Lightspeed Order Flow Finra Violation Dissappointment, Suggestions?

[Yogi88]

I appreciate the replies and I think I'm just going to have to try both at some point (IB and Lightspeed) to find out myself what works best for my style of trading.

Just to add further confirmation that lightspeed doesn't offer real direct market access:

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koO5fBQnJrQ

So I would assume their smart order would be the best option to use.

I think my main concern with IB is with the software being java based leading to issues with volatile stocks - so I'd have to use DAStrader with it (hopefully that would remedy it). And issues with low liquidity stocks. I'm not sure how Lightspeed compares with low volume stocks.

I had an issue the other day with my broker, T212. I was trying to exit a position, hitting the bids on the orderbook with smaller size than they were asking for and it wouldn't let me exit. It happens very rarely but this time it went on for quite a while.

Even 5c down the order book it wouldn't let me exit until there was a volume surge...but then I got a very good price. I spoke to them about it during the situation and they talked about liquidity blah blah but over 15 minutes of not being able to hit the order book (and over 3 minutes with a market sell just saying pending) all the while the time and sales was showing thousands of shares sporadically going through at higher prices than I was asking for.

They told me that my order was routed to Interactive Brokers from the start.

 

[HobbyTrading]

main concern with IB is with the software being java based leading to issues with volatile stocks

What has java got to do with volatile stocks?

 

[Yogi88]

What has java got to do with volatile stocks?

I've heard the software can freeze up on the open with stocks that gap up numerous times.

Lots of people talk about it being slow and unresponsive and there are quite a few guides that try to remedy this by increasing memory allocation for the program.

Admittedly I am hoping the issues are because of it being in Java and not something underlying because then it could be remedied with a third-party solution like DAStrader. But I don't know if that's actually the reason for the issues I hear. Yes, I know they have a large userbase but I've heard and seen enough from people who trade similar strategies (the most common daytrading strategies) to suggest there is likely an issue at times.

I don't have much programming experience. But I can imagine a slow platform not being able to handle wild situations very well.

Here's an article from IB themselves talking about increasing memory allocation:
https://ibkr.info/article/2170

Should you still notice slowness, freezing or crashes during the TWS execution, you can raise the value to 1792.
In any case, we do not recommend to set the value above 2048 since this will produce an unnecessary overhead and may thus even decrease the overall performances of the application.

It's basically running in a virtual machine.

There's a lot of threads (even on this site) about TWS being slow, unresponsive and some people suggesting it's been the same for 20 years. Many people suggest it's because it's written in Java but who knows.

Why would it be worse during a volatile situation? Common sense I guess, more demanding situation, more stress on clunky software.

 

[qlai]

What about CenterPoint or Cobra?

 

[qlai]

Directly routed orders don't go anywhere else. Hasn't happened once.

If you don’t take liquidity (non marketable orders) then I would assume it is true for Lightspeed as well.

 

[HobbyTrading]

I've heard the software can freeze up on the open with stocks that gap up numerous times.

Lots of people talk about it being slow and unresponsive and there are quite a few guides that try to remedy this by increasing memory allocation for the program.

Admittedly I am hoping the issues are because of it being in Java and not something underlying because then it could be remedied with a third-party solution like DAStrader. But I don't know if that's actually the reason for the issues I hear. Yes, I know they have a large userbase but I've heard and seen enough from people who trade similar strategies (the most common daytrading strategies) to suggest there is likely an issue at times.

I don't have much programming experience. But I can imagine a slow platform not being able to handle wild situations very well.

Here's an article from IB themselves talking about increasing memory allocation:
https://ibkr.info/article/2170



It's basically running in a virtual machine.

There's a lot of threads (even on this site) about TWS being slow, unresponsive and some people suggesting it's been the same for 20 years. Many people suggest it's because it's written in Java but who knows.

Why would it be worse during a volatile situation? Common sense I guess, more demanding situation, more stress on clunky software.

You rely too much on hearsay. And draw conclusions based on incomplete (and possibly incorrect) information.
Anyway, I hope that you'll find a solution that works for you.

 

[Yogi88]

You rely too much on hearsay. And draw conclusions based on incomplete (and possibly incorrect) information.
Anyway, I hope that you'll find a solution that works for you.

Well, I appreciate your contribution to the smaller positive recommendation hearsay pile.

Like I said, I'll be trying it for myself eventually but I can't say I have high expectations for more demanding trading setups.

 

[dholliday]

I appreciate the replies and I think I'm just going to have to try both at some point (IB and Lightspeed) to find out myself what works best for my style of trading.

Just to add further confirmation that lightspeed doesn't offer real direct market access:

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koO5fBQnJrQ

So I would assume their smart order would be the best option to use.

I think my main concern with IB is with the software being java based leading to issues with volatile stocks - so I'd have to use DAStrader with it (hopefully that would remedy it). And issues with low liquidity stocks. I'm not sure how Lightspeed compares with low volume stocks.

I had an issue the other day with my broker, T212. I was trying to exit a position, hitting the bids on the orderbook with smaller size than they were asking for and it wouldn't let me exit. It happens very rarely but this time it went on for quite a while.

Even 5c down the order book it wouldn't let me exit until there was a volume surge...but then I got a very good price. I spoke to them about it during the situation and they talked about liquidity blah blah but over 15 minutes of not being able to hit the order book (and over 3 minutes with a market sell just saying pending) all the while the time and sales was showing thousands of shares sporadically going through at higher prices than I was asking for.

They told me that my order was routed to Interactive Brokers from the start.

Java is very fast. NASDAQ runs on Java, LMAX is Java, a large percentage of financial firms use Java (I worked for one).
You can expect your orders to be as fast as anyone.
What you are referring to is getting data from IB. Has nothing to do with Java. IB only provides data as a convenience and to supply data to TWS, it can be slow. This is why most day traders use a data feed from a data feed company. TWS is fine for entering trades but many traders will use a front end more specialized for their type of trading.