Dear Friends, take a look at this web site. http://www.sonic.net/donaldj/day.html Is it true about IB? Thanx Raphael Aranha ----------------- It's written: One of the daytrading brokers has this to say: "IB and Web Street and RJT offer what they bill as direct access, but they intervene, in various ways, depending on the order, and they are very limited on which ECN you have direct access with (usually ISLD only because they will pay for order flow in some cases). This enables the firm to sell order flow. This is how IB is able to offer such low rates. Direct Access does not mean direct access to the ECN or market maker that the firm has a relationship with, it is direct access to all the markets. Having direct access to a particular ECN can give you more control than a web based system, but it is not the same as true direct access. Some customers don't care or don't even understand the difference, but a professional trader does. IB does a good job in giving traders cheap fills, and sometimes they are at good prices, but the customer does not have direct access to all the market makers or ECNs and this is true at RJT as well.(3/26/01)"
Aranha: I think I will say this twice since this nonsense has come up before: IB is direct access. IB is direct access. There. 'Nuff said. BSAM
In my experience with IB, it is direct access. You can specifically choose which ECN or other route to send the order to.
I think it is too! I always have! But since I saw this text, wouldn't kill anybody If I asked, right? Good Luck in your trading Raphael Aranha
It's OK. IB does not do enough advertising [they do it on purpose] so wrong information is out there sometimes. You did the right thing just asking real customers. of course it is direct access. neo
IB DOES NOT SELL STOCK ORDER FLOW -----> PERIOD. Access is direct to all the ECN's, exchanges, and other markets around the world. The IB Group often does over 200,000 trades daily. It is consistently one of the top 5 program trading firms on the NYSE. big volume and automated systems translate to lower costs. Competitors often believe that the only way fees could be this low are by the sale of order flow -> Not true. Institutions have been paying those lower fees for years. The low fees simply come from efficiency and economies of scale.
>they intervene, in various ways, >depending on the order, The only "intervention" would be through one of the two BEST routing methods (which I never use). This form of "intervention" is indentical to the "intervention" that Cyber, Protrader, Arca, Redi, Brut, etc, to their their routing algorithms. >and they are very limited on which >ECN you have direct access with Completely false as it relates to IB (can't speak for RJT). I have direct access to MORE ECNs through my IB account than through my MB/Terranova or my Protrader accounts. That access is not quite as flexible as I would like it to be (no IOC or non-displayed orders) but we're working on them. JB
can anybody experienced with IB, or any other retail broker (Real tick users, perhaps), give opinions regarding trading with IB, other than realtick,,,,,not including the obvious commissions difference. Moreover, can any experience retail broker users give any opinions Retail vs. Proprietary firm? thanks for your posts in advance Hoo
IB seems to be direct access, but I do wonder why it takes a a couple of seconds for an order to become active (turn green) or cancel (turn red)sometimes.