Best equity commissions?

[Hooked2000]

Sorry guys if this has been covered...I did a search and there was just too many posts to wade through.

My partner and I are potentially looking to get the very best equity commission rate.

I realize that size trading you can get a break, but lets start at the basic rate for say 2 to 5 k a day.

 

[alanm]

If you take liquidity for Naz and/or high-priced stocks, you might prefer a firm all-in rate (like IB's $0.005/share). If you add liquidity, you need someone that passes through rebates. Paying/getting Naz ECN fees of +$0.003/-$0.002 and paying SEC fees for high-priced stocks will generally overshadow other commission differences between brokers. I've given some examples in previous postings.

 

[lescor]

Quote from greg barbre:

but lets start at the basic rate for say 2 to 5 k a day.

Do you mean 2 to 5 thousand shares traded per day?

 

[ig0r]

Quote from lescor:

Do you mean 2 to 5 thousand shares traded per day?

Yea I think so. To OP: that's nothing. You'd be very lucky if you're getting 0.005 from a prop firm.

 

[ifinitis]

It would really depend on how you plan on trading and what size lots you trade. I trade mainly 1000 to 5000 share lots so a low fixed price per trade (I pay $8.00 a trade) is my best bet.

If I trade 5000 shares it cost me $8.00, 5000 x 005 = $25.00
That is $16.00 verses $50.00 round trip.

Even if I buy or sell in with 1000 or 2000 share lots to enter a position, I normally sell or buy out to exit in 2,500 or 5000 lots, so it is still cheaper.

If I direct the trades through a specific ECN or router I pay more, that is pretty much the same everywhere though, or it was when I last looked.

If you are trading 100, 500, or 1000 share lots tops, get the best price per share rate you can get. This is when your commision fees matter more, when you trade a lot of small share quantity lots.

Hope that makes sense. Also I rarely worry about commision fees as the risk/reward ratio of my trades make them a minor expense.

 

[Hooked2000]

To answer lescor...yes 2-5 thousand a day to start...as we are system testing on small size...ifinitis and alanm thank you for your responses. Could I get some names of brokers to go along with those rates?

Right now I am paying .01 plus sec fees. Feel like we are getting ripped off.

From the poll it looks like 70% of polled (excluding me) are paying .005 and below as of 11/3/05

 

[Steve Tvardek]

I pay under .004 but I do over 2 million shares a month which isnt even that much compared to some guys who do 10 mil+ (non rebate traders). For 2k to 5k a day you will only do 40k-100k a month and I doubt any firm will give you anything better than .008. JMO.

 

[brokerboy]

You pay like 40 bucks a day in fees and you think you’re getting screwed. Where do you people come from? If you a 7 there are fees the firm pays on you. I am sure you have over 200 a month in exchange fees plus your charting and execution platform. If you have a lot of capital and have a customer account that’s different. There are great deals to be made but why would a firm want a 2k volume a day trader to lose money on.

 

[Hooked2000]

Ok Brokerboy...here is where I come from. I am a series 7,63 and 55 trader. Have been doing stat arb and merger arb since 1998. If you read the post you will see that we are in the testing phase ("as we are system testing on small size"), from last post.
I pay for execution platform 125 a month...I pay sec fees...I pay exchange fees...I pay interest on money....I pay for CQG.

How do brokers lose on me at .01 cent a share and all these fees?

Where do people like you come from? A brokerage house I ASSume.

Oh yeah, I will tell you why they would want people like me.
Once we have the bugs worked out in our strategy, we scale the size up. Get it?

 

[Big Fees]

I pay .0005 plus ECN fees/rebates, no matter my volume (which ranges from 1mil to 4mil a month)

Edited: I forgot a zero.