just got an email from TS8 and now you can use the platform for free if you do 10 r/t futures trades a month. it was 50 r/t futures a month. I also got an email from IB asking me what i liked about TS8 and said whatever i liked they are going to do the same thing. There must be some hungry tigers roaming around in the jungle.
there is some fine print. you have to agree to the unbundled rates. Great news. As always, we value your business and, as a result, are very pleased to announce two important changes designed to offer you additional savings. Effective December 1, 2005, we have substantially reduced the futures, forex and options monthly trading thresholds necessary to qualify for waiver of your TradeStation (and RadarScreen) platform fee. This is a further reduction from the thresholds reductions announced in July 2005. Effective December 1, 2005, accounts meeting any of the following criteria in the preceding month will not be charged a monthly base platform fee for TradeStation and RadarScreen (if applicable) in the current month: FUTURES 10 (reduced from 50) or more round-turn futures or futures option contracts (electronic or pit traded) 50 (reduced from 100) or more round-turn single-stock or narrow-based index contracts FOREX 10 (reduced from 25) or more round-turn lots or 100 (reduced from 250) or more round-turn mini lots EQUITY & INDEX OPTIONS 50 (reduced from 100) contracts For clients with multiple accounts held under the same name, trades for the same asset product for all accounts will be considered to meet the threshold requirement. Also effective December 1, 2005, TradeStation is introducing a new unbundled, tiered futures commission plan. Under this new plan, clients pay a TradeStation fee plus exchange and regulatory fee, rather than an all-inclusive fee of $2.50 per side as is currently the case. This has the benefit of allowing clients, when choosing which market to trade, to take into consideration the appropriate exchange fee for that instrument. For example, CME E-mini exchange fee is $1.14 per contract, per side while CBOT Mini Dow Jones Index has an exchange fee of only $0.90. With this new unbundled commission plan, exchange fee differentials are passed on to clients. In addition, exchange members are able to fully benefit from reduced exchange member exchange fees. New Futures Commissions (effective December 1, 2005): 25¢ â $1.20 per side, per contract (plus exchange, regulatory and overnight fees) Click here for a complete list of the new commissions detailed by symbol Under this new plan the TradeStation fee is based on a tiered monthly trading volume, such that high volume traders benefit by paying a lower TradeStation fee proportionate to their volume of trading. Given this new plan, at the highest TradeStation fee tier level, some markets are more expensive than the old rate and some are less expensive. Generally speaking, if you trade higher volumes, you may potentially benefit with the new plan. However, we want you to make that decision. PLEASE NOTE: In order to take advantage of the above futures commission plan, you must elect to switch from your current plan to the new tiered futures pricing plan, which will be available beginning December 1, 2005. To do this, simply fill out and submit the change-request form available on the TradeStation Support Web site at www.tradestation.com/support/feeschange/default.asp. There is no need for you to do anything in order to have the new lower futures, forex and options thresholds applied to your account. The threshold reductions will be automatically applied to your December billing (fee waiver is based on November trading activity). If you have any questions or comments regarding these changes, please contact Brokerage Client Services at (800) 871-3577
They look remarkably similar to IB's futures rates. Indeed, they match the CME e-mini rates $ for $ for non-exchange members. I did not check anytrhing beyond the e-Minis. They have not lowered their equity rates to match IB's. Jack
I was hoping for some input about Tradestation from the vets like nkhoi, electricsavant, lefty etc... about using TS for both charting and platform. I have heard a lot of runors about delays in price and charting etc... I trade the eminis and find the new proposal very attractive but as mentioned earlier have heard a lot of rumors that prices (on platform ) mare late or innaccurate.
TS ---- uugh!!! i wont even go into all my previous order problems {and talk about slow execution speeds compared to XTrader or TradeMaven} with TS using 8.0 and 8.1 ---- i would not even trade 1 lots with these guys. TS needs to take some of their money and re-build a whole new program architecture for the trade charting and platform. they also need to get their connectivity to the exchanges re-done so that they can actually get order execution at a decent speed --- if TS could get their act together and quit coasting with what they currently have, they could really put a hurt to the rest of the brokerages.
ok, thanks! so you would not get fills or get covered even trading 1 or 2 mini s&p contract even if it went thru the price.
I also use another platform and noticed that the price on the charts of TS comeout a little delayed compared to the platforms. I never placed an order yet with TS and am wondering if it was that bad trading 1 or 2 contracts.
no --- i would have a TS "matrix" up on my LCD and an XTrader DOM ---- i enter a trade on both platforms at the same price at the same time. then i place a cover order a few ticks from price on the TS matrix FIRST --- now i go right over to the XTrader DOM and place the same "limit" cover order at the same price as what is sitting on the TS matrix ---- now guess which order was filled first?????????????? you would not believe me if i told you! :eek: proof was in the pudding -- and that was the little experiment i did many times to show myself that i was not crazy about all the TS problems i was having. their customer service attitude is what was the final straw for me when i bailed and took my business somewhere else.
My TS execution experience has been flawless so far - very fast and fills and charts and T&S seem to line up right. No lost orders, weird cancellations or slippage. Stops are flawless, sometimes I even get improved on stop-market orders! IMO their charting is second to none for clarity and crisp response, but I'm sure this is just a preference. Works perfect for my 1 to 10 lot trading, I don't know about bigger. (note that I use marketeable limit orders, rarely market orders for entry/exit except for when my initial stop gets hit - IB has faster market orders if you need those - sometimes the TS market orders can be a little bit slower, but also you get price-improved a lot of the time) A lot of folks grouse about TS (and others, like IB) but I think it is their setup or settings that are off, or port problems, or their antivirus, or latency in their ISP - otherwise how do you explain that some people think it is great and others say it sucks? Best, Paul