For Traders, Penson is much better than Schwab from a clearing point of view, the availability of shortable shares being one of the advantages. It would help schwab and CT to eliminate penson but to the detriment of traders.
The worst part of the merge is that the combined company will no longer be offering Futures trading. What's up with that. I guess I will have to move again. It really kind of sucks. Does anyone have a good recommendation for a good futures broker--other than IB. Already tried them.
Everyone seems to be assuming that cyber customers will just be put on Schwab's current platform. I didn't get that impression at all, but there does seem to be a lot of ambiguity in the air. I wish someone from schwab would come on here and address these questions.
Why didn't you get that impression? Did you read everything in the integration details link on the website? Where doesn't it say the new platform will be streetsmart pro? Click on the Platforms link. Call them & ask if you have any questions.
I read it pretty well and I think cybertrader really is confirmation what others have said here. I also think that their support staff may not know all the details just yet. The original letter said nothing about per share pricing, but within 2 days a faq was posted that says you can continue your pricing plan. I'm not doing anything just yet. my brain hurts at the thought of learning new software. But I am looking for a new platform that is price completive with better charting, (i know, not hard), and good conditional order entry. I would like to set up another account just to be prepared for the inevitable.
I am currently a registered representative at CyberTrader and wanted to clear the air regarding the CyberTrader/Schwab integration situation- Per share pricing will be available for CyberTrader clients through the end of the year. In addition, our current 'per share' clients that decide to move their account to Schwab will have their commission structure follow them. These grandfathered rates will allow for the $.006/share rate to be enjoyed at Schwab. There are no data fees at Schwab and that would allow users to trade on our sophisticated platform with only commission costs to account for. The software platform will remain virtually identical when the transition from CyberTrader to Schwab is made. Instead of the CyberTrader Pro platform, the StreetSmart Pro platform will be used as the primary trading system. Although the two are virtually identical, we are already addressing differences between the two. Level II features, charting, API trading and many other features are in the works, but of course, I don't expect a 100% transition rate of tools and features. The bottom line is that there is virtually no learning curve associated with learning Street Smart Pro when one is accustomed to trading with CyberTrader Pro. As for client service, I assure you that we value each and every one of our clients and prospects. We are more than happy to explain the details of the integration and what it means to you. Feel free to comment or send any questions my way. Thanks for your time-
Cybertrader Rep, thanks for coming to this thread. A major concern is when you say the Schwab platform will be "virtually identical". We, as people who make our living trading the markets, need to know what the DIFFERENCES will be. If they won't be "totally identical", please tell us what will not be available. Also, I ran off a list of items that aren't in the schwab platform in my first thread in this post. Could you please give it a look & let me know what items on that list will or won't be included in the new streetsmart pro platform? Thank you again for coming here to give us more details. PS: When you say Schwab will grandfather in the .006/share commission, does that also include the .003/share for all shares above 2000?
Thank you ct rep for appearing here and addressing some concerns. I too would appreciate a follow up post to the many issues that have been stated above. I also have a suggestion. Maybe this is silly or naive, but why couldn't schwab simply port the current ct-pro software to run on schwab. Even though we understand ct-pro development would not continue, at least one could use the software until such time that streetsmart-pro is more developed. This would reduce the pressure to update streetsmart pro now. Then, when and if streetsmart pro in fact is developed to the point of a virtually identical platform of ct-pro, (or better), everyone will want to switch. Anyway, just a thought that would make me feel a lot better.
I second that suggestion. If you go back and search the archives here, you will find that many high volume traders here have gone through the broker search process. A lot end up with IB, some with RealTick, some with Cyber, some with Assent, some with TS, some with genesis. I can't ever recall someone deciding to use Schwab for day trading. The platform simply is not up to what we expect. CyberPro is not perfect, but it is probably the best integrated charting and trading platform out there. The rates are barely ok, as most brokers catering to high volume traders offer ETN rebates, equal or better per share rates and price breaks as volume increases. No disrespect, but lowering the platform fee or making it free after 10,000 shares or 10 trades is not even an issue with most people here. Most do that much in one day. If you want to drive off the high volume traders and replace them with novices with $5,000 accounts who need a lot of hand holding and trade 10 times a month, congratulations. You are well on the road to accomplishing that dubious goal. My suggestion would be to poll Cyber customers to find how many will stick with you if you offer a watered down platform. My guess is very few. The fact that no one seems to have any straight answers is not reassuring. It smacks of hidden agendas and is disrespectful of your customers. I think I speak for most of us in saying our main criteria in deciding whether to transition to Schwab will be the platform, reliability and pricing. Other factors we either take for granted, eg security of funds, or are not important, eg availability of other products like mutual funds or banking.