Platforms with ZERO charge (or very low charge) that allow you to trade exchange spreads

propwarrior said:
Yes I understand TT is not my only option to trade exchange spreads thats kind of the point of this thread, I pointed out 3 other platforms TWS, Firetip & Transact AT that allow them, I was asking for more, others seem to have answered my OP.



ok here is the hard maths. $100k account. If I use CQG Trader or CTS I will pay $6000 over the course of a year in platform fees. So before PNL, clearing, nfa, data & commission my account is down to $94000 right off the bat, thats 6% wasted right away. By using Firetip or another free platform I save this money. I am not willing to give up 6% p/annum growth when I can use an alternative product that does the same job, does not have the same capability and all the functionality but does the job.



I understand you are in the trade education business, that's fine. I have over a decade experience trading energy markets as a pro. thanks.
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There is no 6k a year for CTS. Why do you keep using this number?
 
Robert Morse said:
Tops out at $500/month if you trade more than 2000 contracts.
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Yes but that is not a fixed cost. You pay as you go. If the dude trades 20 contracts his monthly cost is $10. Not $500. And if he is doing 1000 contracts a month his broker can and will most likely discount his rates to compensate. I don't understand why this is so confusing. If he trades nothing this month his cost is a great big zero.
 
Maverick74 said:
Yes but that is not a fixed cost. You pay as you go. If the dude trades 20 contracts his monthly cost is $10. Not $500. And if he is doing 1000 contracts a month his broker can and will most likely discount his rates to compensate. I don't understand why this is so confusing. If he trades nothing this month his cost is a great big zero.
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That's right. And if someone is, as the OP suggests, swing trading Crude Oil calendar spreads, then paying $1 in order to execute a round turn calendar spread in order to capture, let's say, ten tics, is not an issue at all. In fact, I personally tell my own clients to jump all over the CTS-T4 or possibly the TT lease deal if they want to execute on their own.
 
propwarrior said:
Ok here is the hard maths. $100k account. If I use CQG Trader or CTS I will pay $6000 over the course of a year in platform fees. So before PNL, clearing, nfa, data & commission my account is down to $94000 right off the bat, thats 6% wasted right away.
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OK, here's even harder maths. If you're doing 12,000 Round Turns per year in Nymex (your OP implies that you are trading Crude Oil Calendar Spreads) then leasing a Nymex seat for $500 per month and paying member rates would be CONSIDERABLY more cost effective than worrying about your execution platform.

I'm banging on this hard because over the years I've seen traders have so many issues trying to execute spreads using free platforms and discount brokers. What works OK for day trading ES does not necessarily make it so for a spread - even an exchange supported one. And the discount broker will almost certainly not have the risk system set up to margin spreads correctly.
 
bone said:
I have yet to see an Futures brokerage offering a free execution platform who had a Risk Department competent enough to correctly margin credit offsets for exchange recognized inter and intramarket spread positions. Maybe there is someone out there who does - please by all means make yourself known.

It can be rather inconvenient if your broker treats each leg of your spread as outright risk.
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Deep Discount Trading. Free Platform is firetip basic ($0) or firetip pro ($49pm only). Margins are as per exchange spreads:

CME http://www.cmegroup.com/clearing/margins/outright-vol-scans.html
ICE https://www.theice.com/clear-europe/risk-management#energy-span-files
 
If you're doing a 1000 sides a month why the emphasis on the cheapest possible platform btw? Even something as simple as CQG Qtrader is relatively cheap. You mentioned you're swing trading so it's not as if the profit target is a tick.
 
bone said:
Actually, all the Energy Pros I know use WebICE. I've personally traded implied spreads through WebICE since the mid-2000's. Which is free - if you're qualified through ICE and get a username.
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The firms I have worked at used TT or CQG IC. We aren't given individual usernames.
 
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