Rebate sharing with a cap has traditionally been the major difference. On $5 mill in stocks that can be mid 5 figures on the split. Pretty much institutional quality SSR. That's part of the reason cash is not attractive.
Streetsmart is pretty clunky compared to other platforms. I use SS for my longer-term accounts (mostly options), and Lightspeed for day trading (30-40k contracts/mo). I would take LS over SS any day, and the option commissions are way better. PM me if you want to chat more about numbers. LS is also super stable and holds up well during volatility while others crash (Schwab crashed today).
I started Schwab account back in September with 400k balance and they gave me a promotional 4% margin rate for a year. Now my account holds > 1M, I want to negotiate for lower margin rate otherwise i may take my business to IBKR. I am however concerned with IBKR's auto liquidation policy where you are given 10 mins to sell positions or add more fund once your margin buying power falls below zero. With Schwab, they will give you up to 3 days to do the same.
It was mostly TSLA, I have been long since 2017. W/ margin added, I bought more TSLA to max purchasing power when price was lower from failing to join S&P 500. Were you able to call Schwab btw and negotiate margin rate?
I see. Yeah I am planning to talk to my Schwab guy too. It'll be worthwhile for me to stay with Schwab if he can lower my margin rate from 4% to 2%. That extra 1.25% over IBKR, will be well justified w/ the benefit of 3 days maintenance call settlement.
Schwab gave me a runaround for almost two weeks, but finally called me back yesterday and agreed to lower the margin rate from 4% to 1.7% for 12 months period. It's nothing to brag about when comparing to IBKR's 0.75% but I am fairly happy with it. I don't think I will react very well to IBKR's cut-throat maintenance call...