what is the best firm for equities and futures?

R

rory_h

I have looked at IB and i got to say I'm not too crazy about their platform. It seemed a little non-intuitive to me. Maybe i would get used to it in time. They have also been really slow to answer my email questions about opening an account with them. So, i kind of wonder about their customer service. Direct-access brokers that offer both stocks and futures trading seem a little hard to find. I know that Cobra does. Any feedback would be great.
thanks,
 
Quote from rory_h:

I have looked at IB and i got to say I'm not too crazy about their platform. It seemed a little non-intuitive to me. Maybe i would get used to it in time. They have also been really slow to answer my email questions about opening an account with them. So, i kind of wonder about their customer service. Direct-access brokers that offer both stocks and futures trading seem a little hard to find. I know that Cobra does. Any feedback would be great.
thanks,
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you can use a different front end than TWS with IB. Check out their third party tools. Fwiw I trade everything on TWS and its fine. Been with them 8 yrs.
 
IB has been my favorite broker for more than 10 years. The functionality and ability to extensively customize TWS is on the top of my list of why IB is my favorite broker. Equally important are the safety and security of my IB account holdings.
 
If you trade clean and don't need a lot of hand holding, IB's low commission schedule is a winner. OTOH, if you need a lot of customer service, you might be better off elsewhere. For me, a big bonus at IB is the ability to scale in and out of positons w/o that pesky flat fee per trade penalty as well as free assignment and exercise for options.

All platforms are a hassle to learn. You get used to them in time. Ironically, the first day I went live with IB (approx 10 years ago), I inadvertently sold some naked puts. LOL. No damage done but I would have been better off starting on their Simulator (if it existed then).
 
OP seems to be new to the site - might have been unaware that every broker thread on E'trader results in multiple posts recommending IB.
 
Quote from Rodney King:

OP seems to be new to the site - might have been unaware that every broker thread on E'trader results in multiple posts recommending IB.
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Do you have a different opinion? If so, feel free to post it here.

Personally I've been with IB for 3 years and have no complaints. Low costs, good risk management, very wide array of instruments/exchanges tradeable from a single account. I do use Ninja for charting, but TWS is fine for anything but daytrading.
 
Please define your version of "best".

Lightspeed offers equities, futures and options and has lower rates for all than IB.

Lightspeed uses Penson as their clearing firm. Penson is not my favorite clearing firm, but you might like them.
 
I have been developing strict index futures rule-based trading systems for over ten years, and I find that they achieve better expectation trading at IB that at any other brokerage.
 
spectrx..what is the TWS drawback for daytrading?

I have decided to go ahead and open an account with them. They are the only firm that offers same day settlement for stocks within an IRA, that i could find...
 
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