I would go with IB. I pay ~$120/month for Stock Watch Pro/QCharts combination which lets me do things that I couldn't with Tradestation. The extra cost gets quickly covered by commission difference.
Telozo I think Tradestation is the best deal going right now. The combination of Charts, Backtesting, cheap fees and integrated execution cant be beat. If I were looking for an inexpensive way to trade, I'd look into a program called Neoticker realtime version for charts/backtesting. This program has some terrific features!! I believe they have been working with IB to incorporate their software with IBs data feed. Metastock is a joke. Neoticker charges 150 dollars for 3 months. Check out their review in elite trader software reviews. Sterling
IF you don't already have a quote and chart provider you like, why not give TradeStation a try. TS6 is really a pretty nice piece of software. That being said, I use IB and really like their executions and commissions. I have no need for fancy charting, and have generally found that complex software (such as MetaStock and TS) tend to crash more often than I like.
I'm a TS6 user and I'm happy with the product. But having said that, why not call all the different companies out there and get sample CDs from all of them. Once you choose a platform you are going to be "married" to it for a while. So make the best decision possible by checking them all out. Good luck!
I agree. Unfortunately, you can't really have checked 'em out until you've used them for a while... If you're sophisticated when it comes to programming, you might also consider Wealth-Lab for backtesting. ErlangerQuote also has its boosters. Depending on what you're aiming for and willing to put into it I used to use TS 2000i with an E-Signal datafeed - it worked pretty well, but it was a lot less stable and dependable than TS6 - which is not perfect (though I remain an infamous junkie for TS6, and wouldn't stay home without it...). And, oh yeah, using the Global Server could really be a pain for normal trading activites (though was handy for using 3rd party tick data). You'll hear different things from different people about all of them: There've been a lot of complaints on this site about Qcharts and IB, but other users have reported no problems. MetaStock's downloader got some very negative reviews when it first came out - I have no idea whether they've fixed the problems. Take opinions from web sites with a grain of salt: It's hard to know for sure what roles were played in a given user's experience by ISP, operating system, trading style, individual creativity or impatience or taste, bad luck of the draw with customer service, bad timing in relation to upgrades or other events, and so on, and so on... Good luck...
You should try to keep separate platforms: one for execution and one for quotes. My experience has been that when systems go down its most likely quoting. you should always be prepared for the untikable....if the stock you are long or short is tanking or rippng higher....your execution is what will be most important. If data service is down, you can at least go to island.com or redibookecn.com or tradearca.com and get simple upto date quotes. In this case, Ib is very cheap for commissions.
Exactly. Tradestation offers a compelling product if you take fees for a real data feed with historical data and also Nasdaq Level II (rather than just RT-snapshot quotes without available historical data as in the case of IB) into account. Tried to open an account at TRAD yesterday. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be possible for international customers (who don't have a mailing address in the US). Why doesn't TRAD send out trade confirmations electronically, as Datek and E*Trade are doing it?
Excellent question. I think the answer has to do with Bear Stearns, through whom TS clears. Believe it or not, when TS first started operation as a brokerage, each confirmation included a $2.50 handling fee. In fairly short order, this fee was waived and past charges were refunded, but the BS arrangement still apparently includes some disadvantages. I don't know that the situation can't eventually be rectified. In the meantime, the advantages of clearing through Bear Stearns are 1) its inventory of short shares, and 2) the security and reliability that comes from having your money at one of the "bigs." By the way, has anyone ever found a need or use for confirmation slips after trades have been reported for tax purposes? Do you keep your boxes of confirmation slips along with all your other financial materials for years?