E Trade Professional

[pkfryer]

What are your thoughts about E*Trade Professional. I've downloaded the test platform and it looks very impressive, feature rich, has direct CFD access (for a price). Built in level 2, automatic technical analysis and pattern recognition indicators. The test trades I've done seem very fast and have never been requoted. Covers futures, options, CFDS, spreadbetting, forex... The platform seems a million times better than Deal4Free's effort (my current vendor).

Does anyone trade using this platform and whats it like live?

My only concern is that it costs £9 per trade which just seems a little bit pricy but then again it does have some pretty cool features and I suppose £9 isn't too bad.

What do you think?

 

[knorrie]

I've used the quote-driven CFD system for about 18 months and really like it. You need to work out however if it suits your style of trading, as at £10 per trade, plus some wider spreads than other trading vehicles on some products it can be a problem, and IMO isn't suitable for day-trading small positions. For larger positions or longer term trades it's great. There are some features missing from the platform (I would like alerts and more details than just the bid/ask on the quote display for instance), but for me the big big plus is *always* getting instant fills at the quoted price. Have to say E*Trade customer service is surprisingly good too.

They regularly run online demos/seminars, there was one last Friday in fact, where you can actually watch their CFD guy trading live - you need broadband for this so you can join the the conference call to hear him speaking while watching what he does on the screen. It was great fun to watch him scalping live using direct access, placing orders inside the bid/ask on the Level 2 screen. Have look around their Web site for details, there's a calendar on there and you can reserve a place.

By the way, the fixed £9.95 commission is only for the quote driven platform, the direct access commissions are 0.1-0.2% (min. £20) per side. But if you go for direct access, you can also choose to place trades using the quote service as well - it's the same platform, just a different way of placing orders.

KenN

 

[pkfryer]

So overall its a good platform. But when I'm use to deal4free £9 a trade is very expensive especially when sometimes its good to test your system out for several months on small trades before using bigger trade sizes.

I'm wondering whether its better for intermediate length trades of several months than even trades that last several weeks.

I find the spread too much to day trade using deal4free, so thats one of the reasons I have limited myself to short-term trading for the time being.

 

[allenm]

E-trade

Hi mate

I have been using e-trade professional for about six months and its great. I trade daily holding several positions lasting between one minute and 4 days with their direct access.
The commission starts at 20 basis points but if you trade enough they will reduce this considerably. The benefit is that you can work the spread so on large deals it is more cost effective than deal for free who widen the spread for there commission. It is a great position to be in the money as soon as your order is filled rather than a wide spread to be made up before you even break even.

If you are still new to this or can not execute quickly yet direct access may not be for you as it is more involved however you can use there ticket to buy and sell at market.

Of the couple of direct access trading platforms I have tried to-date I would recommend E-trade being the best so far.

Good look with the trading

ps. Has it taken over your life yet?

 

[GloballyRelaxed]

Or you could try going straight to the source of their platform rather than via E-trade (Saxobank) might work out cheaper.

 

[pkfryer]

Whats that Global? Saxobank?

I'm definitely interested in direct access CFDs, sounds very interesting, but pricey!

To be honest I would prefer to have a broker that charges a percentage rather than a fixed sum, for now. Until I become more proficient.

Yep... trading has gradually taken over my life, until its become an obsession of sorts! I have gradually become more engrossed with it, but at the same time I have become more cool headed!
Its a journey rather than a destination!

 

[GloballyRelaxed]

Pkfryer..

Yes it is saxobank , through their site www.saxobank.com , I know nothing on the respective charges Im afraid but usually you will find the source is generally cheaper than the I.B in most cases.
In fact I think there is only a set percentage charge with the direct source (but not 100 percent sure)
All information is on their site though.


Happy Hunting.