Wrong on ALL counts Mr. Basher. TD Ameritrade is now offering the "Think or Swim" platform on the Ameritrade website. They are direct access. So is Quotetracker via AMTD.
That's interesting. I didn't know that Florida Road Runner offered T1. Pretty nice of them to string fiber to your house. Does the phone company know they did that?
This is important. Correct me if I am wrong: TDAmeritrade is NOT direct access broker, they route customers' orders to their own market makers. We have to make a difference between direct access brokers and blood-sucking brokers who route orders to their own market makers for a fee or, even worse, front run their customers' orders. Traders should devote all their time and effort to learning how to trade, not to avoiding blood-sucking brokers.
I think TDAT routs orders to market makers that pay for order flow only when that market maker is at the best price. Most all brokers work that way. I have found TDAT order fills to be fast and fair but the order entry platform is way behind what is offered by many other brokers. Maybe the TOS order entry platform will be a change for the better.
Before people open up their pie-hole to throw "dirt" at TD Ameritrade, they might want to consider the fact that TDA is very good on limit order price improvement compared to the rest of the industry. http://www.tdameritrade.com/trade/orderexecution/priceimprovement.html There is also another thread around here citing just how good ToS is on order improvement given that they scan for hidden liquidity via "ATD" ( Automatic Trading Desk ). I believe that TD Ameritrade uses the same order routing to "ATD".
You are a poor liar. There was no TDAmeritrade 11 years ago. (Where were you 11 years ago? fifth grade?) And don't tell me you trade all day every day including Saturdays and Sundays.