Which discount brokerage to go with?

[halik]

Hey guys,
what do you recommend as far as discount brokerages go? I have scottrade right now, but the lack of price triggers makes it pretty useless (it's like having a microwave w/o a timer). Any thoughts?

 

[nickbits]

If you know what you're doing Interactive Brokers is the best.

 

[wedi42]

thinkorswim.com
you can try out their software first with a demo account

 

[manlymatt83]

I liked Zecco and Ameritrade

 

[mk52]

You could always use GTC orders but having triggers does help with more complicated scenarios.
TDAmeritrade works pretty well for me in that regard.

 

[JS80]

Originally posted by: manlymatt83
I liked Zecco and Ameritrade

These are the two worst.

OP what is your account value, how many trades per month, etc?

 

[ttown]

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: manlymatt83
I liked Zecco and Ameritrade

These are the two worst.

OP what is your account value, how many trades per month, etc?

I use td ameritrade and like them a lot.

How come you say "worst"? Have you looked at them lately?

I almost switched away from them when they were TD Waterhouse -- but since they've become TD Ameritrade, things seem good to me.

 

[JS80]

Originally posted by: ttown

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: manlymatt83
I liked Zecco and Ameritrade

These are the two worst.

OP what is your account value, how many trades per month, etc?

I use td ameritrade and like them a lot.

How come you say "worst"? Have you looked at them lately?

I almost switched away from them when they were TD Waterhouse -- but since they've become TD Ameritrade, things seem good to me.

They have horrible order routing, execution, and their shit crashes every time the market goes haywire. They front run trades too, which might be illegal.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: nickbits
If you know what you're doing Interactive Brokers is the best.

programming IB got to be a full time job. it started off simple enuf. then added more and more custom triggers.

i stopped when it turned into speghetti code and i had a hard time deciphering the code i wrote. wasnt going to risk 4x margin and a non-compliance letter from the SEC incase my sell trigger didnt activate at end of day.

td ameritrade has all the basic triggers a non-daytrader needs.

 

[Chaotic42]

I just picked up TD Ameritrade. Jack McCoy can't be wrong.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: manlymatt83
I liked Zecco and Ameritrade

These are the two worst.

OP what is your account value, how many trades per month, etc?

Account value is tiny (less than 5g) and I'd like to minimize the trade costs. With so little money, I can't be profitable doing more complex or hedged strategies due to the trading costs.

 

[jessieqwert]

Zecco is down ... again

 

[UNCjigga]

I'm happy with Schwab--especially because my brokerage account came with their free internet checking account that has a decent interest rate and no ATM fees.

But I do pay $12.99/trade--not exactly the biggest "discount".

 

[JS80]

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: manlymatt83
I liked Zecco and Ameritrade

These are the two worst.

OP what is your account value, how many trades per month, etc?

Account value is tiny (less than 5g) and I'd like to minimize the trade costs. With so little money, I can't be profitable doing more complex or hedged strategies due to the trading costs.

I'd go with scottrade. Can be somewhat unreliable though during volatile market.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: manlymatt83
I liked Zecco and Ameritrade

These are the two worst.

OP what is your account value, how many trades per month, etc?

Account value is tiny (less than 5g) and I'd like to minimize the trade costs. With so little money, I can't be profitable doing more complex or hedged strategies due to the trading costs.

I'd go with scottrade. Can be somewhat unreliable though during volatile market.

That's what I have right now - the software is crap though and they're not the cheapest. Long short strategies run me $28, which is useless. Same goes for any portable alpha bets or value premium etc. Basically can't do anything that i learn in my finance classes :cry;

 

[JS80]

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: manlymatt83
I liked Zecco and Ameritrade

These are the two worst.

OP what is your account value, how many trades per month, etc?

Account value is tiny (less than 5g) and I'd like to minimize the trade costs. With so little money, I can't be profitable doing more complex or hedged strategies due to the trading costs.

I'd go with scottrade. Can be somewhat unreliable though during volatile market.

That's what I have right now - the software is crap though and they're not the cheapest. Long short strategies run me $28, which is useless. Same goes for any portable alpha bets or value premium etc. Basically can't do anything that i learn in my finance classes :cry;

hah damn. I think optionhouse.com has flat option and equity commissions.

 

[ivan2]

yeah ameritrade's crash problem is annoying as hell. One question for those who tried many, when you move from one brokerage to another, do you have to sell and re-buy all of your stocks? Or can you take them with you?

 

[Blieb]

I wonder how sharebuilder is now that they are ING ... looks like decent trading fees ...

Most of my stuff is at Fidelity, which has horrible stock trading fees unless you're a gold or silver level ... most of my stuff is in no load, no transaction fee mutual funds though ...

 

[Drakkon]

Originally posted by: Blieb
I wonder how sharebuilder is now that they are ING ... looks like decent trading fees ...

Most of my stuff is at Fidelity, which has horrible stock trading fees unless you're a gold or silver level ... most of my stuff is in no load, no transaction fee mutual funds though ...

Sharebuilder I'd say avoid for the time being. Their servers at the moment have been slow as molasses lately from all the activity and they have sent out messages that they can't handle the load. Some of my trades take almost an hour to execute. Just been a bad bad experience during the turbulence.