I have a broker for daytrading (sub-penny per share) and another for option trading ($1 per contract) and have been, for the past 2 weeks, searching for a single broker to sweep both my accounts into one platform. I am amazed that to date, I have not found anyone that offers a good balance on the following factors. 1. reliable platform that accomodates BOTH option and equity trades. 2. Knowlegable order desk that can take you out of trades in case internet connection dies. 3. per share / per option contract pricing w/o the" so 1990's " ticket charge or minimum charge. IB has 1 and 3 and it is amazing that in this ultra-competitive retail environment I've not met one that has all three even if rates are a little higher than IB. Other than a couple of BD that clear thru SLK no one else seems to possess all three (SLK IB's want 100k and your first born son to have their complete platform). I trade north of between 750-1.2M/month and around 100 contract/mo and am seeking above rates even a little more just to have all 3. Any suggestions please PM or email. Thanks
That Spear Leeds outfit. unbelievable. I tried giving them my first born son. They said if they took him, I would have to come up with an extra 700K. Plus expenses for food, clothing, and shelter. I agreed. Then they hit me with "Oh, one more thing. We want you to pay for his medication too." Deal breaker!!!! MrSubs Mom
I use SLK for both equities and options. The platform doesn't really help (it is good though), 'cause you can't enter spread orders. You have to call them in anyway. So to me, it would seem more important to have a good order room than the platform for options. Quotes are quotes. Unless I am misunderstanding what you are looking for. rs7
What I am looking for is a broker that offers a platform much like the option montage of SLk wherein I can route order to the 5 exchanges, much like IB. There are a lot of brokers with platforms like Instaquote, Realtick,etc BUT they are on the pricey side-$10.95 ticket, etc. If I had a magic wand which can cull the best characterictics of various brokers it would be... 1. platform like thinkofswim.com, REDI or IB's TWS 2. commission rates like IB 3. customer / trade support which picks up the telephone within 8 rings to get me out if my system dies. I spoke with a couple today and I think they are pretty close so I will sleep on it over the weekend and pick one Monday. Any other suggestions?
GATrader, Have you looked at Preferred? They have much of what you are looking for, but I'm not sure about the rates. No doubt your volume is enough to do soemthing though.
How is a deep discount electronic broker going to pay 30 people to sit around waiting for that half hour period when the system doesn't work? Its just not part of the business model. Please don't tell me to pay $13 RT for peace of mind. A trader cannot be profitable paying that much. In fact for guys who do alot of volume, $5 RT is going to look too expensive. After reliable executions, low trading costs is the key. Also such an order desk might not help you in the way you think. The worst error is the one where is broker isn't sure of the status of your order due to a network failure. An order desk won't help in that case even if it had a separate connection. It would have to wait until the technical situation in the primary system was resolved. But if you had a backup broker, you could at least put on a position that would protect you.
Have you tried "Preferred" out of San Francisco. They are owned by Mike and Doug Engmann, old friends of mine, and I think they offer both for retail traders. I don't have their website handy, but I'm sure you can find them in a search. Good Luck... Don
I used them a whle ago but they still have this $19 minimum. I am working on a couple of brokers now around $1 per with some semblance of customer service. Good trading . Thanks don