I am looking to open an account for day trading, but cannot decide which broker to use. I read through the reviews on this site, but there are always some bad reviews for every broker. The brokers I am considering are interactive brokers, mb trading, and thetradepros.com. Could you please make any recommendations as to which one you think is best. Are there other good options out there? Thanks
Depends on what you trade and which platform is best suited to execute your strategy. Different brokers have developed different trading tools focused for trading Options versus Futures versus Equities. A feature rich GUI may be better suited for a discretionary trading system but has little value for Automated trading. TT's X-Trader has the most futures broker market share. TOS' GUI seems popular for options IB's TWS is a popular platform for equities OEC's onelink API is decent for automated futures trading. First find the platform that works best for your trading system...
I mostly want to trade stocks. Also, is Scottrade really as bad as some of the reviews that I have read? I have an account with them that I have done longer term investing with, but want to start day trading.
Scottrade is a firm for investing, not day-trading. If you are serious about day trading equities, you will need a direct-access broker (one where you have ECN access) which will "help" you get the best possible prices for your trades. Choices: IB, MBT, Genesis, Assent, Lightspeed The last three are more commonly associated with prop firms but you can open a retail account with them as well but know that with any of them, you need 25k+ to daytrade equities and options.
for futures, there is none better than www.globalfutures.com for options, none better than www.optionsxpress.com for stocks...no comment
OP asks about firms for trading stocks and you recommend global futures. Friggin' idiot. No wonder you can't grasp this thing called trading and keep jumping around the asset board like a crack whore looking for your next fix.