I've been satisfied with IB, but begun to wonder if there might be futures brokers around with cheaper commissions. What kind of commission rates are available nowadays for someone trading on average 100 contracts per day? Would these brokers also be as reliable as IB?
If your just trading one product you might want to consider leasing a seat. I can't remember who sent me this but if your out their feel free to take credit. Not sure how accurate it is or how up to date it is.
Thanks for the spreadsheet. The calculation is not quite that simple, since the rate at IB falls as trading volume increases. But it still shows that leasing could be cheaper. However, I know nothing about leasing a seat. What are the pros and cons? One seat only allows trading at that exchange?
moo, You are doing 100(avg) per day x 20 trading days per mth = 2000 contracts per month. I don't know what your primary instrument is so I will use ES for my basis... Based on RETAIL published rates by the few firms that publish rates (IB NOT included), you should be paying $3.70 RT all-in for ES. That said, using a firm that negotiates, generally speaking this eliminates those firms that publish rates, ANYONE can negotiate rates of $4.00 RT all in, or less! All thats needed is negotiating skills and a minimum account size in most cases!! You are much more desirable. Of course this does not apply to IB. IB does not negotiate. As an aside, I get a supreme laugh every time I look at IBs 4-euro RT bundled for trading stoxx futures! According to my calcs, and someone please correct me if Im wrong, you are paying 2.015 per side, or 4.03 RT all-in for ES with IB unbundled. Heres my calcs... 300 x 2.36 = 708 700 x 2.16 = 1512 1000 x 1.81 = 1810 4030 / 2000 = 2.015 per contract (aka per side) = 4.03 RT You are correct to look elsewhere. And you have negotiating power. Since I know for fact Directfills (which I do NOT recommend btw) offers 3.32 RT all in ES for ANYONE, and PUBLISHED RETAIL rate cards offer 3.70 for your size, my view is you can negotiate somewhere between 3.32 - 3.70 RETAIL RT all-in, without much effort. Your choice of platform may add another pricing dimension, again fully negotiable, if applicable. Good trading Osorico
If what your trading falls under the CME umbrella there are various forms of memberships you can get which could lower your costs, and there are brokers who would help you get those memberships if desired (Velocity and vCap are 2 that I know) IB won't help you. But you don't need a broker to get them. http://www.cme.com/trading/mem/types/index.html How it would affect pricing based on IB's pricing; http://individuals.interactivebrokers.com/en/accounts/fees/CME.php?ib_entity=llc Do the math first before you make the commitment to go membership, but if you think you will increasing that volume it may be your best move. significant savings kick in around 5k turns a month.
Very true. But to accurately determine whether membership is really worthwhile, the trader must consider all aspects of membership. The U.S. SE tax @ 15.3% of trading gains is usually a good thing to consider, for starters. Osorico
Osorico, your calculations are exactly correct. I do trade mostly the e-minis on Globex, and IB charges about $2 per contract on average. So I could perhaps reduce my costs up to 20% with some other broker? Which broker(s) might offer me that, and also be as reliable as IB? I would also prefer to see the rates published. I like IB's transparent price structure, even though the rates could be a bit lower.
I do not have any form of CME membership or 106 program and I have been able to work down to under 3.00 r/t. You can get lower rates, and the more volume you trade monthly the better as you can keep working your rate down below $3.00 r/t in time. While negotiating your rate down as you start to trade some good monthly size (2000 contracts a month and above) I would say that several brokers give you some good options (while using NinjaTrader6 platform).. Advantage Spike Dorman Velocity Also, maybe.. Quicksilver RCG