As far as futures are concerned, IB has already lost it's edge. Even the low volume trader can get a deal of $4.80/RT or lower elsewhere PLUS you get the advantage of the latest front-end technology.
Ditch, if you're referring to J-Trader, than my advice to you is to look into J-Trader before you start out. I traded using J-Trader a while ago, and unless they fixed some major bugs, I will not use it again. Bugs - "Disapearing trades" , "Very slow response to cancelling orders" , "execution of orders that were cancelled (At least I thought they were according to J-Trader)" Again, if they fixed / improved the platform it could be very good now, but as I remember it I wouldn't use it. Plus you have to remember IB offers futures traders a SIPC insured acct (Universal)
H2O, Agree with everything you wrote. IB TWS is a great platform, plus you trade futures on an SIPC insured account which is a strong advantage. I also tried J-Trader and I am very puzzled about it. Unless I'm missing out on something, that software doesn't seem too stable and comfortable to work with. However, I would still like to see some new competitiveness from IB as far as commissions go. Factually, they are losing their edge, because their competitors are lowering commissions at the speed of light. Good trading 50
No, actually i was referring to x-trader and ffastfill, but thanks for the reply. Personally i never considered J-trader, your response confirms the feedback i received from others.
Never had any problems with J-trader... Can you give me some concrete examples when things go wrong ?
I definitely second this, but it will probably take an act of congress to force them to give this up. Or maybe eurex.
Let's not be so quick to abandon IB. For those who just got started, I can promise you that you'd still be paying $15/rt for futures without IB. And I can remember not too long ago when $19.95 a ticket was going retail direct access rate, plus ecn's of course. IB has been the best friend we've ever had. Now if only they had some sort of deal to integrate top level charting and Lev II. RealTick is too expensive, QCharts can get slow, ESig is funky and the others are lacking one way or another.
I don't know about futures alternatives, but for equities, Pointdirex supplies level2 and some basic charting, etc. for $39.95 per month and only charges .005 plus ecn pass throughs. Correct me if I am wrong, for the same from IB you pay $10 plus $20 for level 2, and IB only has rudimentary charts. I have an account with IB for back up purposes, and don't understand the great following when they don't appear to be the cheaper alternative, especially if you add on the extra fees IB charges for a front end execution package.
AAA, what you are referring to, probably with integrated charts etc. would be a real pain if programmed in java, because java performance is horrible due to interpreted code. windows would open slowly and cpu usage would be high. what you propose would force IB to write a real .EXE app in C++, I doubt they gonna do this soon.
An important fact is, IB is still the only firm which offers an account for dealing in any currency or any product around the globe.