StockFetcher Forums · General Discussion · Broker discussion<< 1 2 3 >>Post Follow-up
knowsenough
54 posts
msg #30846
Ignore knowsenough
1/27/2004 3:54:10 PM

Nice Thread guys.....
I emailed I.B. to see what the fee rate is for OTCBB as I could not extract that info. from their website which lead me to believe it is included as same w/NASDAQ stocks. MB charges $20 bucks for an OTCBB trade which is way too much for the pennies, so IB will probably get the "YES" for that comparison column from me (pending reply rate). My question here is, what do you guys like/use for data feed/charting software? My initial rate per features study points toward E-Gate as being a good fit coming in at $30 including/exchange fees for NYSE, AMEX & Nasdaq with Level II. Any experiences or preferences (hidden fees) would be appreciated. I see Medved QT as another option, but "free" software leads me to believe that it opens up the possibility of being glitchy or non-functioning at times (can't complain and be heard if your not paying right?).


knowsenough
54 posts
msg #30850
Ignore knowsenough
1/27/2004 5:02:51 PM

Got my reply from IB....
No OTCBB trading at all...only electronic trading w/their platform. It appears that there is no end-all trading platform that provides cheap per share fees, intergrates w/all charting services, allows all exchange trading at competitive rates. You still need two acounts to cover all bases.


csc98
2 posts
msg #30851
Ignore csc98
1/27/2004 6:32:34 PM

For cash accounts (IRA etc.), Etrade has a new restriction (since begining of this year, I think) that a sell transaction has to be "settled", which takes 3 business days, before the cash used for that transaction can be reused for a new transaction. Is this an SEC rule that all brokers follow or just an Etrade restriction? Do IB and MB have such a rule in place?




EWZuber
1,373 posts
msg #30853
Ignore EWZuber
1/27/2004 7:05:20 PM

csc98
No, other brokers don't have that restriction.
IB trades settle overnight, which I think is still too slow in this age of electrionic data transmission but beats 3 days by a long shot.
I understand that banks sometimes have this 3 day rule and I have heard critics charge them with just wanting to use the depositors money for 3 days before they can withdraw it and use it themselves.


cegis
235 posts
msg #30854
Ignore cegis
1/27/2004 7:38:07 PM

csc98,

I believe this is a new SEC rule - you must have a margin account to trade with unsettled funds. You don't actually USE the margin (necessarilly), but you have to have Margin set up. Ameritrade just started with this rule, too. Unfortunately, you can't get margin on an IRA account. IMHO, this REALLY rots, and is simply another squeeze on the little guy. If I sell a stock today that's gonna settle in 3 days, I should be able to buy a stock that will also settle in 3 days. It should be the broker's responsibility that each party to the trade has the funds to execute it. I can see not allowing an option or mutual fund buy that may settle in less than 3 days...

I have both E*Trade and Ameritrade accounts. I'm kinda split between which I like better. Being a Linux user, I really like the fact that Ameritrade's Command Center (java based account management, trading, charts, real time level I & II, Last Sale [ticker]) runs in Mozilla (although not perfectly), where E*Trade's Power E*Trade (or whatever they call it) won't (last I checked). This is the main reason I don't switch all of my accounts to E*Trade. My biggest peve with Ameritrade is the fact that some of the news articles are missing "bullet point" or "table-type" information. (These show in a different font within the article on E*Trade, so I know there's something in the formatting that's causing Ameritrade to drop that portion. Ameritrade's response to my complaints has been "We get that from a data provider. We'll tell them.") Often, this is the main information of the news item. Another thing I like about E*Trade over Ameritrade is that you can "link" accounts to one logon ID, where for Ameritrade you have to sign off one account and on to another. Commissions are quite close (9.99 vs 10.99 for stocks). One last comment - If you're thinking about Ameritrade, you might want to consider Freetrade.com. Freetrade is run by Ameritrade, but has a different commission schedule which is less than Ameritrade, but some of the services are not there.

C


jthehut
124 posts
msg #30855
Ignore jthehut
1/27/2004 7:46:27 PM

...tell the brokers that you'll pay the commissions "in 3 days" just like when you'll get your transaction completed...but only do this if you want to hear them laugh their a$$es off...
~the hut~


csc98
2 posts
msg #30857
Ignore csc98
1/27/2004 8:12:35 PM

Thanx for the replies, folks.

I was frustrated with Etrade's new 3-day rule for cash accounts and was on the lookout for a broker that doesn't require this - but I guess if it's a SEC rule, I'm stuck. I have both an IRA and regular account with Etrade, and am quite happy with the regular account (power etrade, with $9.99 per trade, and immediate account updates). Also, I can't use freetrade because they don't allow IRA accounts.


knowsenough
54 posts
msg #30859
Ignore knowsenough
1/27/2004 9:44:58 PM

Freetrade has it's own set of problems......
First, you have nobody to talk to live period, no matter what your crisis is, so you are at the mercy of somebody taking the time to read your email which from experience is hours/days. Second, you can only wire the money to open it, fund it, retrive your money, and need a seperate wire account that has the account name/number matching. It does use the same streamer but may not include all of AMTD's popups that go with it ..."free" is the signal to be cautious. Just a heads up.


EWZuber
1,373 posts
msg #30860
Ignore EWZuber
1/27/2004 11:51:58 PM

Sorry missed the mention of 'Cash account'.


buzzcraft
11 posts
msg #30918
Ignore buzzcraft
1/31/2004 5:45:16 PM

cegis and csc98,
One good thing I can say about Scottrade is that you can immediately buy another stock with unsettled funds - but you are not supposed to sell that second batch before the funds settle from the first sale (or it is a "free ride"). I haven't had trouble with that arrangement, but I don't know what happens if you violate the "Free ride" rule. Oh, and this is true without a margin account. I'm also puzzled why it takes 3-5 days for a sale to settle...

--buzz


StockFetcher Forums · General Discussion · Broker discussion<< 1 2 3 >>Post Follow-up

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