Reasons I'm Quitting Trade Station After Only 3 Weeks

M

mazotrade

1. Today, I activated an automated strategy order to sell short 1000 ATI at market open. When my short-stop trigger price was reached shortly after the bell, TS was unable to fill the order for 3 minutes and displayed a message to that effect. Meanwhile, the price had slipped 0.34 off my trigger price, so I cancelled the order due to excessive slippage. But wait. 30 seconds after I CANCELLED the order, TS informed me that the order was filled. WTF? Apparently, TS doesn't have the clout on the floor to short 1000 ATI in good volume (no uptick issues here, either), but then, miraculously, once I cancel my order, they amazingly manage to fill it AFTER I've cancelled. Nice timing. The only party who made any money on that trade was TS, in commissions.

2. Yesterday, my scan identified 6 shorting opportunities. Of these, 5 were flagged by TS as "Hard-to-Buy", or "HB" meaning, I was not allowed to short 5 of my 6 picks. These stocks were:

NANX
NGEN
NVTL
VAPH
ATI
ELN

I find it hard to believe these stocks are so difficult to short. The fact is, an inordinately large % of stocks are unavailable for shorting with TS. TS will tell you that you need merely call the desk to inquire about the availability of "HB" stocks, but that's not very practical when you want to automate your order (one of TS's so-called selling points -- hey, they convinced me [for awhile]) to optimize for price-volume movement.

3. TS terrible execution times, and outright theft, make day trading impossible.

4. Does not permit automated stop-limit orders. You heard right. You wanna place a manual stop-limit, no prob. But TS does not want you to automate this simple, standard order. Why? Could it have something to do with TS trying to ream its clients by forcing them into trades they wouldn't otherwise make due to excessive slippage? Are they getting kickbacks from market makers and specialists? I hear TS is becoming its own clearing house soon.

I'm going with IB, Xoom, or MB. Unless anyone has any better suggestions.
 
Maybe shorting is your problem?

Automation.
So many think auto is the key.
Set it and off you go to play.
Talk about increasing your risks.

Every broker has there faults.
No broker will please everyone at everytime.
You had it all figured out in 3 weeks?
Wow.

Are you new to trading?
Only 8 posts?
Can wait to here you complain about the next broker.

Been with TS for 4 yrs.
Complaints?
Yes.
Bad enuf to switch?
No.
Could have much worse problems elsewhere.

Better switch to IB.
Cant beat the commish.
Do they have problems?
Never
LOL

:)

mktman
 
Quote from mktman:

Maybe shorting is your problem?

Automation.
So many think auto is the key.
Set it and off you go to play.
Talk about increasing your risks.

Every broker has there faults.
No broker will please everyone at everytime.
You had it all figured out in 3 weeks?
Wow.

Are you new to trading?
Only 8 posts?
Can wait to here you complain about the next broker.

Been with TS for 4 yrs.
Complaints?
Yes.
Bad enuf to switch?
No.
Could have much worse problems elsewhere.

Better switch to IB.
Cant beat the commish.
Do they have problems?
Never
LOL

:)

mktman
More...

Dude - it's not like I'm setting up auto and going to play. I'm sitting there the whole time. There's nothing wrong with setting up pre-defined entry and exit conditions for certain types of trades, particularly, if you have a dozen of them going on simultaneously. If your brain is capable of processing at that speed, or if your personal universe of trades is that limited, more power to you.

Would you consider being filled 30 sec after you cancelled an order a "risk?" I consider it inexcusable at best and highway robbery at worst.

For my trading purposes, I had TS figured out in a weekend, yes, including its sorry limitations. Or perhaps you refer to my strategy, which I figured out over months, presumably, like you if you have one that actually works, as opposed to being hobbled by an inferior trading platform.

New to trading? No. New to ET? Yes.
200+ posts? No girlfriend?
Are you new to the English dictionary?

Thanks for your poetic stanzas of wisdom.
 
For a market order on a listed, during the opening minutes, to fill 30 seconds after being cancelled is not really surprising. It could easily happen to TS or IB or Redi or fill-in-the-blank broker. It's the way the market order is handled on the floor.

I would advise using limits (or stop limits) to enter; markets to get out.
 
Yes, I don't think you understand the dynamics of NYSE executions. Also, there are some other things that could prevent you from getting filled.
 
i've waited 35 minutes for a fill sometimes :o

make sure you know how things work, so you won't be surprised. also, i find slippage tends to average out in the long run....some days bad slippage, some days slippage in your favor....

my guess is you are playing a game that you haven't yet thought out fully. you can't 'scalp' a stock that you expect to get on avergage .1% slip. adjust your strategy ;) hint: its not your broker that is the problem....
 
He posted the same rant on Tradestation's forums. Probably a competitor or some kind of pissed off person in general.
 
I am not sure about this but a fill 30 sec. after a cancel on an NYSE or AMEX stock would not surprise me. That's why I don't like those routes because it takes forever to get filled and when I cancel I always worry that a fill will show up later..
 
Mazo:

If your looking for words of wisdom look at the responses to the same post on TS forum.

They say it all and answer all questions.
Becoming educated as to how trading works is your answer.

Gee glad I didnt write this in Korean.


mktsurf
 
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