Interactive Brokers.......

[options]

I dunno Miki, that was quite a good analogy on the use of oca's brokers, and shoes.
Must say though, it's not how I trade, I prefer to keep things as simple as possible, and it's served me well over a few years, but it's a handy tool to keep in the amoury.
I was mainly passing comment about the reliablity of anything.
When I lost connection to IB it cost me money, my e mail to IB still remains unanswered, and I think they should have a better system of dealing with lost connections rather than having to phone a guy in Sweden to close a trade you have running in England. Regardless of who's fault the connection problem is.

And on that front I am trying out a new isp that has no potential cut off from 8 to 6. I am assuming that with live prices running through their server it would stay conected all day.
Wrong assumption. Only been with them a few days and had 2 cut offs already. Luckily I was not trading at those times. Seeing as I am in the process of moving, adsl or broadband is not feasible at the moment.

On a good note though. Where IB don't have live charts and do not reccomend any charting software (or so I was told last week)
Sierra charts are linking up with IB in 3 weeks or less (again I was told this from the horses mouth over the weekend) to provide charts through IB's feed. (I can't wait).

Options.

 

[rejji]

Options.
Just a note and something to think about. I used to use a 56k modem to connect to my trading platform (can't mention who for fear of striking up an arguement) which worked perfectly, then I added a charting package and started to have problems. The main one being that in fast markets both applications wanted bankwidth at the same time and this just didn't work. Subsequently I had my machine freezing etc while the thing caught up. I bought extra RAM, but this didn't really solve the problem, ISDN did. I wanted ADSL but am too far from an updated telephone exchange, so ended up with ISDN which helps a great deal. The last thing I wanted was to be stuck in a position, and not able to close it due to my own connection to the internet.

 

[Miki]

It is a nightmare!

Being in position with the market going against you and not being able to exit because:

- communication to your broker is down

- your broker’s system is down

- the exchange is down.

I haven’t found satisfactory solution to this problem.

If anybody has – please let me know.

 

[BigRon]

Miki

I like some others here use Easy2Trade, and I can say that when I loose my internet connection (for whatever reason) the telephone support is very quick, and very easy. They can always see exactly where I am, whats filled, working etc and subsequent orders taken within seconds. I use the telephone about once a week due to my ISP being none to hot, and if I leave a trade, they call me as soon as it gets filled. So exiting (whilst inconvenient) has never been too much of a problem.

I have just taken on another ISP as a sort of DR which will hopefully mean I can reconnect within seconds, but when the Exchange goes down I have, along with everyone else my hands tied.

 

[Miki]

I will assume, BigRon, that you are a happy customer – not Easy2Trade employee touting for business.

“Rip-off Britain” is alive and well what it comes to cars and brokers (especially those taking other side of your trades – spread betting etc).

Easy2Trade fees:

Account set up charge: £50 / €80
Transaction fees: 1-800 lots £4.00 / €6.50 per lot
801+ £2.00 / €3.25

Quarterly inactivity fee: £240/€390
Eurex monthly price feed: £20 / €32
Initial deposits: £5,000 / €8,000 minimum.


I am not very keen on “Account set up charge” and “”Quarterly inactivity fee” – they should be lucky to have you as a customer.
“Eurex monthly price feed” seems high – I would like to see many other exchanges available too.

Comparing this to the other UK brokers, it might look attractive to those not willing to do a bit of research on the other side of the pond in the good ol’ USA.

Global Futures, Apex Futures, JP Futures, Level2Futures and many others might give you more options for less money.

Do your research, people, the choice of your main broker could be the most important investment you are going to make.

As my backup broker, I don’t want to pay any inactivity fees or tie up a large amount of money.

 

[options]

Now that is a good post Miki.
Lays out the pros and cons quite nicely.
I was quite happy with Easy2 apart from the inactivity fee and being cut off, which is normally down to the isp; (not going to mention the cut off's from the spread betting people (cough, spit) and all their nefarious tricks.)
I'm now getting a better deal from IB with lower commision costs, but still get cut offs. Mainly not their fault, but they do have a bad back up phone system in my view.
All round it is cheaper and easier to trade through American brokers, until of course, our very own much loved people play the game like their usa counterparts do, and to be honest I can't see them changing until customers force them to, by closing accounts and taking the bread and butter away from their grasping hands to shake 'em up a bit.
Can you really see the fsa etc doing this on our behalf?
No, me neither.
I know a few people are put off by having their money in American hands, and it may take a day longer to have any money sent to you.) That's another thing that has to change, they can take from you quick enough, so they should be able to give it you just as quick, and I would much rather keep my money in this country. Support the UK and all that, but why should I when I get ripped off at every turn; and that includes the goverment.

 

[rejji]

Good points Miki.

If you are an active trader with a broker the inactivity fees will not apply to you, but if it's a backup broker you want/need it is not the service for you. I know minimum activity is expected and required by many brokers these days who offer direct access trading.

One thing I would like to say from a personal point of view is that you pay for what you get. I don't have the cheapest commissions available, but I am happy with the system, the functionality, and the back up service is good. Find a trading platform which suits your style and pay the asking price (or haggle a bit) as it will compliment your trading and ultimately pay for itself. Don't let charges deter you from looking at any system, and always "try before you buy".

 

[Splurge]

Well this is a good thread........

Can someone provide feedback on IB as a level 2 Nasdaq platform?

 

[jonboy]

IB

Hi, I am new to all this, and intend opening an account just to trade the Dow and Dax intraday only. I know i will need $2000 to open the account,but what is the minimum $ i can trade,and what margin would i need, and also how much per round turn.
many thanks for any help, Jonboy

 

[Trader333]

Account Minimums & IB Level II

Hi Jonboy,

With IB the minimum amount you can trade the Dow is $5 per point. The round turn commission is $4.80 which is the best I know of. I cannot answer what it is for the Dax but you will need a minimum of £1450 margin just to open the account

Hi Splurge,

I checked with IB about the level II platform and you cannot trade directly from the level II screen which is a major disappointment. This is particularly so as the cost is an additional $79 per month just to get the data. So I am not interested in using the IB level II platform.

Cheers


Paul

 

[neil]

Alternative Broker ?

I thought I had found an alternative to Interactive Brokers with this but they expect me to print off 40 pages plus, to fill in and post to the US.

They don't look bad at first glance though.

Come on Easy2Trade..how about some UK competition?


http://www.ffasttrade.com/

Oh well...might as well keep IB I suppose.

 

[FTSE Beater]

Mr Neil Sir

Maybe I ask why your looking to change?

 

[neil]

Mr FTSE

Sir,
I was just lookin' over the fence.

I wasn't going to desert IB, honestly sir.

 

[boy]

Is anybody having problems logging in to IB this morning?

I have installed the recent upgrade so I suppose that could be the problem.

 

[oatman]

No problem. Are you getting any error messages?

 

[JonnyT]

No problems

 

[BBB]

Neil/Everyone - as for ffasttrade/ffastfill, I advise everyone to stay well away from them as a brokerage or their front end.

Several of my mates trialled this product and had very poor reports about it.

They also say their UK staff dont know very much about the dy to day issues faced by traders, and support is poor.

 

[boy]

No messages at all, the login box just sits there.

 

[oatman]

That's weird. Presume you've shutdown and booted up again. Try updating Java, and downloading Standalone IB again.

 

[boy]

Got it going now,thanks.