This is my first post and I have a black and white agenda. I CAN'T STAND ECHOTRADE. I think I trust Bill Clinton more than I do EchoTrade. What they promised, they did not deliver and the headaches I've endured as a result have created more resentment in me than I knew was possible. I won't go into details for various reasons, probably similar to the reasons RTharp doesn't discuss why he left them. I think their service sucks. They take forever to respond to voice mails and emails. How can you keep someone that nets you thousands of $$$ a month waiting 3-5 days for a response? I think Sterling is an unreliable piece of vanilla beta-ware that needs a 6-12 months more refinement. Bring on the pro-Echo crap in response to this. I don't care. I'm outta there for a firm I can respect. What is important is that people know that the Echo pasture aint all green...the truth is it's littered with cow cookies.
Hmmm.... What did you say your name was? Maybe you can site some specifics so that they can either be refuted or concurred with by the some of the others here. Here are some excerpts from our friends at Merriam-Webster: DEBATE- to discuss a question by considering opposed arguments DISCUSS- a : to investigate by reasoning or argument b : to present in detail for examination or consideration
Oh yes very, very useful. Alvaro Oliviera's one sentence description of a few mostly retail brokers with a prop firm thrown in here and there. What exactly did you find helpful about it? In what way did it actually comapare the firms listed there? It's statements like the following that are especially helpful in comparing Prop firms: "Gives clients access to the Nasdaq and NYSE stock markets by utilizing Level 2 quotes, SOES, INSTINET, Island, and SelectNet." And this one is helpful too: "Offering remote trading capabilities with real time executions, level II quotes and intra-day charting." Real-time executions? What is that? Dont forget to read their disclaimer too: "About makes no representations and specifically disclaims all warranties, express, implied or statutory, regarding the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose of any material contained in this site. You should seek the advice of a professional regarding your particular situation." Timeliness, funny they should mention that!
I am interested to hear some specifics also. I have also heard some negative things but I can't substantiate them, but I am doing some research and will keep all posted on my findings.
First I would never allow an anonymous message board sway my decision about a firm. It is just too easy to register as a user and post pretending to be a trader with a firm when in reality they have a financial interest in what the poster is talking about. Have you noticed that Robert has always been upfront with just about everything he was doing till this? He was originally telling everyone of his experiences as he learned about the different prop firms, but especially his experience with ECHO as he finally decided on trading with them. Then he leaves the firm and says no comment on why he left!! He did quote somebody though when they asked him about why he left the firm. "Maybe he isn't responding because he legally can't" That person may have been onto something with that statement. What does Robert have to gain by talking about ECHO? In terms of risk to reward I imagine he has a lot more to lose that he could ever gain if he were to give his exact reason for leaving. Maybe some questions PMed/telephoned to some ex Van Buren traders might be more informative asking why they left Van Buren. There weren't many Van Buren traders. Why did the Roseland NJ office leave and join a new firm office.....with the exact same address??? Why did the San Diego echotrade office all leave and join a different firm........again with the exact same address? Why did the Pasadena office leave echo? Why have some ex Bright traders leave echo? Maybe Don can answer why on the above post. Robert probably can't talk, but really wants to. I would suggest digging a little bit deeper -maybe somebody who used to trade in that office and knows the full story can speak more openly. You won't find the answers about everything on a public message board. You'll have to dig deeper to hear anything else I imagine.
Whoa! Slow down and take a deep breath there big boy...no need to get so defensive. The site was a useful tool in finding out what firms are out there, what software they may be using and aided in determining which were retail vs. prop firms. I never claimed it was the be all end all of all trading sites. Many traders just like to stay abreast of any and all trading related information. The choice is yours! As far as the disclaimer, I don't haven't seen to many websites out there these days that don't have some sort of disclaimer. It is a sue happy world out there and they have to cover their legal bottoms.
sorry I'm not Long John Silver. I'm currently on vacation for the next 2 weeks in NY so I won't be very active on the boards. Email is the best way to reach me as I might not see most of the messages here on Elite while I'm gone. Robert
Can we all stop and take a deep breath here? I am interested in prop firms and have considered Echo. For the past year or so I've been trading futures primarily, and I understand they have started supporting that. Therefore, I found Robert's statement interesting - after all he is the one who introduced me to this firm a few months ago. I also found Tradergirl's reference interesting and very useful - but of course it is not perfect (who/what is?) This can be a good thread about how to screen a trading prop firm - and we can use Echo as an example, provided we allow Chad to respond to statements made. And let no one think that we will believe everything verbatim - we are all smarter than that. So, how about reputable prop firms? Which ones and how to deal with them? Does anyone know? Any specifics?
OK, I'll chime in here since it's FEd Day and have some time on my hands. I've been with Echotrade for a little over 6months now. I do not try to recruit for them, I have no relationship with management of the firm.....I simply trade remote and will give you the straight up and up. I have found Echo and it's management to be extremely helpful. The software is good..the rates are good...the people are good. Are things perfect? No, of course not. I will say that things are improving , not getting worse. Does it take some time to get responses from e-mail ? Sometimes, but other times it's more help than one can expect. As far as Sterling goes...I like it. They make improvements all the time.If people left a few months ago because of Sterling, well it was bad timing. The new version is great. Opening indications, Dj Newswire, alerts and some other great stuff. Soon open book and other goodies too. If people want more info feel free to PM me....again I'm am not trying to recruit for my own gain...I can only give you my opinion. Snow is here! Snowboard rack goes back on the Jeep today!