Graybox Order Entry

Graybox, what I fine system some days and a big pile of crap on others. 95% of the time it works great, then those 5% take away all you worked for.

Yes, the alt 1 function can get you 6000 shares if you only want 1000 because it will send out 1000 share orders to all 6 ecns at the same time. That is something you have to realize before you use the function.

You guys sound like you are having a horrible time with Graybox. I don't know really any other remotes that trade on it, but they have plenty of in house problems. I can't imagine using it over an internet connection or whatever you guys use.

As far as the bugs that don't get fixed even though new versions come out with new functions, I know what you mean. The techs still havn't fixed the close open position function to where it works even 50% of the time and I know traders who have been yelling about that since the Graybox inception.

We continue to be told to be patient and the problems will be fixed in a few months, but that same line has been coming at us for almost a year now.

Why don't you guys go in shop somewhere? Just curious why you put up with the problems associated with trading remote.
 
klaorman

Yeah, most brokers I've dealt with simply won't let you buy more than your margin amount. I've had about 3 margin calls with my Redi broker. They explained it had something to do with my Reg T buying power, which is roughly 4 times my account size. I never understood that. The day I inadvertantly overbought on JNPR my account manager showed that I had over 8 times my account size. Go figure.

What else is available? I don't know...I really like the per share fee, because I like to scale in and out of trades. I'll probably use Tradescape if they look like they're going to be more reliable. I really like IB, but it can really hurt if the market gets fast at all. I might bite the bullet, get my Series 7 and go to EchoTrade. I'm not sure what kind of smart order functionality they have. I know that on the VirtualTrader/FrontEnd software they use there is an 'automatic' function that scans the best price, and supposedly it's pretty fast.


Speeedracer

I'd like to trade in shop somewhere. At least for a while. I'd have to relocate. I'm not really a scalper, and the longer your time frame, the less important it becomes to trade onsite somewhere. So I don't think it's worth it at this point. But there are enough times I miss trades because I've got like a second or two to react. That's really the type of trade I was hoping to capture using Graybox.

And maybe I still can. I'm not 100% convinced yet that the software is going to have ongoing problems. That's why I'm giving it some time.


 
mjt,

GQ worked great today, no freezing at all. However, I did the short-when-I-wanted-to-buy thing again. Gotta get the keys down cold... Did you trade today with Graybox? Any quote problems?

Speedracer,

I'm a part-time trader and nowhere near ready to trade full-time. I did try full-time by going part-time at my real job, but that was, unfortunately, back in May/June 2000, and I got my head and an arm and a leg handed to me. My employer took me back full-time (how nice!) after that fiasco and now I only trade the first 1 1/2 hours of each day. I did check out Protrader in San Jose and they looked nice, but they wanted $20/trade plus ECN fees and $600/month seat fees (which some traders there said can easily be waived). Also, I'd be driving 50 miles each morning to get there by 5:30am or 6am. It's hard enough getting up at 5:30am to do the shower and 5 sec commute to my office. Zzzzzzz...
 
mjt, have you considered Broadway Trading? They have a per share commission structure, either Watcher or Mach software, and according to their webpage a significant number of remote traders. They and Hold Bros. are the only two on my shortlist.
 
klaorman

Didn't trade on Friday. I probably will trade lightly or no more than 100 shares at a time until I'm sure the quoting is reliable.


tom p

Yes, I've considered Broadway. I've contacted them and asked them a ton of questions; here are the pros and cons I came up with.

Pros
-Per share fee
-Direct conncection--no internet
-Orders are smart orders, you don't waste time deciding on your route
-Extensive short list

Cons
-Approx $400/mo in long distance charges (although they told me they were planning to offer software through ISDN at some point)
-$75K to open account--don't like to keep that much tied up
-No integrated charting
-No integrated ECN books (even ISLD) in level 2 box
-I don't know if I could look at that ugly screen all day long
-They weren't sure if the software would work on a multiple monitor setup.

So they're on the backburner for now. There are a few other brokers that offer the Watcher, and I've requested a demo through one of them.

BTW, what is Mach? I didn't realize they had alternative software.
 
Mach is new software that is meant to replace Watcher and is used by the traders at JGM, Broadway's prop outfit, and has charting as well (albeit a little primitive). It was very 'buggy' at first, but they tell me they're slowly being ironed out. They'll probably accept less than 75K if you're already at the stage of plonking down some cash.

 
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