TD Ameritrade Reviews

the most comfortable platform i've used so far (thinkorswim). i can't seem to find better charting with free data.
very pricey commissions, but if you do volume, you can negotiate EVEN ON FUTURES. i'm thinking of trading futures with other brokers using ninjatrader but ninjatrader platform sucks and no one is accepting OCO orders placed on ninja except IB.
I don't like IB's costomer service and how long it takes to reach them. Every time I call - it takes minimum several minutes to get to someone and if i had a problem with ninjatrader (which is very likely to happen because ninja sucks) I would have to wait to get to the broker to cancel a trade... major headache in my book.
Which brings me down to TOS has a built in OCO feature with advanced order types like trailing stops- which is really nice, because you can relax and not worry about loosing connection. To me that's a major factor often overlooked by other traders. Imagine you scalp trade on ninja and loose connection for a few minutes until you reach your broker to close one of the OCO legs (worse yet, you don't notice it at all). a lot can happen to your account in that time... so i'll rather pay more and sleep well then risk it with ninja. the concern with TOS is - execution, they don't seem to have the speed... which is a shame.
Perhaps there are other brokers and platforms that are better. I'm currently looking into Mirus but i'm scared of them because the company is so small and there are pretty bad roumors about them online. Like for exaple, the not so obvious fact that they and zenfire are owned by hard8 group, which could potentially give them power to collect information on stops and run them. perhaps that's far fetched, but it's possible.
Maybe I will even go as far as try the Dorman itself, lease a seat on CME and use a more professional platform.. IDK. so i'm not so sure what to do with a broker choice - all have major flaws and complications. If anyone could advise on a safest broker with low commissions, would greately appreciate it.

Started out with Datek back in the day and was very happy with them. They were bought out by Ameritrade which added more features, but added an extra $1 per trade. In today's market - $10.99 a trade isn't cheap, but if you are looking for an all round solution and don't plan to trade on a regular basis they are good place to start.

Generally speaking, good quick fills for $10.99. Customer service is also responsive, but they don't always understand your question, or over complicate issues.

Although the platform does allow direct order routing, you'd be a few stocks short of a fill if you used this facility. I say this as your commissions would be a lot lower using a more professional platform than one designed for the American retail/buy & hold market.

Some nice features though for intraday traders who may only trade a few times a day. Free, streaming real time intra day charts.

Good for the position trader who wants to time entries on an intraday timeframe and take the occasional intraday trade where appropriate.