[YEAR IN THE LIFE - PART III]
BONUS PULLOUT CENTRE FOLD - Broker Blowups!
A slightly smaller installment in the series as I take time out from chronological order and focus on my battles with brokers, data feeds and software.
Anyone who is based in the UK that trades without a US broker, data feed or US standard charting package will know the difficulties involved in getting good, reliable, malleable data. To any would be traders sitting in the snow in Wigan thinking "You know what, I'm gonna start trading" - let me burst your bubble. Don't bother with the UK. Ever. I say it nearly every post at the moment.. just don't even waste your time.
The UK market is a joke. Anything that is a joke can't be taken seriously. You want UK based charting software? No. You want free level 2 data? No. You want direct access software? No. You want a reliable broker who executes your order quickly and at your price? No. You want cheap commissions? No. You want to pay 0.5% stamp duty on every share purchase? Yes!
Anyway. I've gone through 2 brokers and 2 different data sources and software packages. And both are a big old pile of
By reading this short post you can clearly see the pain and anguish I went through dealing with anything even remotely linked to Britain and trading. Note to reader: UK and trading don't mix. It is not in our mentality to be successful - which is barely the surface of the problem with the UK stock market.
Enjoy the blow-ups because I didn't!
----
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-hate-iii.html First rant at unreliability of broker and UK market data.
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2008/06/end-of-iiicouk.html First broker ‘blow-up’. Apparently limit orders don't exist with UK brokers!
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2008/06/oh-come-on-this-is-getting-ridiculous.html Second ‘blow-up’ shortly after featuring the infamous ‘soldier gunning iii’ photo that remains on the blog today. I closed the account shortly after this ‘third strike’. This post still makes me laugh.
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2008/08/raging.html A policy change from CMC meant I was now being charged commissions without notice, which cost me a heap. Start of the long and painful downfall of CMC. I remember I was absolutely livid with them.
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2008/10/here.html beginning to lose faith in CMC by September
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2009/01/horror-and-humour.html A very funny montage of pain after being intentionally locked out of a forex trade begins a 24 period of anger towards CMC. I closed the account that night as CMC, like III before it, ‘third striked’ me.
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2009/01/more-pain.html The account with CMC is closed after 2 weeks of the ‘new wave’ of trading. Despite losing maybe only 1.5% of the account value in this period, their crapness could no longer be tolerated, and they join III in the pile of doom.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtbDo6_-AwiP7TaepJs2CdZ8oeMtIk6peIIlRpwiG8-Nd81tnVXItxy6mb1oQkeKKEjuoiiaU2YMCtk0EEHOR2ykzJtMk32-5a7HQMUSpmEDQQ0KuaAqQQVsJdjXqAOx0W6Z5j3zKtKec/s400/lol.png This poster severs all links with the UK market and UK based financial information/brokerage companies as I sign up for think or swim. All data and execution is now stateside.
------
Post-script thoughts;
Let me just mention something here about US/UK companies, products etc related to trading.
UK companies/services
iii.co.uk - £10 commission each way plus stamp duty. Delayed data on delayed portfolio. No software. No limit orders. Stop losses never closed at price. Atrocious/Horrendous/Badword dealing team.
CMC markets - bucket shop, intentionally closed out of platform. Unreliable. Awful customer service. Terrible charting. No deal from charts. Problems getting money out, no problem getting it in. Posh clueless idiot on other end of phone all the time.
Quotestream L2 service. This was basically just market depth. The charting was not at all interactive. No line drawing ability, no studies, could not even change moving averages. £20 a month. Unversatile and unreliable sh*t.
ADVFN L2 service. Bit more in depth. Web based java platform. Only time and sales (delayed too) for US stocks. Forums full of UK trading newbs and idiots. £35 a month! Crap charting. You also had to cancel 2 months in advance otherwise they charged for part month and the next too.
US companies/services
Prorealtime charting package. Free end of day downloadable java based program with all the studies you could ever want. Although pricey for real time data, it's better than anything to come out of Britain. Yes I'll say again, it's free.
Quotetracker. Excellent and free charting package (requires data feed). Interestingly they cite ADVFN UK as a compatible source - but ADVFN are unaware of this and recommend using their own java charts lol. I would be saying "hell yes you can use our feed" given that QT is the number one port of call for beginner chartists. They would make a fortune of UK traders signing up for their feed solely for QT. But no... they're idiots.
IQFeed data source. Account set up instantly. $30 for NYSE, NASDAQ, CME live data - equities, internals, etfs etc. Remarkably reliable, efficient and high quality data service. Cancelled this because I don't need it. Email response within an hour saying it wasn't a problem, and no more payments will be taken from me and I get to use it for another 3 weeks. Customer service and product quality were obviously what they were going for. Money is what a UK company goes for, and they sure make it obvious.
Think or Swim brokerage and platform. Although not full set up, the application process was simple and quick and the software is absolutely superb. We're talking $1 or $2 commission total in/out, FREE live real time data including ETFs, indices, equities, futures, options, forex, internals etc. Can more or less deal direct from charts and platform includes an absolute raft of extras and order types. Good customer service so far too.
Now after reading that - can you tell the difference in quality? Everything UK based is garbage because there is no competition. If I programmed a charting package that could link to xyz (I don't even know any UK brokerages anymore) I would dominate that market like nobodies business, except My Own Ltd.
A slightly smaller installment in the series as I take time out from chronological order and focus on my battles with brokers, data feeds and software.
Anyone who is based in the UK that trades without a US broker, data feed or US standard charting package will know the difficulties involved in getting good, reliable, malleable data. To any would be traders sitting in the snow in Wigan thinking "You know what, I'm gonna start trading" - let me burst your bubble. Don't bother with the UK. Ever. I say it nearly every post at the moment.. just don't even waste your time.
The UK market is a joke. Anything that is a joke can't be taken seriously. You want UK based charting software? No. You want free level 2 data? No. You want direct access software? No. You want a reliable broker who executes your order quickly and at your price? No. You want cheap commissions? No. You want to pay 0.5% stamp duty on every share purchase? Yes!
Anyway. I've gone through 2 brokers and 2 different data sources and software packages. And both are a big old pile of
By reading this short post you can clearly see the pain and anguish I went through dealing with anything even remotely linked to Britain and trading. Note to reader: UK and trading don't mix. It is not in our mentality to be successful - which is barely the surface of the problem with the UK stock market.
Enjoy the blow-ups because I didn't!
----
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-hate-iii.html First rant at unreliability of broker and UK market data.
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2008/06/end-of-iiicouk.html First broker ‘blow-up’. Apparently limit orders don't exist with UK brokers!
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2008/06/oh-come-on-this-is-getting-ridiculous.html Second ‘blow-up’ shortly after featuring the infamous ‘soldier gunning iii’ photo that remains on the blog today. I closed the account shortly after this ‘third strike’. This post still makes me laugh.
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2008/08/raging.html A policy change from CMC meant I was now being charged commissions without notice, which cost me a heap. Start of the long and painful downfall of CMC. I remember I was absolutely livid with them.
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2008/10/here.html beginning to lose faith in CMC by September
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2009/01/horror-and-humour.html A very funny montage of pain after being intentionally locked out of a forex trade begins a 24 period of anger towards CMC. I closed the account that night as CMC, like III before it, ‘third striked’ me.
http://thestudentloanranger.blogspot.com/2009/01/more-pain.html The account with CMC is closed after 2 weeks of the ‘new wave’ of trading. Despite losing maybe only 1.5% of the account value in this period, their crapness could no longer be tolerated, and they join III in the pile of doom.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtbDo6_-AwiP7TaepJs2CdZ8oeMtIk6peIIlRpwiG8-Nd81tnVXItxy6mb1oQkeKKEjuoiiaU2YMCtk0EEHOR2ykzJtMk32-5a7HQMUSpmEDQQ0KuaAqQQVsJdjXqAOx0W6Z5j3zKtKec/s400/lol.png This poster severs all links with the UK market and UK based financial information/brokerage companies as I sign up for think or swim. All data and execution is now stateside.
------
Post-script thoughts;
Let me just mention something here about US/UK companies, products etc related to trading.
UK companies/services
iii.co.uk - £10 commission each way plus stamp duty. Delayed data on delayed portfolio. No software. No limit orders. Stop losses never closed at price. Atrocious/Horrendous/Badword dealing team.
CMC markets - bucket shop, intentionally closed out of platform. Unreliable. Awful customer service. Terrible charting. No deal from charts. Problems getting money out, no problem getting it in. Posh clueless idiot on other end of phone all the time.
Quotestream L2 service. This was basically just market depth. The charting was not at all interactive. No line drawing ability, no studies, could not even change moving averages. £20 a month. Unversatile and unreliable sh*t.
ADVFN L2 service. Bit more in depth. Web based java platform. Only time and sales (delayed too) for US stocks. Forums full of UK trading newbs and idiots. £35 a month! Crap charting. You also had to cancel 2 months in advance otherwise they charged for part month and the next too.
US companies/services
Prorealtime charting package. Free end of day downloadable java based program with all the studies you could ever want. Although pricey for real time data, it's better than anything to come out of Britain. Yes I'll say again, it's free.
Quotetracker. Excellent and free charting package (requires data feed). Interestingly they cite ADVFN UK as a compatible source - but ADVFN are unaware of this and recommend using their own java charts lol. I would be saying "hell yes you can use our feed" given that QT is the number one port of call for beginner chartists. They would make a fortune of UK traders signing up for their feed solely for QT. But no... they're idiots.
IQFeed data source. Account set up instantly. $30 for NYSE, NASDAQ, CME live data - equities, internals, etfs etc. Remarkably reliable, efficient and high quality data service. Cancelled this because I don't need it. Email response within an hour saying it wasn't a problem, and no more payments will be taken from me and I get to use it for another 3 weeks. Customer service and product quality were obviously what they were going for. Money is what a UK company goes for, and they sure make it obvious.
Think or Swim brokerage and platform. Although not full set up, the application process was simple and quick and the software is absolutely superb. We're talking $1 or $2 commission total in/out, FREE live real time data including ETFs, indices, equities, futures, options, forex, internals etc. Can more or less deal direct from charts and platform includes an absolute raft of extras and order types. Good customer service so far too.
Now after reading that - can you tell the difference in quality? Everything UK based is garbage because there is no competition. If I programmed a charting package that could link to xyz (I don't even know any UK brokerages anymore) I would dominate that market like nobodies business, except My Own Ltd.
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