Quote from suedeuno:
Correct me if I'm wrong but TD doesn't currently have an 'active' trader platform right?
Active traders with an Ameritrade account use QUOTETRACKER as their trading platform. It has a lot of incredible trading technical tools, charts with every feature imaginable, news, trade scanners, and Level-II. It also happens to be FREE.
www.quotetracker.com
Interesting to note, Ameritrade just recently beefed-up their hardware (servers) at their server farm that supports Level-I and Level-II quotes. I've been testing it against the DTN "IQ-Feed" and it is spot on, with no lags at all.
This used to be my biggest pet peeve of all over the past year with Ameritrade, as their Streamer" data-feed just wasn't up to the incredible amount of data that is now being pumped out of the exchanges. I've traded on a number of platforms from Realtick to Assent's Anvil/Hammer, E-Signal, etc., so I have a pretty good idea about how robust a data-feed is.
I did some complaining to people in the technical department at AMTD last Summer, and they finally got around to implementing changes back in December after finishing up some other projects that had priority at the time.
Trust me, I'm really "picky" about the speed of quotes and whether they are lagging or not. I can honestly say that their feed is "golden" right now.
Moreover, I've been impressed in the way in which the company has tackled my complaints and constructive criticism. It wasn't just the typical "talk the talk" without "walking the walk". When AMTD sees accounts going out the door because of a technical "glitch" that shuts down their services, they get right on it. They can't afford NOT to.
If you are an active trader, they will take care of you; negotiate rates, etc.
I've been pleased thus far, especially with Jerry Medved and his Quotetracker Platform.