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TFC Commodity Trading Forum

Re: Website for my trading course is up!/Gian

Hi Gian,

Your response sounds as if you do not understand my comments back to you, or you "doubt" my response.

The only reason I am responding again to this is an attempt to be of help to interested posters on this Forum.

Others have responded since your post as well and I believe Harold has indicated the functioning of his account.
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To clarify further....
I get a trade ticket that is accessible showing the date/time order was placed and the date time order was filled - displayed to the second.

My last order was a "contingent sell order" with a "limit price" and it filled in 2 seconds - which simply means that it took "more than 1 second" for my order to be sent to the exchange, processed and the fill response returned to my broker" but "less than 2 seconds.
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Now, what is a "contingent order" ??? ....
A contingent order is "NOT SUBMITTED TO THE EXCHANGE" until the contingency criteria is met. In other words, you can not be "picked off" as the "location of your stop is not known at the exchange" but stored and tested on my brokers computer.

If more information is desired on the functioning of contingent and limit orders I will be happy to provide it.
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As for "real time" data/quotes, charts I have verified the following:

When a market is trading "lightly" I have submitted an order and watched it update on with a marker on my chart when filled and look at the data stream and see the "volume" tick up by one - ALMOST INSTANTLY.

So, if there is a concern that essentially instantaneous, real time trading is not available, I ASSURE YOU THAT IT IS.

As for cost, it comes with my account. If there is a minimum number of trades requirement it is so nominal that I have never had a problem with it, never incurred any charges nor ever found the need to look into it save way, way back when I opened the account 5 or 6 years ago.

FURTHER ON COSTS:
Any "unused funds" are swept daily into fully insured FDIC accounts (that can aggregate fully higher than you may be used to) that pay interest daily. Admittedly, interest rates are so low these days that it hardly matters, but "excess funds" are "fully insured" and properly accounted for.

AN INTERESTING QUESTION DOES ARISE:
If trading futures, your "maintenance margin to hold the contract" must remain in the account. I'm really not sure where this fits into the "cash accounting" ??

Clearly, MM is a statistically derived "insurance policy" that if things go against your position(s) that you have time to meet a "margin call" or they have time to close you out. As mentioned above, I clearly do not know just how this "cash" is accounted for in terms of the "interest bearing" excess funds mentioned above.

With some humor, and the fact that I don't trade in the millions of dollars, I have just mentally allocated the "maintenance margin funds on a futures position" as a "cost of doing business" in that arena !!!!

I'm sure there is a "proper" answer !!!

I firmly believe that before one "criticizes" or "short changes a brokerage house's offerings" that they spend substantial effort fully understanding just what they offer AND for what fees !!!!

AS FOR SPEAKING TO THE EXCHANGE FLOOR:
This has been mentioned by another on this Forum as a necessary/desirable function/service of an "On-Line, Electronic brokerage house", I find it Ridiculous at best. Unless you are dealing in the "sums of money" that would warrant the time of a floor trader during trading hours, I seriously doubt that you would be "clicking a mouse" to place a trade and would be dealing through a substantial broker staffed by humans for that purpose. And clearly NOT EXPECTING TO GET THE ATTENTION OF A FLOOR TRADER FOR A $30 TRADE FEE !!!!

For Clarity, Completeness the text of your post is below:
Lee

Further, a total lack of understanding on a trading platforms performance with your "conclusion that because an account balance is updated immediately/quickly that the data must be delayed !!!!

Reply]
No, I did not say it was because the account data was updated quickly. I said that because you are not paying extra for real time data. Last time I got into this debate with someone, I called thier broker, and they told me that to have REAL TIME streaming chart data, you had to pay a subscription fee. Only streaming *Delayed* data was free.

My broker is the same way. For free, you get streaming data that is delayed for 10 to 15 minutes. For $70.00 you get real time streaming charts. In addition ICE futures charges $65.00 for thier real time chart data which my broker passes along without any markup if I want (and I do want).

For your broker to pay the exchanges for the data feed, AND only charge you $8-11 round turn, will cause him to lose money if you are not a very frequent trader. Brokerages are not in the business to lose money. It makes no logical sense to do that.