Hi PC
I've been trading your new platform live for 4 weeks now alongside a couple of others, and since there has been several comments on this thread bemoaning the lack of feedback from live traders I thought I'd leave a comment or two. I come from a background of high frequency trading with Direct Market Access and am seeking a platform which offers comparable spreads and execution, but without having to report everything to the IR, or whatever the taxman calls himself these days. I trade the dax and dow (because your spreads as a % of contract value are the most favourable), and have been making up to 100 round trips a day.
I have been impressed with the speed of execution, compared to some other SB'rs . It has usually been very fast, although this week at times of high volatility it was slower, perhaps a second or three. Previously I'd place a trade and the reporting back took perhaps a second or less, but the trade usually got placed where it was when I clicked the button despite the market moving on. Closing at market would result in slippage or price improvement in equal measures. Closes by Stops usually have slippage, 0.1tick in slowish markets up to 0.7 or so at faster times. City Index closes are always exactly on the price, which is about right considering the Stop is held on your own native servers. This is a shame as it rather negates the advantage of the 0.9 spreads v. City's 1.0. Can't comment on the "Take Profit" orders as I have hardly used them, but perhaps corresponding price advantages might have been present here?
I hear you say you are improving the tickets in a couple of weeks. This can't happen soon enough for anyone trying to trade at any frequency. I have to see the trade coming about 10 secs early so I can click on a buy or sell price (in the chart) (why not both?), wait for the ticket to appear, click on the stake, enter a value on my keypad, click Enter, move the stop line down to somewhere reasonable (and get the chart back to a reasonable scale), and finally hit Confirm. With my DMA platform all this was preset and customisable, I just hit one button. God forbid I decide to change direction, got to start all over again! Having to set stops for each individual leg of a trade is also tiresome when you already offer the facility to market-close all legs with one button.
I like the (generally) fast order execution, clear account reporting, ability to set stops and limits on the chart. I like the demo platform which feels almost exactly like the real one, perfect for testing things out. Don't like the the inability to scale the charts down (they only expand), and the inability to fit more than one chart on screen. I've squeezed three on by overlapping the edges, but it doesn't save till the next session so after the annoying and random "time-outs" I have to set up the entire desktop all over again ( why can't I save it?).
I'll stick with you if the order entries get easier, because I love the "no requotes" (try getting out of a losing trade with some other SBcos when the market is falling fast, I've experienced the frustration of getting ticket after ticket rejected while the day's profits evaporate!).
Blimey, long post for a long-dormant member of this forum, returning to trading after an extended break. Hope it is generally positive in favour of PC (who gets my vote for sticking his neck over the parapet and posting here) and helps someone.
cheers, P.
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