Well folks, my experience with Web Street has drawn to a close, as I am not impressed with their execution speed or the prices I've gotten. My husband entered a trade to short EGGS with a limit of 6 9/16 the day that EGGS announced it's store closing. the bid when he entered the trade was 6 11/16. The bid moved straight up from there, getting as high as 7 1/16. The trade was filled at 6 9/16. This time there was no question as to what had happened. We had suspected that this had happened on other trades, but this time we had the proof. To their credit, Web Street did adjust the execution price, but with the print out of the level II time and sales tables (with no prints of 9/16 after the order was placed and before the complaint was made), I don't see how they had much choice. Some may say, what's the big deal over 0.125 cents? Well, in this case it was actually $250. That's a far cry from the $12 Waterhouse would have charged, and executed the trade instantly at the bid price.
I happened to place a couple of trades in my Waterhouse IRA Friday. Just for kicks I placed the orders 1/16 below the bid, and watched on time and sales. I was in awe of how quickly the trades printed (<3 seconds) after I hit the "submit" button. The trades also printed at the bid, as they should have. Putting in a limit under the bid is not a license to have the trades executed there, but insurance in case the bid ticks down. Web Street chose to take advantage, and as a result, has lost our account.
There are no free trades, IMO.
Good luck to any who stick with Web Street.
Barb |
