Guys I need your help deciding which DMA broker to use. I have a daily strategy buying (or shorting) stocks at the close of the day to sell them (or buy them back) at the close of the next day. I have been using IB and have been happy with the system and their commissions ($0.005 per share), the problem is that lately I have been trading more low priced stocks so the $0.005 cost is starting to be very steep for me. IB does not have the pricing structures others like TD Ameritrade have where you can pay a fix price "per ticket" instead of "per share", I would rather pay $9.99 per ticket instead of $0.005 per share when trading $1 priced stocks as I normally buy enough shares to dilute the cost of the ticket. So, I am forced to change brokers... considering that I only buy and sell U.S. equities and don´t need fundamental research of sophisticated graphs... Which broker would you recommend me to use? I have heard good things about TD Ameritrade and the new platform at CS called StreetSmart Edge... any ideas?
One thing you could consider would be to go the unbundled route and perhaps get exchange rebates if you're providing liquidity. If you do decide to go elsewhere, do keep in mind that you might not receive the same execution quality (firms charging those fixed per trade fees usually sell their order flow which may end up costing you much more than you think you're saving in commissions).
This is IB´s response when asked if there were any other options besides their bundled or unbundled comm plans... "Dear Trader, Thank you for your inquiry. IB does not offer a per ticket commission schedule. Commission for stock trades will be on a per share basis. Regards, IB"
He specifically mentioned he trades US stocks from close to close, likely meaning he only participates in the closing auction, therefore execution quality really isn't an issue.