Does anyone have experience with Fidelity ATS for stocks and simple option trades? Would you recommend it if customer service and good fill are priorities? Likes and dislikes? Thanks!
If you are an IB user and need/want the sort of technology IB offers for equity execution, you are not a candidate for Fidelity. Essentially, IB is selling their very good execution platform. If you want more than just a platform, the Fidelity Active Trader package/product is very impressive. Great technology, very good execution, and nice tools. And they support their client base, which can be worth a bundle when you have questions, problems, etc. Opening an account at Fidelity is like trying to get something done with the government, but once that is behind you, it is behind you.
My experience: I put an order and then tried to cancel and replace it and I did that and then tried to cancel and replace it again but since my previous order's status was "pending to cancel" I could not do that. The status stayed "pending to cancel" for half an hour and I got frustrated and called them and after 15 minutes of punching zeros and ones and codes, I was able to talk to a human and then she forwarded my call to a second person and the second person forwarded to the third person and eventually she cancelled my order. Yes they were all friendly but my point is why that situation should happen in the first place. Again with IB you won't have that kind of incident. By the way the commission on Stock and options are not comparable to IB either. Neither is the margin rate.
I have been an ATS client for over 5 years. I am really not that active with Fidelity, 3-4 swing trades a week with my IRA. I have rarely encountered any "snafu's" with order entry/cancelation.