Changing Brokers

[dmk112]

OK. I need some help. I want to change from Ameritrade to Scottrade. I need to transfer my postions and I was told that this is a 10 day process. Has anyone else done this before? Should I get rid of all my positions incase something happens in between those 10 days (since my acct will be frozen) and I will not be able to do any trades in this period.

Also, I did already get some good references on Scottrade, does anyone have any problems with it?

Thanks!!

[Websman]

I would close my positions while I changed brokers. You can always get back in.

[skiracer]

I changed over from Muriel Siebert to Options Express some time ago. I would advise your closing out any open positions and asking for your old broker to send you a check for whatever you have left in that account. Then forward those funds to the new broker. It took me two weeks (10 business days) of inaction to complete the process. It was hell not being able to trade even if you didn't want to make a trade in the interim. Sitting in cash and not wanting to make a trade is one thing but not being able to make a trade during the switchover sucks.

[dmk112]

Thanks for the input

[IIC]

OK. I need some help. I want to change from Ameritrade to Scottrade. I need to transfer my postions and I was told that this is a 10 day process. Has anyone else done this before? Should I get rid of all my positions incase something happens in between those 10 days (since my acct will be frozen) and I will not be able to do any trades in this period.

Also, I did already get some good references on Scottrade, does anyone have any problems with it?

Thanks!!

Scottrade recently did an upgrade...there were access problems...but that seems to be over with. One problem I have is that their streamer is not right many times lately...e.g. ABC shows low of 37.00...but on their R/T charts it was accurate at 36.60...seems to be a frequent occurence lately.

Market orders on fast plays are not always the best...although sometimes I am surprised. Dow Jones news is a nice feature. IMO, if you are not a heavy trader as far as # of trades...they are fine. But if you make numerous trades and are looking for a quick buck I would look for a direct access broker.

As far as the majors...I hear complaints about all of them...IIC

[New-born baby]

Ski,

I would also advise closing out any positions to move my account. Too risky to keep that money on the table without being able to pull it off.

I have a Scottrade account, and it is (IMO) better than Ameritrade. I still think that the Cadillac would be Interactive Brokers, provided you trade 10x times per month or more. If you trade less than 10x per month, then I'd agree that Scottrade is the way to go.

That 10 days of inactivity ought to give you the opportunity to post a hot pick of the day for us!

[skiracer]

Take a look at Options Express. If your account is substantial and you do more than 10/15 trades a month you'll get them at 9.95 per trade, which I know you can get cheaper elsewhere, but I've been with them over a year now an have never had any type of problem. Click the mouse and the trade is done in a couple of seconds and never had any miscues of any nature.

[Thomrich]

Greetings ,

Im switching to scottrade next week also,Ive been with cititrade,which is for the conservative type,who buys a stock at the bank and hopes its increased when they retire.

Online service is pathetic,no steaming quotes,many stocks are not tradable,such as PVX,PWI ERF.And they cant give me a reason why.

And the worst part is $50 in -out .That takes a big bite if you trade 10 times a month.
I figure Scottrade will save me 350 month alone,x12=4200 a year.

Never thought how much broker fees could impact profits till I worked the numbers.

cordially Tom

[Jaws57]

I like Scottrade especially since they changed their limit and stop orders to $7 same as the market order. The only thing that bugs me is that they sometimes do "batch processing" whatever that is, and you cant access your account. They usually do this late around midnight except now at 8pm I cant get in my acct.

Jaws57

[dmk112]

I think ima send a check with some funds that I have in my bank over to open and fund my new Scottrade acct and once that is in the account I will be able to do some trades. Then once I am ready to sell most of my positions in my Ameritrade account I will do a transfer over to my Scottrade acct.

That what I won't have period in which I can't do any trades, in case the market booms, lol.

Thanks for all the input guys, much appreciated.

[Runner]

You would be amazed at how many different types of orders you can submit with IB. Since Spike turned me on it I absolutely have enjoyed IB much more than Scottrade.

[dmk112]

You would be amazed at how many different types of orders you can submit with IB. Since Spike turned me on it I absolutely have enjoyed IB much more than Scottrade.

IB? Point me in the direction...

[IIC]

IB? Point me in the direction...

http://interactivebrokers.com/php/main.php

[Runner]

Here is one order I’ve been using lately for my swing trades. This seems to be a great option if you work or cannot keep an eye on the screen all day.

Interactive Brokers (Bracket order)

TWS allows you to create bracket orders. Bracket orders are designed to limit your loss and lock in a profit by "bracketing" an order with two opposite-side orders. A BUY order is bracketed by a high-side sell limit order and a low-side sell stop order. A SELL order is bracketed by a high-side buy stop order and a low side buy limit order.
The order quantity for the high and low side bracket orders is the same of the quantity of the original order. By default, the amount off the current price to which a bracket order is set is 1.0. This offset amount can be manually changed on the order management line for a specific order, or you can modify the default offset amount using the Default Order Settings box.

For example, if you create an order to buy 100 shares of ABC at $50.00/share and then select Create Bracket Orders, TWS creates both a sell limit order for $51.00, and a sell stop order for $49.00