Eric,
Sounds like you're in the wrong place for serious daytrading. A.B. Watley and MB Trading provide the execution speed, ECNs, etc. you need for true market transparency. Hit the SOES button and don't blink, or you'll miss seeing the confirmation in your Position Minder. Or use ECNs for fills between the bid and ask, not to mention access to INCA (Instinet)for trading before and after market hours.
I have shied away from Watley since serious system crashes in recent months (although they may have remedied the problem recently).
I have used MB Trading and recommend them highly. The fastest and bestest customer service of the 5 online brokers I've used, a proprietary version of RealTick III that works far better than other versions, which are plagued by stuck MM tiers, slow servers, etc.
Their $300 a month for their MB Trader software (which includes the aforementioned RealTick III with Level II, Time and Sales, etc.) becomes $100/month if you do 20+ trades/month, and $0 if you do 50+ trades (that's just 25 round trips).
Likewise, the $23/trade commission becomes $22 at 20+ trades and as low as $19 at 150+ trades/month. Of course, you'll be glad to pay the commissions when you discover that saving a "teeny" or more on each of your fills leaves more on your bottom line when day is done.
They do require a minimum of $7,500 to open an account, and that may tip you off to their reluctance to do BB stocks.
Read the threads here on SI for MB Trader and Watley, review their web sites, then make your decision.
BTW, I use Web Street for position trading, where stops (available only on listed stocks at MBT), GTC, etc. are available. Serious daytrading brokers assume you are glued to your screen(s) all day and don't encourage too many overnights, especially shorts.
If it seems I am shilling for MB Trading, my enthusiasm is only that of a satisfied customer; I have no other connection with them. I used to live in Manhattan Beach, but that doesn't count--they do business in El Segundo ("El Stinko").
Good luck and happy trading!
--Jim |
