Each firm has its benefits.
I researched Cybertrader awhile ago. Let me know if my information
is outdated.
Cybertrader, the last I looked, required a large minimum balance
to start up. Castle requires only $5,000.
Cybertrader charges immense fees for their program.
Castle's software is FREE. Can't beat FREE, including FREE REAL TIME
quotes.
For the data feed (level II and charts, news) Cybertrader
was on the pricey side. Castle only charges $150/month and
is free with 100 trades.
Commissions are on a tier bases with Cybertrader, if I recall.
Castle charges one fee regardless of the number of trades in a month.
CyberTrader has some nice features, but at a cost.
In an industry that is very competitive, the various
daytrading firms need to remain on the competitive edge always
seeking for ways to decrease a traders monthly expenses whether
it be data feed, commissions or both, regardless of the amount of
trades made per month. If CyberTrader would reduce their fees, they may attract a greater base of customers.
There seems to be 3 types of Software available:
Castle: proprietary software developed in-house.
castleonline.com
CyberTrader: proprietary software developed in-house.
cyber-corp.com
Real Tic III: by Townsend Analytics used by the numerous Terra Nova firms. This is probably the most popular among daytraders.
jprcapital.com
Of course there are the various on-line browser based firms but I don't consider them sufficient for the full time trader. Their business models of under $12 trading have attracted quite a market share in just a few years and raking in enourmous profits. If I recall correctly, Datek executes over 50,000 trades/day. One Terra Nova firm (JPR Capital) is copying this business model of commissions under $12 regardless of the amount of trades/month. The first to attract the majority of daytraders early on will be the most successful in the long run. Lower commissions = more frequent trades/customer = money for the firm. The successful firm in the end actually might not be Castle, Cybertrader, or MB Trading, but JPR Capital.
In your travels, let us know who becomes the most competitive.
Regards,
S.W. - long time customer of Castle. |
