IB is a great brokerage, however the only problem is that if you route via the API and DO NOT choose SMART you are charged .013 / share. I'm debating on which brokerage to join. Because my strategies are mainly provide liquity strategies and I do decent volume I want the unbundled rate. Therefore it is quite beneficial to provide @ the ECNs mostly ARCA, and take on NYSE. Now how smart is SMART? When you provide what % of the time does it route to the ECNs vs NYSE and when you take what % of the time does it route to NYSE vs ECNs. I know this is kinda a very hard to answer question, but it's very important deciding factor. Thanks
Here are my stats for October executions through IB... ALL Limit orders sent via SMART... ALL Listed with NYSE as Primary Market: NYSE - 79.5% IDEAL/SMART - 12.5% ISLAND - 5.5% NITE - 1.5% ARCA - 1.5%