I came to ET to check out futures brokers,after extensive study I think PFG has the best trading platform for me,a little spendy at $14.00 rt, but they answ. the phones about the 3rd ring and cust. serv seems good.Been trading on their demo for about a week and it seems a little glitchy, does anybody trade with these guys and could possibly share their experiences with them. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Mike
I've never traded through PFG but I thought their demo seemed a little slow. I would make sure fills are faster on the real platform than the demo before I move forward. $14 is also a little pricy. You should be able to find the same service with the same quality software for a little less. My .02 anyways. -Todd
I had used them briefly a couple of years ago and I was charged $11/RT. Execution was fair but their software at that time was a little buggy. Could have improved by now. $14/RT though during this time does seem pricey considering the current competition.
I tried their demo (full of bugs) and did not open an account. I talked to their reps a number of times. The ticket charge is negotiable... I think you can get it down to about $8.00 round trip. There are some traders in Paltalk rooms every morning that do use PFG and have for a couple years. Buffy at www.dacharts.com seems to like them just fine. Good Luck ~EC
Thanks for the replys . thats what I was looking for,someone who is using them.I've also found the demo to be moody,but their reps assure me the real version is'nt like that but I'd rather hear a customers side. Thanks again,Mike
I have been around the bases several times with brokers. I am not interested in the broker bashing stories I can tell you but I will keep my advice simple.: IB has no equal for trading futures. Accept that advice or go ahead and find out the hard way.
Thanks for your advice.I spent 5-6 days with IB demo and read their cust. discussion board, recieved acct app.,and researched as far as I could. IB was my first choice ,but I decided they were not for me. I'm just a small fish,trade 2 cont., 1-3 trades a day.Maybe I don't have the exp. to app. IB.For those that like them, good for you. Thanks for all the replys Mike
My advice is to get out a spreadsheet and compare your number of trades and multiply that by your current commission and then multiply that by the $5 commission that can be had without any negotiating or any contact with a broker...And the argument that customer service is worth the extra cost is really not true...There is no way that trading 2 lots at $14 per rt as opposed to $5 per rt will even out over the course of a given year...This is also assuming that there are no glitches with the BEST Direct platform, which I used briefly in 2000 and had multiple issues and trade errors with... My two cents worth...