<OT> David - some caveats... I wasn't comparing MBT to Datek, but CyberTrader to Datek.
I don't know if my comparison would apply to MBT vs Datek.
I *do* believe Datek gives you better executions, particularly on ISLD.
Having said that, obviously, there are things Datek cannot do. When I trade with Datek, I still use LII (which Datek does not provide - the streamer is great, but still, not LII), and I have the ISLD book open. Also, I have a special piece of software (daSlinger) that allows me immediate order entry (bypassing Datek's cumbersome order entry process). Further, you cannot avail yourself of things like SOES, Snet, direct ECN (other than ISLD in a sense), Arca. Frankly, with the exception of Arca (which is useful under a very specific set of circumstances), I am not sure this is such a loss. SOES requires great speed and has inherent dangers and limitations - to the point, where I almost never use it. I do almost all of my trading w/ ISLD, and so to me, Datek is great in that respect, though I must say, they also impress me with their executions of listed issues. I also like their margin policies. They used to be great w/ short availability, but this has gotten significantly worse, as has their non-marginable stock list.
<<I like Datek's $10 fee, but is their reliability getting any better at all?>>
Depends on WHEN you ask. Recently they've gotten better - tomorrow they could be impossible. I've been trading w/ Datek for almost 2 years, and the story is the same: sometimes brilliant, sometimes hopeless. Cancellation problems which were very bad a few weeks ago seem to have disappeared, and the speed at open and close is fine - OTOH, they can be slow inexplicably in the middle of the day! Customer service - sometimes get them in 10 seconds, sometimes 20 minutes. Never any problems with accounting - never.
Would I recommend them as your sole daytrading broker? *NO*. But OTOH, no broker is perfect, and even MBT has outages. Bottom line, I strongly believe that you should have at least two brokers at your disposal for trading - just as you absolutely MUST have two quote feeds while trading (to check against). I think a good DOE broker *and* Datek are a good combo; some can live with just one - I feel otherwise.
Finally, go over the posts on the MBT board, and on the Datek board to get a feel for what the customer feedback is - while always keeping in mind that posts refer to the past, and as we know... past performance is not indicative of future blah, blah, blah :) This industry changes very fast, and today's hero may be tomorrow's goat and vice versa.
Good luck!
Morgan
PS My apologies to the thread for this long OT post.
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