Traderham - Thank You. Patience was my biggest let down the first year. I'm working on it, while doing my homework diligently. CS - I ruled out tradestation. MB Trading looks really enticing, but I do not like having to move money around with my current capital size. I like MB platform and charts. I really like IB, but for lack of a better word, their platform is UGLY! I do like lightspeed. Their platform and charting are awesome, but they are so bare bones and IB is still cheaper. I still would need to sign up for a separate data feed. ScalperJoe - I'm already flagged as a PTD. I do have the $25K minimum. Sometimes well above it. I just feel that to be a successful day trader you should have a minimum of $100K equity to be able to make decent profit on scalping. I Swing Trade as well, which is my most successful system. I plan on doing a 50/50 split between daytrading and swing trading. Ideally, TOS seems like the best overall broker for me, but their fees are just too high to day trade and I don't have enough capital to use them solely for swing trading I've never thought about a prop firm since I usually also have a full time job. Would I be able to get more trading power at a prop firm than the usual 4:1? How would a prop firm work? What type of fees are associated? Rory - I will look into Quote Tracker. I'm currently experimenting with Ninja Trader, but it's not so intuitive. I've been using Freestockcharts.com for my charts and IBD/ Etrade for data. Vista - Thank You. I am reading that article now. The idea broker would have: IB pricing and offerings/ executions, Lightspeed platform, Esignal charting and data feed and soem sprinkles of TOS. Where is this magic combo? I apologize for the long response. I appreciate all the feedback. Trading has always been my passion and I recently got the balls to go for it. I want to do it absolutely right this time. May you all have a very prosperous 2011.
I just checked out Lightspeed and they seem to have pretty good rates and I didn't see anything about a platform fee. Sounded really good until I checked out their fees for market data: $65/month for NYSE Openbook!!! Wow! ESignal wants $15/month, but to get any kind of market depth info, you need to pay them $20/month just to turn market depth on and then add the books. So it comes out to $35/month. IB is $25. Couldn't find a price on Tradestation.
Prop firms will give you 10:1, 20:1 or even more, depending on how much capital contribution you make, and your risk management skills. Most will allow for daytrade only, some do allow for overnights, although the cost of carry ("haircuts") is usually more expensive than having a retail account. If you're working a full time job, then prop may not be ideal, as you will have to pay "professional" fees to trade at a registered prop firm. Expect to pay around $200+ per month for data and platform, however you will get full ECN rebates which can minimize your fixed costs. Regarding the "magic combo" that's hard to find. Check out Speedtrader. Also, you can use Lightspeed linked with Esignal as a combo and get all the data you need including futures if you're willing to pay extra. Or perhaps TOS for all the free data, charts and swing trades. Then use another broker like Lightspeed/Speedtrader for daytrades to get the lower commissions, using their platform for execution only. And you can run both for swing/daytrades using multi-monitors. Hope that helps.
Ok, here's a suggestion. Why not focus on what you do well (swing trading where you were making money) rather then day trading, where you were losing money? I have dabbled at day trading and frankly I suck at it. I had considered trying to spend more time to try to improve my results but I am doing well with swing trading so for now I've decided I'd rather leverage my strengths than my weakness.
Platform fee is free, if you meet the min. criteria. http://www.tradestation.com/brokerage/platform_fees.shtm
Market depth data is not free. Even if you meet the 5,000 share/month requirement for the free platform.
Working with a platform that you are comfortable with is sometimes worth the added costs associated with it. I would rather daytrade equities on Lightspeed than on TWS directly (I use a front end to trade with IB, but that just adds to your cost.) Looking at their website, it looks like that rate may be a typo. I'd give them a call/shoot them an email just to be sure. But a question, if it is accurate, is $40 extra a month going to break you if the platform helps you with your trading goals?
Absolutely not. I'd pay $40/day if it could make me a better trader When I started trading full time over 5 years ago, I spared no expense. I subscribed to everything. Had every tool I thought would be useful. At the beginning, I thought these expenses would be immaterial to the amount I would be making. Well, reality finally hit home after 2 years (I'm a slow learner). The expenses were tremendous! And I certainly wasn't making anywhere near where I had hoped and dreamed (heck, I was bleeding red!). Today, I'm Mr. Frugal. I cut fees and expenses everywhere I can. Every penny counts. As we all know, it's difficult to choose the right components (broker, platform, data, etc.) at the right prices. We each trade differently, so there is no "catch all" combo that's perfect. I have no experience with Lightspeed. Just thought the Openbook price was steep. And yes, it could be a misprint.
Trader I agree with you. Since I am new and not as liquid as most of you I would like to keep costs down. I would use as many free options as possible. My fees mostly from trading this year totalled $3000. If I used IB instead of etrade, it would have been $1000 or so. That's $2000 lost. I learned my lesson Already which is why I am looking for the broker/ best platform/ data/ chart combo possibe. Cost is key here