Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Non-Tech : MB TRADING -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Larry Shelor who wrote (5055)	7/18/1999 2:23:00 PM
From: Rick Faurot	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7382

Larry, I spent approximately 6 mos as an MBT customer going through approximately a dozen ISPs using a 56k connection. I was never satisfied. When ADSL came to my neighborhood, I jumped on it. At the same time (this was back in January, 99) MBT and Terranova began a massive upgrade of their internet connectivity infrastructure. The result for me has been a perfect smooth connection with MBT for the past few months. I have been able to focus totally on trading and it has been a pure joy. I have a Realtick screen that is jammed with charts, minders, L2 etc. No delays, no hesitations, no problems. The only bug everyone has had to deal with recently is that Nasdaq has been incredibly slow reporting prints during the first half hour of trading. Because of this you have to watch L2 only during this time. Charts and TOS are useless. But this is a Nasdaq tech problem and has nothing to do with ISPs or which brokerage you use. Since I spent so much time testing 56k connections, I believe I can say authoritatively that you will probably never be really happy with 56k using RT3. You can minimize screens and data draw etc, but you will still have "freezes" in your quotes which are due to latency in ISP pop servers. There is no cure for this IMO. All the experienced traders I know at MBT and many I hear about with other firms take it as a given that you must have ADSL, cable or ISDN (in that order of preference) if you want to eliminate quote lags. Solving this problem is one of the fundamental challenges of being a home trader IMO and I see a lot of people burning up a lot of emotional energy complaining about quote lags while they persist in using 56k connections. I was one of these whiners, so I know how they feel. It all boils down to how badly you want to daytrade. If swing trading works for you, then 56k will be fine. If you want to be a scalper, you need the maximum bandwidth you can snag. You have the ultimate computer, IMO, so no worries there. I recommend you check what video card you have and write it down. When you start participating in MBT's chat room (#mbtrading on othernet)--a must for any MBT trader, BTW--ask phactor how good your video card is. Some are better than others for Realtick. In short, if you can get ADSL, do it immediately. Likewise for cable. ISDN is pricey and not much of a an improvement so if that's all there is, call around and find out when ADSL is coming. It is being rolled out pretty aggressively right now as cable cos and telcos fight it out for the internet market. Your background sounds good for going to L2 trading. I advise you to get the $5 intro commission deal from MBT and start off trading 100 share lots for the first two months. Trade your pants off while the commissions are cheap and rack up some RT experience. IMO there is no substitute for doing lots of trades in order to master the execution process and get yourself into the flow of trading automatically. Just blast away, forget about profit and loss initially. Be a cowboy first. You can always become Warren Buffet later. Best of luck, Rick