Traders should always have a backup account at another firm. I have had accounts at FuturePath Trading - excellent low rates and in eleven years, their platform, network and servers have been extremely stable for their Photon trader platform. However, I also have a backup account at IB - cheap insurance in case of an emergency.
Never tried negotiating with them about commissions because it seems like a low and fair fee. I think it includes the exchange fee and if I remember correctly they don't charge a commission for getting assigned, Exercise is 0.01$ per share. There is a 10$ fee if you don't trade 10 contracts in a given month. Not a bad deal. But please note, forget about trying to make any kind of option analyzing with them. The MBT platform is very pale compared to TOS. this is for pure backup and nothing more.
Welcome on board I think there is no real alternative but as discussed you should consider opening an additional account in a reliable firm so you don't have to rely on "TOS" alone
Why do you keep trolling for clients on a forum where MOST of those who are PROFITABLE have nowhere near the minimum 100k (500k ?) needed to go portfolio margin?
Lightspeed is 0.60$ a contract and share price is 0.0045$ Per share or 4.50 flat (Cool!!) 10k minimum for desktop account and 2k minimum for web based (hmm.. Strange) Even barron's 2011 review is not bad at all: "Pros: Aimed at very active traders and hedge funds, Lightspeed is expanding into international trading this year. For those who want to automate their trading strategies, Lightspeed launched the Blackbox Developers Kit last summer. There is a wonderful implementation of Recognia's Intraday Trader alerts (reviewed in Electronic Investor on Jan. 3). The costs of trading are very low; it's worth looking at if you are a high-frequency trader. Cons: There is way too much firepower for the casual trader."
A few months back I was planning to open an account with Lightspeed. After reading all of the Lightspeed related post and ratings here on ET, I decided my life would be better without dealing with Lightspeed.
For years, TDA has had data feed and, occasionally, web server outages lasting up to several hours. Yet their DARTS are always exceeding expectations. Maybe they do the vast majority of their business via advisors, and the retail daytraders using Streamer and TOS are just a drop in the bucket.
At least we made the news. This story has a link on the Bloomberg home page. Feel free to add some comments. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...korswim-clients-can-t-get-trading-access.html
I love how they said they encountered "some issues" and "some clients" couldn't log in. LOL. The PR on this has been terrible.