Thomas Peterffy - The founder of Interactive Brokers may be preparing a challenge to the Major Banks

Who is cheaper? thx in advance.

 

If trading large positions, obviously any broker with fixed commissions (not share based). There seem to be plenty which have sub $15 per trade. IB should have a more progressive schedule for commissions, paying $100 per trade on a very liquid ETF seems outrageous to me in this day and age.

 

$100 per trade? You must swing a heavy bat!

 

Not necessarily, just a heavily leveraged position in not so volatile ETFs. 15000+ shares at closing auction was over $100. Not in any way sensible, it shouldn't be more than $20 or $30.

 

Ask for a better rate! "Operators are standing by..." 1 (877) 442-2757

 

Could you name a broker(s) specifically? thx in advance

 

I'm looking into learning programming for automated trading and scanning, but I don't know the best place to learn. Any tips?

 

Take a look at examples that are in the API folder. Alternatively, use something like IbPy (abandonware) and look at its examples online, "placing orders with ibpy", "requesting data with ibpy" etc. There's plenty of material. There is a learning curve but it's worth it.