Some of us do not sit by dozens of monitors all day...some of us actually are doing other things, but would like to monitor the market and make trades when we get the chance. I know a phone is probably not the most ideal platform to make a trade. However, I thought I might create a discussion about this topic anyway for those of us who may have no other choice but to trade with a phone. So please give it a shot, tell us what phone you believe to be the absolute best platform to make a trade using the usual discount brokers like IB, TDAmeritrade, Etrade, etc... Give it a shot. Please only talk about phones (not tabs or netbooks). They have to be able to be worn on the hip or fit into a large pocket.
Android will be the most used phone platform as of next year already. I think that pretty much says it all. Even if your specific brokerage firm doesn't support it yet, they most probably will soon (and if they dont, you should consider changing firms anyway)
I have a Samsung Galaxy, Android O/S, 4 " screen and trade through IB and Oanda. I found it difficult to trade through IB , I use it only in emergency cases.... Oanda is a lot more friendly on mobile.
Isn't that always the case when it comes to phones and trading ? Like topic opener said, a phone is far from the ideal platform for trading anyway ... My trading setup at the office has 8 monitors, but I'd consider the bare minimum for any serious trader to be two 21" monitors
The need for multiple monitors really depends on the individual and the task they are performing. When you turn on CNBC, you usually see them on a trading floor somewhere and individuals in the background are in front of banks of phones and have multiple monitors. The reason why they have so much equipment is because their job is far more complex then a guy sitting at home daytrading or swingtrading GOOG. Their responsibilities are much much greater handling multiple clients and doing many more things. Does the retail trader really need 8 monitors like those guys you see on CNBC at the UBS trading floor? The answer to that in most situations is no. The guys at UBS have a complex function where as the retail trader has a simple function. In fact, having 8 monitors can be confusing, distracting and provide to you information that may take away from trading. In fact, if you read the retail trader magazines that are out there you will find that a lot of the popular writers just use 1 or 2 monitors. Dan Zanger uses two large 17 inch laptops and he has his own fund. In fact, look at the Paul Tudor Jones video that is out there. At anytime, do you see banks of monitors in his office? It seems like he had one or two large monitors at any given time. That was a different era, but he had the resources to line his office with tables and rows of monitors. Why didn't he? Reason, too distracting and confusing. Tudor doesnt need 8 monitors to figure out which way the market is going. In the business world, I wondered how managers can do so many things on a Blackberry. It is a small device, but everyone learned to adapt. There are many folks out there that can type nearly as fast on a blackberry then on a full-sized keyboard. In fact, there are times where I see guys who never take out their laptop, but use their Blackberry for managing their organizations. So I do think the phone can be used successfully to perform trades for the retail traders.
Ok, I'll be more specific.... Oanda has a friendly platform for mobile, numbers are big and it's less probably to touch something else by error, also pretty nice charts. IB...not. My bigger account is with IB and I'd like a better software from them but probably Android is not their priority.
I used to be a market maker in Amsterdam, I was prop, trading the house account. The guys who were trading for clients had the most simple task of everybody. The guys who worked for Timberhill even had the nickname 'robots' in the crowds. So saying that trading for clients is more complex than trading your own account doesn't make much sense. Agreed. I never claimed you needed 8 monitors (I called 2 the bare minimum). In fact, I could perfectly do my job with 3 monitors, but would have to flip screens a lot of times. It's just a matter of convenience, having all the info available right away. Maybe. You can also cross the ocean on a floater made out of palm tree's. I'd choose a plane anytime over that though.
I don't think there's much difference between IB's Android and other mobile platforms ? I only have Android myself (same phone as you) but I do not dislike IB's mobile platform as much as you do. I think charting is pretty nice. But again, like said, I don't consider mobile platforms the main option for the serious trader.
If I might ask, why the Iphone over the Android or the Android over the Iphone speaking strictly in terms of a mobile trading machine. Lets say the Tmobile G2 vs the Iphone? Why the Iphone over the G2? or the G2 over the Iphone?