larry, If I have time tonight I'll do a test order from home on a 56K dialup and look at the audit trail tomorrow to see the exact turn around time. I currently don't have specific details on time of such an order (from an ISP on a dialup with a 56K from Hong Kong). However, from previous experience I can say my orders have gone green in what seem much less than half a second. With the depth and liquidity of the e-minis, I'd be surprised if you have any troubles getting filled.
I don't get the part about having a backup broker to get out of a trade. How can having another broker get you out of an order you placed with IB?
Jones, it's not about getting out of an IB or anyone elses trade, it is about offsetting your order. If your primary software goes down, and you have 5 short esm2 contracts on with a rising market, you use your secondary broker to place 5 long contracts to off set your losses, instead of hoping your software comes back online before you have to hock the car to meet the margin call.
I am forced to trade on a 56K and have instaneous fills on the emini's using IB, with a charting program running 5 or so charts at the same time. It appears to fill before my finger is off the key. I personally believe the # of router hops to destination is more significant than just bandwidth.
The reason I am using IB is that it is the only execution platform I have run across that works ok on a 56k. Other brokers would be smart to offer an execution only platform in addition to their bandwidth hogs.
It cannot; you can offset your risk if you know your position by doing the trade with another broker; however you will need to close both positions when your primary broker comes back up.
reasons why i've stayed with IB is because they: Communicate actively with their users via this forum and chat on irc. Upgrade their platform regularly to incorporate customers needs. Are very upfront about their business practices. There is a webpage on their website for almost every question I have ever asked. Provide the most competitive rates I know of for retail customers... and are always looking to be more competitive. Provide online access to everything account related, including online account signup. Have the best trading platform imo.
if i trade emini intrady through one of the aforementioned brokers, who takes the other side of my trade -- I don't mean who, personally, but which exchange? The reason I ask is that forex firms are popping up and I think they are the counterparties, and that their quotes are not necessarily in agreement with prevailing forex quotes. I know that emini is not forex. But I wondered if this ancient approach to retail brokerage (I think it's called a "bucketshop") was going on in the emini.