Disclosure...I own stock in Schwab. When Charles Schwab/Fidelity started out as discount brokers, they were the outsiders. Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Citi were the big boys type. Then hedge funds started from the insiders, getting inside to the MMs (I know this is simplistic, but here me out). I went to my bank today...Started talking to a pimple faced kid who was following GME. He said he had a Robinhood account and had no need for Schwab or Fidelity...He is training to sell mutual funds for the bank years down the road. The question I would like to ask is, when generational money gets passed down (parents/grandparents die), and these young people inherit large sums of money, will they keep IB and Robinhood or look to Schwab/Fidelity to round out their investments?? Will IB and Robinhood start looking more and more like Schwab/Fidelity, with their offerings of financial and retirement (computer generated) advise? Maybe an enlarged banking system and estate planning department...With real (on the phone) customer service?? Will they move to Schwab/Fidelity or just keep their IB/Robinhood accounts years down the road?? Thanks for any insight...
IB is not Robinhood. It's a Schwab/Fidelity/TDA knockoff, undercutting them with crappier service and platform and retarded margin policies. The best I find is Tastyworks. If you want to and are able to move your accounts, you should move them to Tastyworks.
Tastyworks was just acquired by something much bigger... Does anyone remember OptionsXpress? I opened an account with them back in 2006. It was a great boutique for serious options traders. They were acquired by Schwab in 2017. Schwab kept the look and feel of their platform. But the quality of customer service, and the reliability of their website has taken a major dive. I'm seriously thinking about moving to Fidelity or one of the smaller firms like Tastyworks or eOptions. But as I just mentioned, Tastyworks has sold out to IG Group. So the high quality, personal touch service probably won't be around in a year or two... BMK
IB has the best API that I have found. When I signed up, they were the only broker that did not charge an additional fee for option assignment. They also offer portfolio margin. Main thing keeping me there is the API. TWS is not bad either. I like ThinkOrSwim, but TWS is pretty good.
You must be high on something or are working for IB. What you said could not be further from the truth. Their API is full of bugs and have a multitude of problems; their TWS is riddled with errors and problems that date back ten+ years. Their customer service is non-existent as any of the ET'ers here will tell you. Anyway I am not going to get started...
I am waiting for alternatives as well that will allow to: 1) open international accounts 2) cheap commission and borrow 3) Excel API 4) bankruptcy ring fenced account segregation Will consider any suggestions, until then, pls stop shitting on the only game in town (IBKR). Been waiting for 7 us now.
IB is NOT cheap. Not shitting on the broker just stating the reality. IB IS shit in many areas on many levels. If you don't ppl to "shit" on IB, then don't sing about it like it's the best broker in town.