Ibry, understandable, but I will take that opportunity to also
make clear my position about such "internet" trading capabilites...
Direct order entry offers unique access to the internet trader and responsibility for quality of execution, nonetheless.....
Unless you are doing more than 10 trades a day, I dont think that direct order entry offers the best breadth of executin systems and quality. Most traders are great at picking stocks, seeing movement and action, and would probably be better off leaving execution quality to those who know systems intuitively, as long as commissions don't eat you alive. Paying 10 or 15 bucks more for better executions leaves the trader free not to worry about which system, they use.
Premise of this argument is NOT that individuals trading from home don't have the "skill" or knowledge of the systems to be great traders, as many as some of the sharpest I know, but that these individuals are the exception and again, in my opinion, that such systems do NOT offer the highest quality executions, and that there exists alternatives for top notch executions for marginally higher cmmissions that your direct order systems, that $10 or $15 bucks on a $50,000 transaction is meaningless if price improvements can be obtained on occassion and guidance, freedback, and execution quality is substantial for the alternative.
Most online traders don't understnad the idiosyncracies? of SOES, superdot, raes, pace, SNET Ecns, other systems and processes, mms, how mms work, how institutions buy and sell, how trading desks operate. As well, most online systems dont offer telephone based trading, direct superdot access or RAES, pace access as well as access to other systems.
Many have simply been turned onto trading, given internet access and let loose. I wish them the best, but experience and understanding of how your foes, the systems upon which you trade, the market in which you engage, are critical to considering your self well on your way to being a professional trader.
I consider myself very good with handtools, a reasonably good fix-it man. Nonetheless, under no circumstances would I consider fixing the brakes on my car. There are certain things, regardless of how easy it seems, that I will leave to professionals with the proper tools and right equipment and necessary experience. That does not mean that I would simply take my car to the cheapest repairperson in town either, but that I would do my research, find out who does reliable, safe, guaranteed work, that will not jeopardize my safety. That leaves me to simply worry about driving the car.
There are several components to "successful"trading, one if picking the security (a timing issue) and then the next is execution quality.
I am not suggesting that such systems are not appropriate at all, because there many, many truly knowledgeable and experienced traders, trading from home, who are taking great advantages of the technologies offered. Its those who are not, who read these threads and think you can only make money trading stocks, that stocks only go up when you buy them and down when you short them, who don't understand differences between soes, snet, snet preference, superdot, raes, pace, etc., those are the ones for whome such technologies are totally inappropriate.
Perhaps it is the prude in me, the pessimistic thinking this marke tis overvalued and concerned a bit about those who might get hurt trading themselves in a down market, and perhaps its the business person in me, understanding the value of our firm.
Whatever it is, we hadnt discussed this in a while and I figured I'd bring it forward.
Regards,
Steve@yamner.com
yamner.com |
