Trading Platforms

[MichaelLewis]

What trading platform does the Quantnet community most recommend? I day trade / swing trade equities and options.

 

[MarketMan]

Interactive Brokers

 

[PhDWill]

For pure equities you can use SVS Securities, although it only allows you to trade on the London Stock Exchange. The benefits it offers: free setup, no inactivity fees, etc. You only pay stamp duty (normal) and approx £5-£20 fee at each trade, if your investments are in 4-5 digits you won't even notice the charge (I don't).

I am also looking for a good software for Options, I spoke with CityOptions but it seems their software is way too simplistic.

 

[MarketMan]

For pure equities you can use SVS Securities, although it only allows you to trade on the London Stock Exchange. The benefits it offers: free setup, no inactivity fees, etc. You only pay stamp duty (normal) and approx £5-£20 fee at each trade, if your investments are in 4-5 digits you won't even notice the charge (I don't).

I am also looking for a good software for Options, I spoke with CityOptions but it seems their software is way too simplistic.

5-20 Euros per trade is really high! OP is a day/ swing trader so his frequency of execution is much higher than a traditional "investor". I guarantee he will notice such high fees.

Interactive brokers isn't perfect but you can access every asset class / product / market in the world, trades are less than $1 unless you are swinging big, and there is also no inactivity fee. The software isn't the best out there but its definitely not bad.

If you want to go pro, then call up a clearing merchant and negotiate a price per contract. Also, if you do this you will be able to choose from an array of software vendors that the clearing house can provide via third party.

I used Crossland LLC (subsidiary of Wedbush) to trade futures for 25 cents a contract and used TT, a top notch execution platform. My volume wasn't even heavy either so if you hit high volume you could negotiate that down even further.

Message me with questions, I have been through the brokerage hunt before.

 

[PhDWill]

5-20 Euros per trade is really high! OP is a day/ swing trader so his frequency of execution is much higher than a traditional "investor". I guarantee he will notice such high fees.

Interactive brokers isn't perfect but you can access every asset class / product / market in the world, trades are less than $1 unless you are swinging big, and there is also no inactivity fee. The software isn't the best out there but its definitely not bad.

If you want to go pro, then call up a clearing merchant and negotiate a price per contract. Also, if you do this you will be able to choose from an array of software vendors that the clearing house can provide via third party.

I used Crossland LLC (subsidiary of Wedbush) to trade futures for 25 cents a contract and used TT, a top notch execution platform. My volume wasn't even heavy either so if you hit high volume you could negotiate that down even further.

Message me with questions, I have been through the brokerage hunt before.

It's not that high, I usually trade with 4 figures and only on the AIM (Alternative Inv Market) with huge volatility. On a good day I can make £100-150 in 10-15 mins from £2-£3k investment, other times if I invest for approx 6 months (like the last time), I end up with £13k profit. You only lose when you don't do the research (max loss £1.6k). PS. I trade rather infrequently, hence the cost of trade does not bother me (especially with the 4-5 figure investment).

 

[PhDWill]

5-20 Euros per trade is really high! OP is a day/ swing trader so his frequency of execution is much higher than a traditional "investor". I guarantee he will notice such high fees.

Interactive brokers isn't perfect but you can access every asset class / product / market in the world, trades are less than $1 unless you are swinging big, and there is also no inactivity fee. The software isn't the best out there but its definitely not bad.

If you want to go pro, then call up a clearing merchant and negotiate a price per contract. Also, if you do this you will be able to choose from an array of software vendors that the clearing house can provide via third party.

I used Crossland LLC (subsidiary of Wedbush) to trade futures for 25 cents a contract and used TT, a top notch execution platform. My volume wasn't even heavy either so if you hit high volume you could negotiate that down even further.

Message me with questions, I have been through the brokerage hunt before.

PS. £20 per trade kicks in when u are inv approx £10k at one go in one trade.