What is missing here is true price improvement and other costs. Def's link compares IB to the entire industry. It does not state it just applies to direct access brokers. So I'd not use the full IB price improvement claim, but a fraction thereof. I think most people will acknowledge that IB's SMART system is very efficient. The Efficient Executions platform (from the web site) appears rather constrained. So I'd say IB would get you better executions and fills since it will go to another exchange if there is improvement or the bid or offer is gone by the time your order hits.
Both IB and Efficient charge for the data feeds but IB will be slightly less per month because they waive their $10/month basic feed charge if you do $30 in commissions. They just charge for the Level II type accesses.
IB does not charge for its platform, Efficient will charge you $250 for the first month and then waive it after the first month if you do >100K shares every month.
IB customer service is not for fools or neophytes, and as a beginner you might be unhappy with IB. I'm an IB customer and it has gotten better over the years. IB recently raised their account minimum to $20K so perhaps the customer service folks can spend more time with a newbie - hard to say.
So the question is whether not the SMART system is better than whatever it is that Efficient offers, I suspect it is as IB has always been a leader in technology. This implies better prices for you which may or may not beat the commission differential.
For each million shares you trade per month, if you just get a penny per share improvement because of SMART, you are ahead (win or lose on the trade) $10K. If it only helps half the time, $5K.
Understand that the SMART system can be tailored if you want to take advantage of its features. Look at the link within the link Def posted.
Whatever you do - get away from eTrade and go to a direct access broker.
Jack
Both IB and Efficient charge for the data feeds but IB will be slightly less per month because they waive their $10/month basic feed charge if you do $30 in commissions. They just charge for the Level II type accesses.
IB does not charge for its platform, Efficient will charge you $250 for the first month and then waive it after the first month if you do >100K shares every month.
IB customer service is not for fools or neophytes, and as a beginner you might be unhappy with IB. I'm an IB customer and it has gotten better over the years. IB recently raised their account minimum to $20K so perhaps the customer service folks can spend more time with a newbie - hard to say.
So the question is whether not the SMART system is better than whatever it is that Efficient offers, I suspect it is as IB has always been a leader in technology. This implies better prices for you which may or may not beat the commission differential.
For each million shares you trade per month, if you just get a penny per share improvement because of SMART, you are ahead (win or lose on the trade) $10K. If it only helps half the time, $5K.
Understand that the SMART system can be tailored if you want to take advantage of its features. Look at the link within the link Def posted.
Whatever you do - get away from eTrade and go to a direct access broker.
Jack