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Strategies & Market Trends : DAYTRADING Fundamentals -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: funk who wrote (4553)	10/2/1999 3:56:00 PM
From: Dave O.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18137

< And for a "newbie" they are the ONLY DAP to offer 5$ commissions while you get your feet under you. > Been a few years, but when I started with All Tech they offered reduced commissions for up to a month I think. Can't recall if it was $5 or $10. Down side is that they have higher commissions once you are trading 1000 and for remote traders, they require 200 trades per month to get monthly data feed rebated, versus the 50 required at a few others ... I think MB and Watley. And the remote requirement was a primary reason I chose to move on from All Tech. Dave

To: funk who wrote (4553)	10/2/1999 4:26:00 PM
From: Cormac	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18137

Funk - I am not even attempting to argue with you...but have you checked out Penson's short list, or a Speers, Leads, Kellog list, or a PAX Clearing,Inc short list...if you did then you might reconsider such a sweeping, dogmatic statement like "MBT has by a mile, the most..." being the first does not insure having the best chat room - does not correlate I have used MBTrading and am impressed with customer service but I have found better and much worse Being the biggest does not equate with quality unless daytrading firms are a world unto themselves...there is no quantifiable pattern in any industry where biggest is always the best...this does not preclude the biggest being the best, but does not assure that statement...I will not bore you with all the biggest companies that are the worst or the best, or with all the small companies who are the best or the worst... there are other firms that have a "absolutely wicked" trading desk and do not charge for phone orders and have Instinet terminals and place Instinet orders from 7:30 am - 8pm EST Other firms will lower their rates to accommodate a "newbie" with smaller share transactions, you might have to negotiate on a personal level Funk I guess I do object a little to your hyperbole in regards to MBTrading I think they are a fine firm if not a great one...If I were to recommend a RealTick firm I would only unabashedly recommend three and MBTrading would be one of them What I am trying to say is there is always the other side of the coin...I don't think there is an objective measuring stick for daytrading firms or software Funk - your opinion is fine and I respect it...maybe you just express it it such a dogmatic way...like you are writing an ad...which I used to do I am just expressing my opinion and am not looking for a battle...and will not engage in one under any circumstances... Take Care and continued good luck...I always look forward to your postings respectfully, Cormac :-)

To: funk who wrote (4553)	10/2/1999 4:27:00 PM
From: Eric P	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18137

Come on, funk. Let's be honest with facts or you'll sound like you're just trying to hype a broker. MB Trading is an excellent firm and you don't need to stretch the truth to convince people of this. MBT has by a mile, the most comprehensive short list available. watley's short list, for instance, is about 50% of MBT's. This is not true. The last time I checked, The Executioner had a short list of ~4500 stocks. Currently, that part of their website is undergoing upgrades and is not available, but I'll confirm this next week. MB Trading website currently displays it's short list to be 3827 stocks (although I didn't count!). I suspect that MB, The Executioner and several other firms share the exact identical short list. In fact, the short list for these firms were dramatically increased not too long ago as a result of negotiations between Mack Arnette (co-founder of The Executioner) and American Century. He worked out a deal such that Townsend customers could 'borrow' any of the stocks owned by the American Century mutual funds (and one or two other fund families, I believe). Anyway, I will concede that MB has a very large short list, but it is likely the same, not larger than The Executioner and certainly NOT "the most comprehensive short list available, by a mile". They handle many more clients and tickets than all the other guys put together. I have never seen any data that supports this conclusion. Perhaps you can provide us some of this data. MB Trading is an excellent firm, and a very large firm, but your broadcasting of superlatives comes across more like hype than someone interested in sharing facts. MBT has the best customer support out of the group. Ditto for this comment. MB is a very good firm, but I doubt you have enough personal experience to justify this statement. Have you ever traded with Castle Securities? Polar? Executioner? JPR? Cyber? Watley? We are interested in your opinions and experience, it would just be better if you didn't make broad conclusions and comparisons without the required information or experience. It might be misleading to others. They have an absolutely wicked trading desk for times you want to call in a trade... MBT is the standard by which the others are measured. Some people hate that, but that's the way it is... Only one can be the best though. Hype, hype, hype... We all have our personal preferences and favorites on this thread, and that should be respected by all. Let's all just try to be as objective as possible in our posts and discussions. All brokers have positives and negatives, and no broker is perfect. -Eric

To: funk who wrote (4553)	10/2/1999 4:58:00 PM
From: KM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18137

<<They have an absolutely wicked trading desk for times you want to call in a trade... MBT is the standard by which the others are measured. Some people hate that, but that's the way it is... Only one can be the best though.>> Au contraire, mon ami. I have been with MBT for nearly a year, and while they have their strong points, that ain't one of them. I have had to call in to trade at times when the data froze and have had the following experiences: a) being put on hold for five minutes or more while the stock I want to sell or buy moves away from me. b) having them take an inordinately long time to go over the order with you while again, the position moves away. One time this spring, I was trying to get out of NSOL while it was dropping like a rock and the data had frozen. I had to call two or three times before I could get through. Then, I was put on hold for a few minutes. Then, the trader took forever to get the order placed. Bottom line: it cost me three points on a 700 share position, not chump change. On other occasions, I have had to call in and gotten an order done fine. It's a bad situation when you have to call in though to get out of a fast moving position. That's JMO and I have no experience with any of the others to compare.