Times change very quickly. I can remember prior to Interactive Brokers in 1999, that you could not even get a discount on the e-mini's...brokers were still trying to feed the pits and you were basically stuck paying high teens for the full contract, if you were lucky or connected or did alot volume...I remember LFG quoted me a price of about $25 per contract with all fees...(btw, fees were always being thrown onto the commissions...you had to twist the brokers arms to get these reduced)...Back then you had to always negotiate with a broker, and they had more power to tell you to walk...It was like trying to deal with a car salesman...you would go around and get some offers on different cars, etc, etc...
Back in 1998 most everyone I knew was using LFG's "LEO" software that was always slow in reporting fills...You would sit for a few minutes alot of times without even getting a fill report...then you would call the broker, sit on hold for a minute or so and he would tell you that you got filled(at a terrible price as well)...
For options, it gets even worse...Back before IB came out with the per contract options commissions, you were stuck with firms like Lafferty, Brown & co, Wall Street Access, Dreyfuss, etc...You always had to pay a ticket charge, no matter if it was a 1 lot or a 10 lot...you couldnt scale in or scale out, take partials, etc, without racking up enormous commissions...You were always going through their slow, cumbersome software, etc...
Not to give enormous props to IB, but I will say that prior to IB and prior to the proliferation of daytrading shops in the late 1990's, things were tough all over for the retail joe...And no one forced competition like IB did...Until that day in late 1998 where I found IB, I can't recall any brokers doing e-minis under $10...Options were always a minimum of about $20 whether a 1 lot or 10 lot...
I have no idea what the commissions were like say in 1993 or 1983, its before my time...But considering I am talking about a situation only 5 years ago, its amazing how much we take for granted at this stage...You really had to see what a big hit those commissions were just 5 years ago to appreciate how quickly competition has destroyed that obstacle
Back in 1998 most everyone I knew was using LFG's "LEO" software that was always slow in reporting fills...You would sit for a few minutes alot of times without even getting a fill report...then you would call the broker, sit on hold for a minute or so and he would tell you that you got filled(at a terrible price as well)...
For options, it gets even worse...Back before IB came out with the per contract options commissions, you were stuck with firms like Lafferty, Brown & co, Wall Street Access, Dreyfuss, etc...You always had to pay a ticket charge, no matter if it was a 1 lot or a 10 lot...you couldnt scale in or scale out, take partials, etc, without racking up enormous commissions...You were always going through their slow, cumbersome software, etc...
Not to give enormous props to IB, but I will say that prior to IB and prior to the proliferation of daytrading shops in the late 1990's, things were tough all over for the retail joe...And no one forced competition like IB did...Until that day in late 1998 where I found IB, I can't recall any brokers doing e-minis under $10...Options were always a minimum of about $20 whether a 1 lot or 10 lot...
I have no idea what the commissions were like say in 1993 or 1983, its before my time...But considering I am talking about a situation only 5 years ago, its amazing how much we take for granted at this stage...You really had to see what a big hit those commissions were just 5 years ago to appreciate how quickly competition has destroyed that obstacle
