Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm considering switching to IB. I trade 2000 to 5000 shares of NASDAQ stocks daily through a discount broker and the comissions are kiling me. I never trade a stock that has a daily volume of less than 400k. No single trade is ever greater than 500 shares and all the positions are long. My current broker has usually (98% of the time) been able to execute and CONFIRM my trades in under 10 seconds, which doesn't include the time it takes to enter a password everytime I place an order, that takes another 5-6 seconds. The fast execution is critical when a stock starts moving rapidly against me. Can IB consistently match this speed, or come close? Any complaints/criticisms/kudos about IB? Thanks Rigel
rigel, I preference my comments by stating I work at IB. But the answer is yes. IB is direct access. ECN orders should fill in an instant. As SuperSoes comes further on line for the major stocks it should be the same. If you are concerned, I'd suggest that you open a small account and test. I assume you'll be pleasantly surpised and will build it from there. If not happy, just withdraw your funds - no obligations.
I trade with IB, and i am a satisfied customer. However IB does not have the only EDAT trading platform. i suggest you read the reviews on Brokers on the site, and pick the one that is best suited to your tastes. Some have demo's you can try first -- but be warned the demo's do not do justice to the real thing. Demo's tend to be a bit clunky. There is absolutely no comparison between trading from a EDAT platform and sending a glorified e-mail to a retail broker. Which you are doing now. You are in for a shock when you make the transition -- and you DEFINATELY should -- it is quite an edge!
you don't mention which broker you're using - if it's datek you should use medved quotetracker which will take the datek data feed and give you a nice watch screen with charts etc, raw data (time and sales) and level 2 if you want. Order entry is much quicker due to ability to click on bid/ask, and only need to enter password once per session. However, commissions will still kill you - probably!. i've just started an account with Interactive brokers (popular on this board) - commisions 1c per share up to 500 then 0.5c therafter ie 100 shares= $1, 500 shares=$5, 1000=$7.50 - so much better i'd imagine. Makes starting out much safer - can do 100 share lots and keep track of your performace until you have enough confidence to move up to 200, 500 , 1000 etc without dying from $10 commissions (20 round trip). IB order entry very quick with hot keys, and execution is well regarded. Have to say i find the TWS (IB trading software) a bit clunky, ugly and limited - you get level 1 data but can't do any charting or T&S etc with it... {there's been threads re IB getting with QT - still no movement. Most agree that IB is good with order execution and commisions and do not want to produce charts etc as that's not their aim. Fair enough - let QT take care of that, then IB can forget about reinventing the wheel (their own trading station).} also heard good things about echotrader - will need to pass a trading exam and will need a bit more money to open an accont... regards coops
Thanks for your thoughtful replies. I really appreciate it. What I'm probably going to do is set up a medium sized account at IB and give it a try. Will probably need a little practice to get used to the interface but it sounds like it's well worth it. I like the idea of their focusing only on a few critical things and being really good at it. I'll keep an account with my current broker for short selling and charting. Rigel