I can understand someone commenting on a firm if they have had a good experience with them and I can just as well understand a comment from someone who has been disappointed by them. But WTF is it all about when someone jumps into a thread that has NOTHING but positive statements from clients to give his take on the firm that he has zero experience with. Can anyone explain this phenomena? Is the government slipping drugs into my morning oatmeal? Have I entered an alternate universe? Like a firm, hate a firm ... be neutral on a firm. But just to keep us all sane only comment on those firms you have traded through or at least had some first hand dealings with!!!!
DDT does not have the lowest published rates. Eagle Market Makers starts at $0.40 a side plus platform fees. Advatage Futures starts at $0.99 a side, but drops rapidly for volume. $0.29 a side at 2,001 sides, $0.19 a side at 5,001 sides and $0.07 a side after 10,001 sides. 20,000 sides a month works out to $0.19 a side. The per side fee for NT is to pay for the TT data feed and network. Other brokers provide NT (and other platforms) with their own data feeds and build that into their commissions.
DDT is not the lowest priced in the whole world. But they are on the average low-side with a huge platform selection along with great service. Eagle does not have much of a platform selection. Advantage Futures has high rates for the low volume trader & low rates for the high volume trader. But DDT gives lower rates to the high volume trader too. To Each His Own...
I can't believe we are having conversations that include the 20,000 per side rate! Are there even five guys on ET that approach that volume. Let's get real. The overwhelming majority of traders on here are punching in fewer than 1,000 contracts a month which means very few can climb up the commission tier ladder to any significant extent anywhere. The community here is largely on the bottom rung or one rung up from that bottom on almost any firms commission scale. As I said in an earlier post there are reasonable choices with honest brokers for the small trader at good prices. Deep Discount happens to be one of those with excellent pricing and service as well as an array of choices of quality front ends and in Rithmic the best feed I have ever used. There are other good feeds in their shop as well. It is a simple equation. There are fewer than a handful of firms that makes sense for the under a thousand contract a month trader and in this thread you have a number that are quite pleased with the choice they have made. Good value ... solid service. What more can I reasonably ask for?