Has someone ever calculated the monthly fees that are going into your broker's pocket? I did and I am 'giving' between 4000-7000/month in fees. It's not what you might think, I would imply between the :eek: and the , because as active traders, we all need a financial partner and so does he needs us. If you look at the Dow, its progression is about less than 20%/year ...but each day, there are stocks that are moving at least 1-2% each day. In principle, you have bigger chances to make 0,5% a day, each day, than to catch the Dow or whatever index at its low point and sell it 10-15% higher (and wait like 1 or 2 years for that?. And what are you doing during that time? Let me guess: hoping?) In relation to the fees, I would like to mention the numbers of quotations or data lines available you can have in your IB tradestation. Some years ago, someone wrote that to have at least 1000 lines, the trader has to generate at least 600$ in fees/month. Everything as a cost, so why should someone that trades only once a month get the same features I can get?