who is the best online broker

I

inosent

hi

i have been trying to apply at IB, but their kafakaesque compliance dept says the app is still under review for over 2 weeks. i ask for details why the delay, silence, just 'its under review'

so i read a little about IB and maybe they are not so great.

are there any good (HONEST) brokers (not booking their own trades) out there with low fees, good spreads and reliable software, where you can write trading progs that can execute trades 24/7 with *excellent* customer service?

I am looking for a company with excellent and transparent trade reporting. And i want them to be held to a stop order placed on time and wont try to weasel out of it.

after all i read about IB i began to wonder if the brokers out there have a vested interest in you *losing*, so they are all corrupt scum.

i would really appreciate some recommendations. when customer service is that bad i wonder about the viability of the company. maybe IB is headed for BK or something.

but if there are any good brokers i would like to know

thanks
 
Theres simply one Broker you need - LMAX.

What's interesting is that we, as retailers, have in fact better trading conditions than institutional level traders. This is because institutional brokers can't keep up with the technological advances.

If you use lmax, you have IMHO - except for liquidity - better trading conditions than with Currenex, EBS, FXAll etc.
 
Quote from ProTrader432:

Theres simply one Broker you need - LMAX.

What's interesting is that we, as retailers, have in fact better trading conditions than institutional level traders. This is because institutional brokers can't keep up with the technological advances.

If you use lmax, you have IMHO - except for liquidity - better trading conditions than with Currenex, EBS, FXAll etc.
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what is more important than liquidity?
 
Not sure what your problem with IB is, since I have had none re the application process, as detailed as it is. I think though, that if you are comfortable with their financial strength and business transparency, that they are hard to beat for products offered, executions, commissions, uptime. And if you are doing day trading and don't like their TWS interface, there is buttontrader for that (not free).

When you factor in a companies financial strength -- and I do --, I think that TDAmeritrade is someone to consider. Their commissions can be talked down a little if you have sufficient capital and they have a good trading interface. No data fees on most commonly used exchanges.

Me, I have always stayed away from the smaller players out there, to minimize the likelihood of a MF Global-type situation (admittedly unlikely, even with the smaller brokers).
 
So all your info is based upon what you "read" online and that was done AFTER you tried to open an account? LOL.
Of course you have extensive first-hand experience that IB trades against their clients and "weasels" out of stop orders?
You're probably correct, though, I'd guess they don't want to be holding the short end of the stick on that 5 share MSFT order stoploss.
 
I am looking for a company with excellent and transparent trade reporting. And i want them to be held to a stop order placed on time and wont try to weasel out of it.
thanks [/B]
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I am with IB since 12 years and never had this experience.
In case you want to be sure and you are programing your own stuff with their API, you can make your own stop/limit order setup thats not entered in IB until hit, no problem there.

after all i read about IB i began to wonder if the brokers out there have a vested interest in you *losing*, so they are all corrupt scum.
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no, I think its more the case that people are losing because they fail as a trader and then try to find someone instead of themselves to blame.
 
I wouldn't use the adjective "kafkaesque" but they do seem to be more particular than other brokers WRT new accounts.
Keep in mind that IB is a large discount broker and don't provide alot of hand-holding. Some customers are very needy and there are brokers for those requiring constant hand-holding.

If you have insufficient trading experience or net worth you should probably look elsewhere.

Disclosure: I have several accounts with IB.
 
its a corp app with sufficient equity; 3 decades of trading exp, and plenty with IB and their abysmal CS; they say 2 bus days to approve, i am now waiting over 2 weeks with no end in sight; in terms of pricing, execution and software, not to mention market access, IB is pretty good; but this experience reminds me of the jaded aspect and the dark side of trading, which of course I hate, and when a company goes above and beyond to communicate we dont give a f* about the customer, yeah, i get the handholding, but really, i think this time they have gone too far, whatever features they might have.

the purpose of this post is to inquire about other IB-like companies that have the features but arent as***s and are actually happy to have a client and treat you with respect, whether you have been around for a long time (like me) or just got started

probably too much to ask in this demon infested world of trading ... but who knows, just thought i would ask and see what answers show up
 
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