Today, the servers were very fast (at least for me), and I traded with no difficulty. Confirmation pages popped up fast, and without problems, even at the open.
I guess I'm so grateful for this improvement (hopefully permanent) that I'm willing to cut Datek slack on options, checking, quotes, etc.
Regarding quotes, I don't rely on Datek's streamer (today the volume and "change" were wrong for many stocks), but use an independent LII. Sure, it would be nice if the quotes were reliable, but it is my firm conviction, that you simply cannot trade using only one quote feed. That's independent of the broker - I don't care who the broker is, you should always have a second source to check your quotes against.
I don't know about Canadian stocks. I do know that after Etrade, you will find Datek a blessing. Perfect? Hardly (just read this thread, or indeed most of my posts), but it's all "in comparison".
Today, as an example, I used my other broker for a few trades (TradeStar). No problems with quotes (though no streamer), great checking, options etc. - but sloooooow. I only do position trading there - and every time I use them, I am reminded, like today, by direct comparison, that for all it's innumerable and infuriating faults, Datek is still the best discount broker out there - WHEN THE SERVERS WORK (at least in my experience). |
