Some hedge funds keep their trades secret by have several brokers or clearing firms each of which only executing only part of the overall planned trades. Is there any merit to this game plan? I ask because I am thinking of doing the same thing when my account, with all hopes and luck and labor, grows to certain size and I don't want to get noticed by any brokers. By the way, do electronic brokers like IB knowingly watch over your activities? Or can you trade directly with an ECN?
Absolutely, if you want to buy a few million shares of a company, you don't want some house frontrunning you. As far as IB watching your trades, I wouldn't worry about keeping your trades secret unless you're trading $10 million+