lol dont you love these guys? total arrogance. They're still living in the 90's. Wonder how many accounts they'll lose before they figure out it's all about full disclosure, and competitive rates.
I still think the IB/Refco combo is a good idea in case of emergency. Suppose, for example, the whole US internet where to go down (terrorist attack or something). Presumably, if the telephones were still working, I could get on the phone and lay off my futures positions with pit traded contracts. Just an experiment, sort of. I would certainly continue to do 99% of my trading through IB. But with all those IB outages lately, it seems like a good idea to have a back-up broker. sax
i don't think they really want retail accounts. they will be happy to refer you to an ib who'll handle you i'm sure. they also clear (or used to) for some prop futures outfits and may refer you in that direction if you ask them to.
Try their retail arm: http://www.lind-waldock.com/ They can be accessed through a variety of platforms. Commissions are also negotiable depending on volume. I have had no problems with them as a backup broker. ebo
One can also get the Gartman letter, Energy updates and Precious Metals daily from them . These have daily pivots , S1, and R1 already calculated for you , along with trade recommendations. Casey