Has anyone ever encountered while trying to BUY a stock, such as today with Mosaic (MOS) and your broker requires you to phone it in? I day trade, get in and out quickly, and can't trade this way. I've lost money already because of this, and this isn't the first time. I called Scottrade and they say they stop internet trading on "volatile" stocks. F*%# that. This isn't a "penny" stock or some bank on the verge of bankruptcy. I need to find a broker that doesn't try to hold your hand like this. Day traders please chime in with your recommendations. (Commission rates are important because of how often I trade.)
Interactive Brokers - cheapest commissions that I know of, .005 a share? $1 minimum Think Or Swim - Not sure
Trading size, flat $7 per side is "OK". Otherwise you are getting raped, on both commission and execution. Since average trade size is unknown, keeping the "flat-fee" concept, MB Trading comes to mind: 4.95 flat up to 5K shares. There are others as well. BTW; you do know Scottrade is paid for orderflow, don't you? http://www.scottrade.com/online_trading_documents/online_investing_order_routing/index.asp
IB margins are rediculous. They have priced themselves out of the marketplace. Half of my trading buddies have left IB this year, and don't miss them one bit.
The thing about IB is that they favour having experienced customers and people with good balances. They do have large margins, yes... but they are good and rock solid.
A stock like MOS drops 33% in one day and you think that IB's margin requirements are too high. Those of us that believe in capital preservation prefer to use brokers that properly manage risk. What brokers do all the high risk traders use these days?