Hot Pick Of The Day

[Websman]

That's great info about brokers. I was going to open a new account this week and had considered Scottrade, but you've changed my mind.

Thanks!

[skiracer]

I would take a look at Options Express. If your somewhat active you'll end up at $9.95 per trade. Their site has everything including realtime live quotes on everything, for account holders, plus a myriad of everything else for the trader. Then you can set up the Medved Quote Tracker to run their platform thru Options Express's realtime screen and trade your Options Express account thru the Medved platform with all their data available. It works real nice an is a great setup.

[spikefader]

I would take a look at Options Express. If your somewhat active you'll end up at $9.95 per trade. Their site has everything including realtime live quotes on everything, for account holders, plus a myriad of everything else for the trader. Then you can set up the Medved Quote Tracker to run their platform thru Options Express's realtime screen and trade your Options Express account thru the Medved platform with all their data available. It works real nice an is a great setup.

Are they direct access skiracer?

[skiracer]

I do all my trading online either thru the Option Express website or thru the Medved Quote Tracker site. I think that is direct access. I fill in all the blanks and hit submit trade button an the trade is usually done with seconds. You're the one who lead me to the Medved Quote Tracker site. I'm not sure of the exact definition of the terminology "direct access" but I'm pretty sure it is direct access.

I love the Medved site. It allows me to have two sites at once linked to my trading platform at Options Express so I can have two trades set up and ready to go.

[spikefader]

Re direct access:

"Conventional online brokers provide Web based trading whereby the client logs in through the broker's Web site and places orders through his Internet browser. By the time client loads his browser, waits for the broker's Web page to load, logs in, enters his order, and the broker reviews the order, several minutes may have elapsed. Further time may elapse before the order is actually executed after being received and reviewed by the online broker because several intermediaries may be involved in handling the order.

In this regard, many online brokerage firms do not always themselves execute client orders directly, but rather may send the orders to other market makers for execution. This can result in slow execution of orders at a higher price than the client may have expected. This is bad news for day traders, as execution speed is critical for successful day trading.

By way of contrast, Direct Access Trading (DAT) systems allow one to trade stock directly with a market maker or a specialist on the floor of the exchange, using special trading software and high-speed computer linkages to the Nasdaq, NYSE and the various Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs). With a DAT trading platform, a trader may place orders directly into the market in real-time and trade directly with a market maker on Nasdaq, a specialist on the floor of the NYSE, or with an ECN, without any broker participation at all. There are no middle-men involved between the relevant stock exchanges, ECNs and the individual trader. If there is a sufficient number of shares available at the price specified by the trader, the order is executed in a fraction of a second and a confirmation is instantly displayed on the trader's computer screen. Because no middle-man is involved, the trader will save anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes of time to complete a typical trade. Accordingly, the major advantage of a DAT system is that it results in much faster executions than one can normally achieve using a conventional online broker.

Another major advantage of using a DAT over a conventional online broker is that, by using a DAT platform, a trader may choose a specific market maker or ECN that he wants the order sent to. A DAT system will provide the trader with access to Nasdaq Level II quotes, thereby allowing him to see, in real-time, all of the available prices for each ECN and market maker. The trader can then route his order to that particular ECN or market maker where he thinks he is most likely to get the best price. With a conventional online broker, the trader has no control over where the order is sent and, in any event, relatively few online brokers provide their clients with Nasdaq Level 11 quote information."

http://daytrading.about.com/od/excha...inetrading.htm

[skiracer]

My trades never take more than 5/10 seconds and I know time is of the essence and can make a difference in the entry point. If it ever took more than that to route and place my orders I couldn't see myself trading there. I hardly ever place market orders so it's not a matter of taking any price they want to give you if you're using limit orders. I almost always have a specific number that I want as my entry, exit, and targets, but it would be nice to see what is out there an if you could get it cheaper. When you place an order is it at the market or a limit with the specialist an is there any guarantee that you will get it at that price.
The one point I don't like is that when you have to much info regarding several prices flicking realtime in front of you doesn't it take up some time deciding which specialist you want to direct the trade to.
I certainly wasn't debating whether Options Express was better than any of the others but only offering up another option.
I'll probably check out Interactive just to know what I'm talking about next time. Thanks for the explanation of Direct Access vs online.

[Runner]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Since opening IB I have not looked back for my style of trading IB fits for me, but hey depends on your trading patterns.

You only buy and hold any service should be just fine!

[Runner]

Since I work alot I also like the bracket orders.

[skiracer]

I should clarify the statement about my trades taking only 5 to 10 seconds to route and execute. That's only when the limit order is right where or very near where the market is trading on the stock. If you post it way away from where the market is trading you're not going to get executed no matter who you place the trade with. Anytime I have placed a market order it is filled within seconds from the time I hit the submit button but then you get what you get with market orders as far as price goes.

[New-born baby]

My Two Cents worth

Gentlemen,

I have only used Scottrade, and I can tell you that it is strictly minor league. Sometimes you get slow executions (esp. when you short a stock) that make the hair on the back of your neck stand straight out. I was trading ALTI this year, and I put in a sell order at market that must have taken 60 seconds to fill (it cost me about $200). Just recently, I am watching GM shares. CONSISTENTLY (no lie!) the bid was higher than the ask! IIC has complained about the inaccurate streaming quotes.

If you have a $500 account, and you buy and hold, it is sufficient. But for the hard core, take-no-prisoners type of trader, you need to step up to the big leagues. And IB is where I am headed.

[Websman]

frankie,

Not sure you'll get as good bang for the buck than IB, but for reliability and speed I can recommend http://www.mytrack.com/ but market orders are $12.95 and limit orders $15.95. But great direct access.

I opened my second account with "Mytrack" today. I'll swith to "I.B." when I get a little more cash to work with. It'll be nice having aa extra account.
Thanks for the link Spike!

[skiracer]

I think we have an excellent opportunity here on this pullback. Can't imagine why it dropped like it did yesterday after the great earnings report. This range is very cheap for this stock. Major player in strong sector right now.

[New-born baby]

Vtiv

Ski--

I looked your VTIV over. Support is 19.80. It worked its way up to 20.30, and like a flash was sold off down below 20.00 again. What I think is happening is that some major player is dumping his shares. For some reason or another, he wants his cash and wants an average of $20 out of this company. So I look for it to trade within that range for awhile.

Hey, I don't know anything. But this is an attempt to explain the profit taking on such good news. Perhaps this person thinks that this is the end of the rainbow for VTIV.

Still, nice looking fundys on VTIV> And thank you for posting!

[skiracer]

I'm amazed at the drop in the last two days after that earnings report. The only think I can think of is exactly what you're saying or they lost a large account that supplies alot of their business an someone has the info before it gets out. I agree that it certainly could be someone exiting a large position. They're below $20 now anyway.

I never thought it would drop as far as it has below $20. Now at 19.50. This is a great opportunity. I'm waiting to see how far it will go before entry. Might as well not be to hasty and get it as cheap as possible.

[Runner]

SKI, check out PTMK I forgot about it and had it on my screen for a few weeks!