Most electronic broker platforms go down at some time. So changing broker only leads to same problems. Best is is to use two brokers in cases like this.
I'm with OEC, for now. Yesterday I phoned in an order to exit the trade I was in. After the market was closed a fill appeared on my screen, my statement this morning also showed it filled. Someone from OEC just called me and said, "Sorry, but with all the chaos around here yesterday, that fill we gave you was wrong, just a mistake. It will show up on your screen soon that you are still in the trade." I can't believe this crap. They can't get quotes or let you place an order but they can recall a trade really fast. I've had it with them.
This is not the first time of a significant outage at OEC. I used them for awhile as a backup broker and they had major problems after a forced software upgrade a little more than a year ago. Brief outages are expected but major problems that result in days of trouble are not and are usually self inflicted due to poorly planned upgrades to software and/or hardware. I am just about fed up with forced software upgrades, nothing good usually comes from this practice (hint hint IB!). I would just prefer to control versions of my client software from now on and do away with relying on broker software altogether for orders (gateway model). Once you find something that is rock solid and does what you need there should be no reason to have to upgrade. Why replace software that already works just to introduce new and complex features that most end-users will not use and more bugs that usually break something basic that was already working in the first place. // End rant
Gateway model - do you mean direct access to exchange? Does this access not require one to lease a seat, if so then would it not be prohibitively expensive for individual retail who trades markets at more than 10 exchanges world wide?
No, I mean using an API or FIX gateway and doing all of the order management on a client that you have full control over. Even better, other brokers offer access via FIX gateway that often gives you cheaper commissions than using the broker's end-client software. Obviously there are some trade-offs with this approach and you have to be very confident in your client software to fully manage your orders and positions but you also never have to worry about upgrading your client software by force either! I don't think this would make a difference in this current OEC outage because the problem appears to be the data feed itself but having two independent feeds and using a gateway rather than the broker software seems to be the best solution to managing these types of situations to me.
Can you expand on the fix gateway. Links, reviews will be useful if you have them handy. Thanks jjrvat
I was angry with them too also because of that. How stupid is to leave the bad feed running and ACCEPTING ORDERS AT FALSE PRICES... I couldn't believe it.... don't make me start again.... jjrvat
OEC is terrible. They have a long history of connectivity problems( I should know, I used them for a little over 1 1/2 yrs) Stay away !!