Guys, Why dont we all quit this discussion and talk something better? I mean its obvious that a lot of members from here are using IB as a brokerage and DO sometimes have problems that cannot be fixed/replied to right away @ IB help desk and we have a very valuable "asset" our dear Def here who knows the issues first hand and is willing to offer advice in an informal yet concise manner. Im not saying this to ditch IB help desk or the firm or Baron or ANYBODY, but we have a great comunity here, one of whoos e members is Def and is willing to take his time and reply. OK, I agree that we, the members do overdo it sometimes but hey... Thats why moderators are here. Good trading all Alex "All things in moderation and moderation in all things"
ddefina said: "Who wants to go to the IB chat board (if it existed) " Actually IB does have an on-line chat function staffed by help desk personnel. The respond quite promptly in my experience. It is accessed through their website. Click "Contact IB" then on the next page click "General Chat". Secondly there is an IRC chat group for IB traders. The server is daytraders.services.othernet.org and the group is #InteractiveBrokers These are the places where panicking IB users who have a problem should go for help, rather than starting a new thread on this bulletin board. However, I see no problem with discussing general IB issues here, including performance improvements and generic problems.
Yes, I've used the chat, which is private with an IB rep and they are prompt and good (+/-). But its nice to see if others are having the same problem and kick things around. As for the IRC chat, does it offer what EliteTrader does? I don't want to hop around multiple chat rooms. I think EliteTrader is great and I hope they keep it open and not too restrictive is all. Baron has successfully created this board so I'm sure his wisdom will keep it running smoothly.
ddefina, I couldn't agree more. Well said. If def's position here changes from 'our man at IB' into 'IB's man at ET' we will not have the same open discussion anymore, and part of ET will have been eliminated, which would have a negative impact on the whole board. Could eventually kill the board. Meanwhile, while we are waiting what comes out of this, a new start has been made at http://www.daytradingstocks.com/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi . Actually def has already responded there, (which is a good sign) although he may not continue to do so; you can't expect the guy to hop between two boards.
I am here because I like the people here...a vast array of newbies and senior traders...all willing to help each other no matter what level of experince you have...newbies ask silly questions sometimes...and they seem absurd to the senior members...but we all were newbies at one time...we all are going through a learning curve right now as to how to handle this matter...I am sure we will get this issue resolved so that everyone is happy...lets pull together and help Baron and post the best idea that you can come up with or suggestion ...no more criticisim....lets give em a solution...the best one you can think of...lets show em that we can all pull together and conquer this one
Anyone see the EliteTrader survey results re: IB and ET? Seems like most people like it the way it is.
I think there are a few to many IB help problems on ET, but in general I think it works out well. There are currently IB threads on both Silicon Investor and Yahoo, and they're far less active. I think that people tend to migrate to the venue where there's the most activity. For IB traders, that activity is here. And if the responses we get here from Def and other helpful IB users were to move to one of the other boards, most of our traffic would doubtless go with it. What is ET doing to attract new posters to try to beef up other threads? I'm not sure that the problems are too many IB posts, but too few other posts. I think it's a function of having too many posting options available in general. Back in the early days of the web Silicon Investor ruled...then Yahoo, Raging Bull, etc, etc, etc all opened up. When the bull market was roaring traders were plentiful, as were the numbers of posts to all of the various boards. But if you look at Silicon Investor today, it pales in comparison to what it was like 2 years ago in terms of numbers of posts, and numbers of active threads as the trading ranks thinned out. I think that's unfortunately happening on all of the boards. 99
Agree with much of the commentary here, it's hard to figure out the best way to provide a meaningful forum and not get into the tech support biz for other services, a la Baron's concerns, also re commercial-related posts by people looking for trader customers should be limited. I'd like to suggest an idea: it would be great to see a separation of areas on the site, eg to have at least a few trading-related threads be "pure trading" only, eg allow no references whatsoever to anything commercial at all, eg you can talk about technical indicators, trading strategies, etc, but no references to commercial rooms, sites, seminars, courses, books, brokers and the rest.. Agree that can be a challenge, but I for one would think that would be good for the 'non commercial' desire many have for communicating with other traders. Also, it would allow an honest and open dialogue re the effectiveness of various trading methods, without all the flaming and self-promoting of commercial services that has occurred... And, no nicks like the one I have, for that matter. Besides, I tend to not post anymore. So, my .02 is, "Have a couple threads with specific trading strategies and technical analysis Only, no references to commercial URLS, products or services of any kind to be mentioned in any post"... eg you can talk about the merits/drawbacks/personal experiences of 2day high/low breakouts, and the challenges involved in using time & sales/trinq to filter out false breakouts, without mentioning anyone specific Ideas?