best hardware/software. only losers blame their software, broker, dog, power outage, charting program, darn thieving market makers, etc. etc. etc. etc. winning traders take responsibility for their trades, and aren't seeking their edge in the latest gee whiz univac 1000 (tm)
Can you clarify/describe the software you are talking about. i thought level2 and t/s ticker were all that is available to us traders.