Easy to Trade closing down

[fillyerboots]

Rumours going round that Easy to Trade are closing down this week. Does anyone out there have any more info? Does anyone use them?

 

[Sledgehammer]

Yes

I've just spoken to them. Interest is being calculated on your account tonight and closing balance being transferred to your bank tomorrow.

I think it's a great shame. They are really decent people. And a great platform.

 

[boy]

I agree sledge, what a pity,a bit of a surprise all the same.

 

[waytogo]

Yep, I am also gutted to be losing such an easy to use trading platform with such good support. Wouldn't it be nice if the staff did a management buyout and got the company back on its feet again?

However, as that is an unlikely outcome we are now faced with the hassle of opening a new account. The obvious one to choose from this board is IB, but I find the account minimum a bit daunting ($25K). Anybody got any other suggestions?

 

[Henry]

Not entirely suprised, there were reports of all sorts of financial difficulty for a long time, and their constant promises of new products to be added which never materialised, spoke volumes.

A great shame indeed though, always found them very helpful and knowledgable, a pleasure to deal with.

Waytogo, if you want to trade the same products with IB as you did with Easy2, you don't need to deposit $25k, $2k will do it, although you might need a bit more depending on the margin requirement for the exact contract you want to trade. See http://www.interactivebrokers.com/index.html?html/generalAccount/minimumDeposits.html~top.body for more.

Also, ffasttrade use the same platform as Easy2 (it's where easy2 got it from).

H.

 

[Sledgehammer]

Not sure what to do. Possibly a spread better? But how can you place limit orders and stop orders with the person that you are having a wager with, when they control the "market" that you are trading?

 

[waytogo]

Thanks Henry

Sledgehammer - the main problem with spread betting is the spread! This makes it near impossible to make money from them in the very short term - ie you cannot scalp for a few points here and there. If you are slightly longer term and go for the bigger daily swings (as eg Bonsai does) spreadbetting is just about OK. It all depends on your trading style and how good you are. I have recently opened an account with finspreads so that I can try to capture the bigger swings for 1p/point - and I wont increase my bet size until either my 8 weeks is up or I've earned the right to. I've used spreadbetting companies in the past and lost money, so I'm very cautious now!

 

[Oldun]

Sledgehammer,

With IB you can place limit & stop orders, including trailing stops. Their commissions are very competitive (100 shares for $1) and the spreads are market not bookmaker determined.

Have a look at their site. I have no conection (other than an account) with them.

 

[Sledgehammer]

thanks oldun

i'll have a look

 

[Sledgehammer]

Wow!

If you are familiar with E2T, then try ffastfill. same platform, just the colours are a bit different!

spoke to a very helful person who got me fixed up on the trainer. you can run a GBP account and keep all FTSE trades in GBP. if you trade Eurex or CME then just those trades will be converted at the time of execution.

they also advised that E2T were in fact piggy-backed (my words) on their server in Chicago, so fills should be quicker direct with them. that must mean fills in 0.5 secs, instead of one sec.!

even makes the same sound when an order is filled!

off to Rally Finland tomorrow, so i'll have to sort it out next week.

 

[fillyerboots]

Watch out for the $550 a month for the remote-pro and $175 for the lesser platform. Only cheap if you are trading heavily.

FFastfill (the platform's creator aren't exactly the most solvent ISV either, but then none of them are)

 

[genti]

you have to be a fund manager to pay $550 a month, this is ridicules.

 

[Skimbleshanks]

I agree with fillyerboots - the prices quoted by Ffastrade are NOT what they seem. There is a very hefty monthly charge, so unless you are placing more than 438* trades per month then there are much much cheaper brokers out there.

* If I recall correctly the number 438 was quoted by someone on Elite when they worked out whether IB or Ffastrade were cheaper.

I've edited the Ffastfill post by the sales manager of the company to remove all the fluff and puff, and just left the facts.

 

[ajanney]

If you make one rt trade a day then ffastrade cost about the same as e2t i.e ftse $3.92 = £2.58 screen fee for remote lite is $175 per month or £5.53 per trading day this = £8.11(£/$ 1.58) per trade same as e2t. If you do more than 1 rt a day it is cheaper than the basic e2t price. Remember e2t charged a monthly screen fee for the pro platform and also an inactive fee on the lite.
What is probably more of a concern is the time it takes to get a fill, slippage can quite easily be more expensive than brokers fees unless you always use stop orders.