To al ET members: I've been doing my "due diligence" and it comes down to these two brokers. I trade Emini primarily. I am leaning toward Tradestation because the software permits backtesting. I have read quite a few favorable comments about IB and want to make sure that I am not making a mistake. Commissions are close enough that it is not a factor. I want to solicit your comments and opinions? Thnx Steve46
Digs: Thanks for your reply. I am interested in comments from active traders who have an opinion on the pros & cons between these two systems. I plan to open a brokerage account at one or the other. Regards, Steve46
IB will NOT give you the charting you need, unless you trade w/o charts. TS is fine for more swing/longterm trades. For intraday trading, it's not as good as IB. Fills are slower and commissions are a little more expensive. Eventually, TS will connect directly w/ GLOBEX and ACE but until that happens (which could be months/years away) you will be at a disadvantage in terms of fills. They will be slower during peek volume. During light and even light medium volume, they will be fine assuming you're not trying to hold trades for only seconds. I have both, so I'm know what I'm talking about.
BobbyMurcerFan: Thanks for your reply. I guess I didn't expect to hear that I needed to have two feeds. I plan on running a mechanical system at first, position trading on average twice a week. Over the last year, I had a broker execute trades for me using one contract only. That test period using one contract only was profitable. Now I want to try executing the trades from my home/office so that I can add a money management program. Based on your comments, perhaps it makes sense to start with Tradestation, and add IB later if necessary. I appreciate your help. Best Regards, Steve46
Tradestation is great for charts and analysis but sucks for execution... don't use em as a broker... you will regret it...
Tradestation does not offer the ability to cancel/replace an open order. You have to cancel the open order and then go through the process of entering a new one. In my opinion this is a HUGE oversight. They claim they are considering cancel/replace for a "future release". Almost makes you think the people who designed the software don't even trade.
1 Do some people here put the min $5000 into the TS brokerage a/c and pay $99/mth for data or just pay $199/mth for data without the a/c. 2 Also the $99/$199 (exc exchange fees etc) includes equities, options and futures data ?