I am also wondering how IBs customer service is "horrible". Over the years, I had to call them 2-3 times and each and every time I received prompt and professional help. That also goes for their online chat support which I used for less urgent issues. All this hubris "IB doesn't execute stops", "IB has slippage" etc. etc. comes from people who have no experience trading or didn't take the time reading the manual. IB offers a paper trading account that I suggest everyone use until they get comfortable with all features they intend to use. For anybody that has experience trading, doesn't need handholding and is looking for a complete and professional broker with a very good and fair commission and interest (!) plan then go with IB by all means.
hwkaiser, Given your timeframe you don't need a specialized front end ... fractions of a second for order entry won't matter Regarding charting first have a look at what the charting with TWS is like. It might also be enough. If it isn't try Sierra Chart (my personal favourite) or Amibroker (quite a lot of fans amongst interday traders). If you're rational and do your homework then you probably won't find the customer service a problem (or only rarely).
hi guys, just wondering if any of you have upgraded to new tws version. i am still using 875.3 and was reluctant to upgrade as i have heard bad things in the past about new versions. is it safe to upgrade to 877?
OI! this thead is too nice, time to bitch... nah. IB peeps around here and at their CS have been courteous and professional, online and over the phone. I've contacted them several times. of all the brokers (4) i've used they are the best in just about every category. worldwide universal acct...the thing i've always dreamed about!
Anybody reading that is unhappy with IB? Just goto Etrade or CharlesSchwab. There are dozens of brokers that made a business of catering to inexperienced traders that don't mind paying higher commissions or getting defrauded on interest rates just so they can get their hand held 24/7. There are many options and IB is not the perfect broker for everyone.
Thank you Kiwi and Makloda for your input and confirming my belief in IB, Amibroker and front ends... And a special thanks go to Sporky for resisting the urge to flame, ever since Baron included the new filter on trolls, this forum has become a pleasure to participate in... Blue skies and tailwinds ....
I am a very big fan of IB. But they have over-reacted to the sub-prime crisis and made equities related intraday futures margins the same as overnight margins. This is their only screw-up in years. Now they no longer even flag "special margin conditions", and I believe they fully intend NEVER to drop intraday margins back to previous, or even just more reasonable levels, relative to overnight futures margins (which they never changed). Other than this big move against daytraders, IB is an incredibly good brokerage. Those who don't participate in daytrading, of course, don't care about this. How would you feel, however, if overnight margins were suddenly doubled? That's not going to happen because IB would lose too many customers. IB, drop your intraday margins, at least SOME, and I will sing your praises again. How about "splitting the difference" between the status quo ante, and the ridiculously high intraday margins you now have? That would be some concession, at least. FutureScalper
You might also want to take a look at Ensign for charting software. Works with IB data, about $40 per month. I don't think you'll need a front-end if you're truly long term. If you do decide to do a little trading, take a look at BookTrader first...it's free. OldTrader
the problem with BookTrader is you have to re-configure it each time you trade a different market. Otherwise it's nice. (if i'm wrong let me know how it's done, i've tried) I use Bracket Trader now, where that's not a problem and can be free if it has the markets you want as default.