I have been an interactive brokers customer for 5 years...a relatively happy one... however the new per share pricing by cybertrader can save me several hundred $$$ a month ( a car payment) . I use a lot of smart order routing so my big concern is regarding the speed and reliability of cybertraders execution. Any feedback would be appreciated. THANKS IN ADVANCE
I dunno about Cybertrader, but I feel the same as you about IB's treatment of traders with $5K and hardly any volume vs. say, someone with a $500K acct and 100,000 shares a day. I'm sure others like you and I must be seriously considering a move! The potential savings are starting to add up!
i used cybertrader for a few months and i didn't find there smart order near as good as ib. cybers working on big order flow and has an incentitive to hold alittle. i' ve nto seen anyone touch ib's fills on smart order but i agree 1 cetn a share is way out of the range now when tons are much lower
JOEY...... that is my big concern.... smart routing is an "honor" based system so my concern is getting the best possible fill without my having to select the ecn.
Hey Joey, Don't know how long ago you used CT, but since Jan. when I started with them, I have found their CyberXchange order system beyond satisfactory. It is as close to instantaneous as possible. I actually made a post about a week ago on how amazed I was on the fills. Never having used IB, I can not make a comparison, however, I am obviously very happy with it.
I briefly had an account with Cyber last year, and I closed it because I didn't seem to be getting good executions using their smart order routing. I couldn't prove it, since markets often move too fast to really tell for sure. The final straw was after hours one day, when I was trying to buy when BRUT was on the inside ask, and rather than execute against it, my order showed up as INET and locked the market (and just sat there.) From my understanding, using ARCA or INET will do the same thing as a smart order, but I've been experimenting with that lately, and it seems like it takes a few seconds for the order to execute against a different ECN.
larrybf and risktaker, I agree. IB has been great. However, as the industry has gotten more competitive, IB's commission structure has not kept pace, particularly for higher volume traders. I feel loyal to IB. But, I am considering trying out other brokers to see how they are. I hope IB lowers commissions quickly so that I do not feel compeled to move at least some of my account.
I really think IB should have some sort of "rebate" based on how much volume you do per month. Maybe keep the penny/share system but they should be more competitive for the guys paying them hundreds/thousands a day in commission. That business just might decide to walk for better deals elsewhere. They keep spending their money fudging with their platform to attract more newbies instead though.
the problem i'm having with other level 2 brokers is there smart orderts seem to be market limit orders which means fine when you press the button if the bid or ask is there then they fill but if not the order cancels automatically and you got to keep chasing down till you hit the bid ro ask which can cost you big