IB might want to add TrackECN

Discussion in 'Interactive Brokers' started by local_crusher, Aug 6, 2005.

  1. I noticed that TrackData's ECN, TrackECN, which
    was dead since it's inception, has now picked up volume significantly in the last weeks and months.
    Their stats say they executed 2.8mil shares of MSFT
    friday.

    As it is currently also the cheapest ECN,
    IB should consider adding support for this.
     
  2. .
     
  3. Did anyone of IB's reps here read ?
     
  4. MR.NBBO

    MR.NBBO

  5. Mr.NBBO, look at the date of the first post. You see this thread is even older. I just wanted sbdy at IB to notice.

    I know TRAC & Barry and think they deserve some brokers looking at them.
     
  6. JackR

    JackR

    Send a PM to "def".
     
  7. I am pessimistic about the advice you received, to PM Def about asking IB to add access to an ECN.

    I sent PMs to Def and to other IB officials, well over a year ago, asking that they automatically route orders to regional exchanges, when those regional exchanges promise certain, immediate, automatic execution at the best price, and especially when a regional is alone at the best price. My proposal would allow IB customers to sell securities at higher prices, to buy them at lower prices, and to reduce execution delays and failures. Execution can, furthermore, occasionally be enormously delayed, at great cost, when a regional is alone at the best price, you can't interact with that regional quote, the trade-thru rule will not permit execution at any other venue, and the market is rapidly trending against your position and running away from your own order. My proposal would not require any new hardware, because IB can already route to regional exchanges simply by sending orders to the regionals through ARCA or BRUT, along with appropriate routing instructions. My proposal would require only a small bit of IB programmer time, far less than that required for things like constantly upgrading charting and millions of bells and whistles. Access to regionals is also necessary, in order to comply with IB's widely advertised promise to route stock orders to the best price.

    Guess what kind of response I got. Nada! Nothing! I was ignored! I got no explanation whatsoever! Perhaps IB has some excellent reason for declining my proposal, but if IB does have any reason, it has failed to make any attempt to articulate that reason.

    I don't know, but I would presume that establishing connectivity to a new ECN, as you have proposed, WOULD require hardware changes, so that your proposal would be even more burdensome, and therefore less likely to succeed, than my own.

    All brokers have a legal duty to get the best possible execution for their customers, but the industry's approach is generally worse than IB's. I'm not aware of any stock broker that is as good as IB, with respect to automatic order routing and execution. The stories I hear about Cybertrader, for example, depict its order-router as a pathetic joke compared to IB's.

    So even though IB is the best at order execution, the IB philosophy frequently ignores order execution problems, relying on the mantra, which I have heard many times, that "you are the only one complaining". It is often not enough to show that your suggestion will drastically improve execution prices and drastically reduce execution delays and failures (I had many other suggestions which were also ignored or unreasonably rejected). You must also demonstrate that lots of other customers share your concerns. I was, for example, ignored when I reported a costly bug greatly delaying executions last spring, until well over a month later, when other customers publicly complained, and only then was the bug investigated, detected, and solved. If PMs to Def could not get mere software revisions to access regional liquidity, then I seriously doubt that they will get us new hardware adding an ECN.

    I don't know, maybe IB has some reason for omitting Trackecn. Are you sure there are no unreasonable fees or other hidden costs which might justify IB's omission of TrackECN?

    My suggestion is that you try to get some other customers to demonstrate their agreement with your concerns. I would think that adding a new ECN is far more important than charting or backfill or almost anything else, if it would reduce execution costs, delays, and failures. If you can show other customers really do care about your concern, then maybe your proposal will get the level of consideration it merits.
     
  8. IBsoft

    IBsoft Interactive Brokers

    We will consider track-ecn.
     
  9. IBSoft,

    I think it's great that you are now considering local_crusher's suggestion to add TrackECN to IB's menu of market centers. Better late than never.

    I'm still not clear on why you are not considering adding regional exchanges, at least to the limited extent that they provide certain, immediate, automatic execution. Can you please explain?
     
  10. IBSoft,

    Just to clarify my question:

    Regional exchanges provide guaranteed, certain, immediate, automatic executions, in a high percentage of situations. I don't understand why you haven't considered routing to them in those situations where execution will be certain, immediate, and automatic. Can you explain? Thank you.
     
    #10     Sep 21, 2005