I was talking to a broker/trader last night who said that all brokerage houses were bucket shops, i.e., they take the other side of your trade. I told him he was wrong because IB was one broker who would route your order to other ECN's. Then he got loud and bad tempered and that ended the conversation. So what do you think?
I think your poll is stupid. And wtf is this take the other side of your trade nonsense. So no matter what you do they fade it?
Obviously, other people don't think its stupid because they are taking the pole. Thanks for the reply.
I think that the title of this thread is unfair to IB, and that the title is the product of ignorance and thoughtlessness. You are wrong to assume that anybody responding doesn't think "the pole" stupid. I responded to "the pole", but I also think "the pole" is stupid. Perhaps the damage this "pole" does, to IB's reputation, will be limited by the fact that the pollster doesn't know how to spel.
so what if a bucket shop takes your other side ???? does it put your trade in a disadvantage? if your entry is BAD, it is BAD no matter who takes the other side.
This is a difficult market, and the stress of trading it brings out the worst in many marginal traders,. Thus this poll.
I am not 100% familiar with how all this works. The reason I would have an issue with IB taking the other side of my positions is that they then have an interest in seeing my trades fail. Its like a doctor owning the graveyard next door I am unsure if there is anything they could actively do to make or break my trades (maybe something to do with hunting stops and limits). or possibly forerunning or making sure they get the other side before they decide on which price they will give me my side at. but it would make me feel better if they didn't have a stake in my trades. On the other hand I do like the idea of faster execution of over the counter securities provided by them taking the other side. So I am sitting on the fence in this issue.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=415128&in_page_id=1770 "To the women he groped and grunted at, Thomasz Stepniowski's sleazy behaviour was no laughing matter. But for the 24-year-old Pole it was all perfectly acceptable. This, he claimed, was because such "cultural naughtiness" is entirely normal in Eastern Europe. Also see: Britain is the country of choice for many 'feckless' Poles"
timber hill's profitability dwarfs ib's by an order of magnitude, both parts of interactive brokers group