Fees Comparison

granville x · May 12, 2002

I've been looking at different brokers, suitable for my kind of trading. The ones I've compared are CyberTrader, IB and TradeStation.

I trade almost without exception QQQ, 1000 or 2000 at a time. During some periods, I don't trade at all, due to too much work in my firm, so the cost when not trading is important as well.

In any case, I want to use TS for the excellent charting possibilities, which costs me 100 per month. Integrating the trading into TS then seems like a move in the right decision.

This comparison is based on 20 trades per month, estimating 2 trades per day I'm trading, e.g., trading every second day in average. I think I've done the right calculations, but if you see any mistakes, please let me know.

CyberTrader: Data fees: $199 if <20 trades/month, $99 if <50 trades/month, 0 if >50 trades/month. Trading QQQ: 15 USD/trade + Amex 0.005/share.

Interactive Brokers: Level II fee $79/month, if less than $30 commission per month, and 0 if more. Trading QQQ: 0.01/share if less than 500 shares, 0.005/share if more than 500.

TradeStation: Base fee: 99.95/month (L2 included and ECN fees). Trading QQQ: 0.012/share if less than 1500 shares, 0.0075/share if more than 1500.

* No trading at all 1 month: CT 199+100=299, IB 79+100=179, TS 100

* 1000 QQQâs 20 trades (1 month): CT 99+800+100=999, IB 0+300+100=400, TS 100+480=580

* 2000 QQQâs 20 trades (1 month): CT 99+1000+100=1199, IB 0+500+100=600, TS 100+870=970

* 1000 QQQâs 300 trades (1 year): CT 1188+12000+1200=14388, IB 0+4500+1200=5700, TS 1200+7200=8400

* 2000 QQQâs 300 trades (1 year): CT 1188+15000+1200=17388, IB 0+7500+1200=8700, TS 1200+13050=14250

What stands out is that if trading 1000 or less per trade, the difference between CT and the other two is really significant, while if trading more than 2000 per trade, the difference is less important.

larrybf · May 12, 2002

GRANVILLE: just a thought. if you trade the QQQ's with that much size i think you should look at the commission costs of trading 1-3 emini NQ contracts with IB. Slippage is almost nothing and if you calculate the commissions you will be surprised at the annual savings. Again, just a thought.Curious to hear what your thoughts are about trading the QQQ vs. the emini NQ??

stock777 · May 12, 2002

>>What stands out is that if trading 1000 or less per trade, the difference between CT and the other two is really significant, while if trading more than 2000 per trade, the difference is less important.<<

Hmmm, CT at 17388, vs IB at 8700, seems like real money to me.

vinigar · May 12, 2002

Granville x,
Where are you finding the fees for Tradestation?....am I going to the correct web site www.tradestation.com or is this the wrong one? I can not find the fees for $100.00 everything I see is much higher.

granville x · May 12, 2002

Vinigar,

The base fee, wherein Level II is included, is 99.95 per month.
http://www.tradestation.com/fees/platform.shtm

Are there other costs to TS I'm not taking into account?

Kymar · May 12, 2002

two things to consider -

1) I've said it elsewhere, but I'll say it again here: If you scale in or out AT ALL (and if you don't, why don't you?), then the ticket charges add up fast, and per/share pricing turns into a much better deal;

2) If you prefer ticket pricing, and want to use TS for the charting, etc., you might very well be able to negotiate something more like their old fee schedule, which is quite similar like CT's current one.

vinigar · May 12, 2002

Granville x,
Thanks for the clarification...I understand what you are doing now.

scouse · May 15, 2002

Has anyone any experience with this Broker they offer very low daytrading margins and a $6.50 round turn commision and only $2500 minimum to open an account.

Thanks

Scouse