Excellent question U&D. From what I've heard the Barron's ratings are compiled by VOTES from shills and account holders-- not by any objective means. If they actually did in-depth client interviews they wouldn't be #1 except for their charts. If you notice the true professional platforms aren't even listed. They list the 'intermediate' level firms and software. I've found this site to be infinitely more accurate and reliable with regard to ratings. I'm learning there are far better, more reliable brokerages out there who are grateful to have your business, who aren't rude to you and who haven't had any outages in over 8 months. Their short inventory is lousy now too, since they went self-clearing. Tradestation has gone downhill in a big way the last couple years, especially in reliability and customer service. -Prof.
BE CAREFUL. IB's datafeed is suspect for reliability....many complaints in the API forum by vendors like Buttontrader who can subscribe to several data feeds. The ability to enter orders appears solid however.
Futures support is great, but don't use it for scalp style daytrading. Switching symbols is slow, the data and executions are not 'vibrant'. Lots of slippage. That said, I use them daily for options trading and futures. The bummer on options is you don't get credits for selling when using spreads. Any suggestions welcome here for firms that do credit your account as it is a disappointment not to get credit and have your equity and buy power tied up.
I use tradestation for charting and small long swing plays only. The charts freeze in high volume, but that may be my PC. I run about 6 to 8 pages with 6 charts on each, and some quotes, which is why I like them. I am doubling the data to get black outlines on my candles, so extra data is coming in. I hate their level 2, so use E signal for that, and IB for day trades. IB bracketing is way superior to TS's. TS had very limited short inventory last time I had margin with them, and to be honest, I only keep a tiny account so I can get the platform cheaper. I found fast trading with them cumbersome when I had a PDT account with them. A question for any using other platforms: What platforms allow multiple pages for charting other than TS. Can't do it with E signal, and have used and hate Scott Elite and Cybertrader when they were still around. Currently only have a two monitor setup, so I like multipage capabilities.
You would probably find that the #1 rating also has the #1 advertising spend. Coincidence of course if so.
Having emerged from my Tradestation nightmare, I've narrowed the search for a new equities brokerage to LightSpeed Financial and Genesis Securities. http://www.lightspeedtrading.com/ http://www.gndt.com/ I've read and heard rave reviews, some first-hand, about both. In the last six months my associate has traded with them, they haven't had ANY platform outages. Genesis (listed as a Platinum Partner by NASDAQ) probably hasn't either but I haven't checked yet. I don't think you can go wrong with either. I'm leaning towards LightSpeed only because I have a contact there. Glad to be of help. -Prof.
My best friend used IB for a few years and had regular outages (>two a month). The idea if a Universal Account would be awesome, but from reading the forums here there are just too many regular outages and people here say the customer service is worse than Tradestation. I'm going with either LightSpeed Financial or Genesis Securities for executions (see above post). I'm researching other chart vendors but will stay with Tradestation for their charts temporarily. One of their only merits along with EasyLanguage programming.