Will you stay with Cyber/Schwab if they only offer per trade pricing?

Hi Dinoman,

Thanks for the info regarding Scottstrade and Cyber. I just spoke to Fidelity and I am going to have access to Their Active Trader Pro platform for a few months. If anyone has any advice and or comparison info, I would appreciate it.

I appreciate you sharing with me your experiences. I have to weigh your feedback against the feedback I get from friends and other people I know. One friend recently finished up two years of trading with a net loss over those two years. It was full time for him. Very bright guy but he couldn't figure out how to beat the odds. Yes, he had some winning streaks, but in the long run, he couldn't figure out how to overcome the odds that the big guys had over him. Basically this whole thread is about how Schwab is taking away valuable capabilities from the small guy, which further puts the small guy at a disadvantage - as if the disadvantage is not great enough already. It really does feel like online poker where the seasoned players were constantly looking for new fish - as they called the neophytes - who provided them with fresh sources of revenue.

I think that the only advantage the small guy has is that he/she is small enough to maybe be able to ride the wave - hidden from sight of the big players, if the small person can figure out how to do this consistently. Riding the market instead of making it. I remember we use to do the same thing at the races when we were young, when we learned the fix was in. Not sure I will be able to figure this out, but I will give it a go.

Thanks again,

Rich
 
rich,

Which broker is best for you will depend in large part on what you are trading and what your trading approach is. Also if you have to have charting as part of the broker platform or if you are using a third party charting app.

I wouldn't read too much into the complaints here about Schwab. I honestly don't think it is part of some evil design to handicap their customers. Rather, the decisions are likely being dictated by IT people who have no idea what is important or not to users. I would expect the final SS Pro platform to be at least as good as anything offered by Scottrade or Fido.

As for IB, it has become extremely popular for a reason. It offers a fantastic service at a great price. It is a little different user experience from the typical direct access broker, so you really should just set up a small account and try it out if you are interested.
 
Hi AAAintheBeltway,

Thanks much for your reply. I'll keep an eye on the new Cyber platform and listen to comments from the experienced traders on this forum. I always try to put things in perspective, knowing that everyone has their own way of trading and is looking for different features. I am looking for reliability, neutrality, execution speed, customer support, as well as costs of trade (including interest on sweep accounts). None of the platforms seem great, but maybe good will do.

My trading style, at this point, is very basic. I look for intra-day trends and technical formations (very basic), and I hope to catch a good one that can provide me with some daily upside. I use some technical confirmations to assist me, but I use the KISS approach at this time. Execution speed and platform reliability as well as neutrality seem to be critical, which is why I am a bit concerned about some of the platforms that are available.

I've made some money (just a bit) which I quickly gave back as the markets reversed on me, so I taking it slow as I try to learn about the environment and who I am competing with. Right now I am even including trading costs.

Since the amount of money involved will be eventually quite large, I want to find a broker that I can feel very comfortable with. No use learning to trade on a platform, if I cannot use it as I scale up - if I scale up. IB seems to me on the wrong side of the customer support line so I have written them off. No way will I entrust a large amount of money with them now or in the foreseeable future.

I am looking at Schwab/Cyber and Fidelity, so I very much appreciate all of the feedback I am getting.

Rich
 
Quote from richrf:

Hi Dinoman,

Thanks for the info regarding Scottstrade and Cyber. I just spoke to Fidelity and I am going to have access to Their Active Trader Pro platform for a few months. If anyone has any advice and or comparison info, I would appreciate it.

I appreciate you sharing with me your experiences. I have to weigh your feedback against the feedback I get from friends and other people I know. One friend recently finished up two years of trading with a net loss over those two years. It was full time for him. Very bright guy but he couldn't figure out how to beat the odds. Yes, he had some winning streaks, but in the long run, he couldn't figure out how to overcome the odds that the big guys had over him. Basically this whole thread is about how Schwab is taking away valuable capabilities from the small guy, which further puts the small guy at a disadvantage - as if the disadvantage is not great enough already. It really does feel like online poker where the seasoned players were constantly looking for new fish - as they called the neophytes - who provided them with fresh sources of revenue.

I think that the only advantage the small guy has is that he/she is small enough to maybe be able to ride the wave - hidden from sight of the big players, if the small person can figure out how to do this consistently. Riding the market instead of making it. I remember we use to do the same thing at the races when we were young, when we learned the fix was in. Not sure I will be able to figure this out, but I will give it a go.

Thanks again,

Rich
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I lost money for 5 years straight. Your biggest advantage to success is understanding the market and understanding yourself!
JMHO! Forget Fidelity and stick to SS PRO as much as I am pissed about it.

I am keeping enough money in SS Pro to swing trade so I can use the platform, and moved my day trade money over to Noble trading just using the level II and order window, and using everything else in SS PRO.

I need a true access broker for my DT'ing due to my share size and needing the best market access.
 
Hi dinoman,

Thanks for your advice. I am trying out Fidelity's Active Trader Pro as we speak. I'll contact Schwab once they release the new version of CT (I believe it is in the first week of Dec.), to see what they have.

How is the customer support at Nobel? Better than IB? Thanks for any info.

Rich
 
Quote from richrf:

Hi dinoman,

Thanks for your advice. I am trying out Fidelity's Active Trader Pro as we speak. I'll contact Schwab once they release the new version of CT (I believe it is in the first week of Dec.), to see what they have.

How is the customer support at Nobel? Better than IB? Thanks for any info.

Rich
More...

No the support is not as responsive, but the executions are.
At this point I have not had issues with orders getting fills as they should. (of course the somewhat new best bid BS) the SEC has impleminted has made trades shiteer. Thats not the fault of any broker though. This makes a broker when one sends an order to readjust it to hit the current best price , which sends the system into total retardnation. Thus, having to readjust the price every damn time it moves. This is just telling the computer to re issue the price when it keep changing like crazy on stocks like AAPL or BIDU. This is complete BULLSHIT! when it comes to the small fry. I am sure the big guys are not happy about it either.
 
Hi,

Thanks for the follow-up response.

My own experiences, over the years, is that poor customer service portends lots of problems - whether it be auto service, cable, brokerage, whatever. It is a direct reflection of the overall business approach of management/ownership - i.e. customer is on their own.

I'll wait to see what the new CT platform looks like. Thanks much for all of your advice and info.

Rich
 
Quote from AAAintheBeltway:


The main attraction of CT is the excellent charting, very well done Lev II boxes that give you your position in real time and available shares to short and the great order entry interface. As you can see from this thread, there is a lot of upset among users over changes to the platform. Clearly it will not be as good, but the charting should be pretty much the same. I've never used Noble, so I can't comment on their platform.
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I have spoken in depth with a schwab active trader rep and they are well aware of every issue we have posted here. The biggest problems IMHO that will not go away are the slow short fills through UBS, and forget shorting in AH, so no more scalping on earnings announcements, a favorite of mine. The other is of course the black out in extended hours, you can not short until the "shwab after hours" routing is available. Supposedly you can trade direct access if you are already in a position, but I didn't try that.

The level II order windows now offer a buy to cover option which I think is there by design to force traders on the $9.95 per trade to place two separate orders if they want to reverse the trade. That was a very nice perk with CT, being short and then buying 2x your position puts you net long in 1 second for reversals.

This thread will probably be quite busy as the integration takes place.
 
Quote from richrf:

Thanks for your advice. I am trying out Fidelity's Active Trader Pro as we speak. I'll contact Schwab once they release the new version of CT (I believe it is in the first week of Dec.), to see what they have.
Rich
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I use Fidelity ATPro as my backup platform to CyberTrader. I think it's an excellent option for you. Excellent support, good access to ECNs, good execution, Level II, charts are fine. I don't think it's pre & post market access is good though, but I'm not clear on the details.
 
Hi Jimcrist,

Thank you for the recommendation. I will definitely look more into Fidelity's system as I await the new CT platform.

Thanks again for your response.

Rich
 
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