Has anyone heard about another broker raising its commission? Velocity did so. Their new commission schedule will be effective tomorrow and means a raise of 8-25% depending on the exchange and instrument.
Either it is a glitch on their site or they have raised again their commission after 02-01-13. Now it becomes really annoying. I think about dumping this broker - perhaps switching to http://deepdiscounttrading.com/.
i have heard great things about deep discount trading from many traders on this site. the way howard responds back to your questions (even at night and on weekends) reminds me of how tom from the old TOS would respond back the exact same way - even to traders who didn't have an account w/ him. their clearing firm (crossland) may not be the biggest firm but they have a high ratio of adjusted net capital to net cap requirement. for every broker/clearing firm you're considering using check out their financial strength at the link below. for example, if a company has $100 million USD in cap requirement but only excess capital of $500,000 USD that would be a huge red flag and a dealbreaker IMHO. obviously just checking this wouldn't prevent all problems but it's one of many steps you should take when researching a broker. and no, i'm not a shill for a broker, just trying to pay it forward b/c i've received so much advice here on ET over the years - esp re brokers. any questions keep posting or pm me. http://www.cftc.gov/marketreports/financialdataforfcms/index.htm
Thanks, FrankSlaughtery, I have read a lot of good stuff about Deepdiscounttrading. I've been with Velocity for some time and won't jump ship in a sec, but I wonder if their price policy will not cost them buisiness.
Not necessarily because rates are almost always negotiable regardless of what is published. Most potential customers know this. Just tell them you are moving your account to DDT (and then move it) unless they match DDT rates. Odds are they will match them. They will be able to detect bluffing, so you have to be ready to actually move your account for this to work. If you are not ready to move your account immediately, this will not work so I would hold off trying it until you are. Also note, for a fair comparison, that at DDT platform fees are quoted separately, whereas they may be included at Velocity.
spot on. When I was shopping around for a broker, it took quite some time to figure it out what was the exact price of the RT. Some include platform fee, some include the feed..and some don't. But, I figured it out really fast after the commission differences did not make sense between one broker and another.
DDT is an IB for Crossland... so Crossland is your FCM and yes, IMO in a better stronger position than Velocity... I used to have velocity, I have an account with crossland directly... anyhow, the comment about comms being negotiable is correct... if you have volume, anything is negotiable... I use CQGIC so my platform fees are separate from my comms given I pay platform directly and I get it discounted via shepard(who is an IB for FCstone)...
If you do high volume, I would check out Advantage Futures rates here... http://advantagefutures.com/open-an-account/commissions/ They also offer more customized rates/discounts depending on your trading style. They are full-clearing so you don't need to go through an IB...
ibrainch is right w/ advantage being another reputable shop that focuses on futures day traders - low rates (def one of the lowest in the industry), financial strength, no prop trading nonsense, infrastructure, etc. also re ddt, for each platform not only is there a fee (like $60 per month for NT) you also get charged a fee per RT like $0.15. even w/ this ddt is still competitive. just something to keep in mind.