Same here in that one can negotiate a great deal with PFG on futures - better than IB - as good as any any where - and the platform is free. Does anyone use PFG for stocks and if so what kind of rate can be negotiated? Can you get them to drop the ticket charge? I mainly trade futures and do not have any volume in stocks.
I really don't believe their any cheaper. They start charging 1.5 cents per share for ecn fees, so if your account's large enough, IB is actually cheaper. Fidelity also was never able to get my fill price right on market open, so paying up for slightly higher commissions to see no slippage is why I'd prefer IB for stock trading, PFG for futures.
Well it is somewhat separate from the main PFG operation but it is owned by the same parent: http://www.bestdirectsecurities.com/about/ParentCompany.aspx I have never seen anyone mention it - I do not know who if anyone is using it.
not to beat a dead horse but here's the simple solution that has been said many times before: use ib for exec and someone else (iq feed for futs, tos now tda for options data, etc) for data.