IB commissions for low priced stocks

Quote from GTS:
The read more says

MBTR does not primarily route orders to ECNs, meaning that there is less liquidity available than with the MBTX route. MBTR utilizes specific liquidity pools to avoid traditional routing costs.
MBTR does not actively seek price improvements, although such improvements are possible.

That says to me they arent being paid for order flow but they are routing orders to avoid paying for taking away liquidity whenever possible. Do you read that differently?


I'm only guessing at the meaning of "specific liquidity pools" as meaning market-makers with whom they have an auto-ex connection, likely in exchange for PFOF. At that price, they cannot afford to pay to take liquidity for more than about 1000-1500 shares.

(Edit) OTOH, there is a comment on another page that they do not receive PFOF from any market-makers, so if that comment is accurate, I am wrong, and don't know how they can achieve this rate profitably. Perhaps they reserve the right to kick people who trade too much size off this plan.

Perhaps someone would invite MB to comment here to clarify exactly what MBTR does.
 
i dont think it is wise to move 25k from your ib acct [u gotta go past pdt rule and have decent bp available to size up your trades] just to give a shot at another broker that might or might not be suited for these investement...i sometimes trow my whole acct into some stocks and havin' my bp reduced by 100k doesnt really appeal much to me. i was hopin' maybe we could reach a compromise and get the same rate we get on stocks below $1 on those that trade at and below $2 as well. it's up to ib tho, i guess.
 
Quote from alanm:

Quote from GTS:
The read more says

MBTR does not primarily route orders to ECNs, meaning that there is less liquidity available than with the MBTX route. MBTR utilizes specific liquidity pools to avoid traditional routing costs.
MBTR does not actively seek price improvements, although such improvements are possible.

That says to me they arent being paid for order flow but they are routing orders to avoid paying for taking away liquidity whenever possible. Do you read that differently?

I'm only guessing at the meaning of "specific liquidity pools" as meaning market-makers with whom they have an auto-ex connection, likely in exchange for PFOF. At that price, they cannot afford to pay to take liquidity for more than about 1000-1500 shares.

(Edit) OTOH, there is a comment on another page that they do not receive PFOF from any market-makers, so if that comment is accurate, I am wrong, and don't know how they can achieve this rate profitably. Perhaps they reserve the right to kick people who trade too much size off this plan.

Perhaps someone would invite MB to comment here to clarify exactly what MBTR does.
More...
One full YEAR (?) has gone by, and no one from MB has commented on this.

I've had pretty much the same experience over the phone, in the last 6 months. I've called 3 times, asked MB 3 times to explain to me, clarify to me what MBTR does, but they did not talk, did not explain, and did not clarify to me anything.

As to MBTR, first I called and asked MB's customer service. Then, a few day later, I called again, and asked one of their licensed brokers. Then, a few days later, I called again, and asked Kevin, their office manager.

The bad thing is, no one of them was any help to me in this regard.

It was kind of ridiculous. They appeared reluctant to say anything. They kept quoting to me what their web site said, i.e.
MBTR does not primarily route orders to ECNs, meaning that there is less liquidity available than with the MBTX route. MBTR utilizes specific liquidity pools to avoid traditional routing costs.
MBTR does not actively seek price improvements, although such improvements are possible.
More...
However, over the phone, no one of these three people said anything more. They feigned ignorance. They pretended this was some sort of trade secret.

Currently I'm on "plan A", the highest priced commission plan at MB that uses the supposedly better (?) order routing called "MBTX".

I'd love to save a bundle on commissions, and start using "plan C", and pay only $4.95 commission per trade.

However, considering this tremendous lack of info on "MBTR", moving from "plan A" to "plan C" seems too risky for me, at this point.

Any thoughts?

Opinions?

Experiences?

Ideas?
 
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