Which Online Broker Is Best For Trading?

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seahound

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Post Number: 5
Registered: 12-2002

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Votes: 0


Monday, January 06, 2003 - 07:45 pm:

I am about to go online as a position trader. What online broker should I use?

Stop loss facility is fundamental to my trading method.

Any comments will be gratefully received.

Seahound

dicky

Member

Post Number: 34
Registered: 09-2002

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Votes: 0


Monday, January 06, 2003 - 08:13 pm:

Have a look at aotonline .. their stoploss functionality is probably the best there is. they're a bit pricey tho, especially if you're an infrequent trader. But they do have a wealth of tools and information.

aotonline

williamat

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Post Number: 5
Registered: 09-2002

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Votes: 0


Tuesday, January 07, 2003 - 10:45 am:

Dicky, I will look at aotonline and maybe comment later. Meanwhile maybe you can look at tdwaterhouse.com.au . I think their pricing is OK. (28.95 inc GST) for up to $10000. They have now a FREQUENT trader service, 2secs delay.Free if you have 15 trades per qtr. I think they have a sampling facility. No Stop Loss. Cheers Bill.

pedroz

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Post Number: 3
Registered: 01-2003

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Votes: 0


Saturday, February 08, 2003 - 10:31 pm:

Hi all,
This is an excellent link for evaluating your online broker needs.
http://www.infochoice.com.au/investment/onlinebroking/default.asp

P.S. I have nothing to do with the site and I found it useful to compare online brokers.

Cheers,
Pedroz.

trademaker

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Post Number: 7
Registered: 09-2003

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Votes: 0


Friday, September 05, 2003 - 10:59 am:

I use CommSec. I have no problems with them. The good feature about CommSec is that they will credit your account if you open a CDIA with them. You can actually make a trade (buy) even if your funds cannot cover it. With some limitations of course.

spider

Member

Post Number: 968
Registered: 10-2002

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Votes: 0


Friday, September 05, 2003 - 02:43 pm:

Yo trademaker,
your post sent a shiver up my spine!

Someone very close to me used to trade with comsec back when they first started.
He didn't have a lot of bread or experience.
Comsec would allow him to make trades without the money in his account.

Guess what happened?

He'd lose money and immediately enter a trade to 'cover' his loss.
He'd lose again.
Then trade again to cover these losses, etc, etc,.

Pretty soon he OWED them more than he had in his original pool.

Had to stop trading!

Took him a year to pay it back!
Took him another year to get enough money together to trade again!

Spider's advice is to NEVER trade with a broker that does not INSIST that you have the funds BEFORE you enter the trade.

spider.

"Everyone seems normal until you get to know them."

trademaker

Member

Post Number: 11
Registered: 09-2003

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Votes: 0


Friday, September 05, 2003 - 03:00 pm:

Sorry Spider, maybe I was misleading. I should have said "No cleared Funds".
Example: Buy share, sell share, has not settled yet but buy another share.
It's only a temporary credit. However, I do see your point so if you only have little money to trade with it can be deadly.
I know other brokers do things like this too.

Does this clear thnigs up?

rhen

Member

Post Number: 19
Registered: 08-2003

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0


Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 05:38 pm:

I am at this very moment placing a wide gap between my money and comsec/netbank.
I shall not go into detail however what spider and trademaker describe is completely alien to me.
I have my SMF with them (comsec)...
went into the red by a few thousand and whammo $54 or so from comsec and $35 in fines from netbank rubbing grubby hands together ...
this is in spite of the fact that i have had a portfolio of shares as guarantee that it would be paid.
look, the way they keep you informed of your account is unsuitable by my reasoning.
I shall not go into detail about this but to say to one and all PLEASE BE CAREFUL when dealing with which bank particularly if you are a trader
i have begun to look at other brokers and aot is the only one i can find that does a stop loss and they are not too expensive (a stop loss could save you $KKKK)...hence i came cap in hand to IC forum.
would be interested in forums comments
particularly re finding an online broker who cares and listens

successful investing to all
rhen

uey

Member

Post Number: 14
Registered: 01-2003

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0


Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - 01:56 am:

I can only concur with Rhen's comments! As a relative novice I found the service poor the information provided by phone operators inconsistent, and I sense they are well trained but generally lacking motivation and they feel pressure to end calls. Very difficult to determine finance positions with contras - lack of communication. Web site slow - sometimes nonresponsive on market closing (might not be there issue). Brokerage has almost doubled this year.
All in all my experience has been not what I expected from someone who has provided them with an excellent revenue stream. My own returns have been ok for a beginner. Probably serves me right for not going with a full service broker as a novice, I have cut my teeth and now MOVING ON!!

spider

Member

Post Number: 1145
Registered: 10-2002

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0


Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - 01:56 pm:

uey,
sorry to hear of your experiences.
But I am glad to hear from you.
It's been a while, I was wondering how you were getting on.
Glad to hear that you are still plugging away.

I've got a sneaking suspicion that none of you are going to find a broker that cares, not an online one any way.

I've only ever encountered one broker who went out of his way for me and that was a full service broker, a lot more expensive than online, but I would highly recommend him if that was the way you wanted to go. He has the added advantage of being able to arrange 'short' trades.

Online brokerage firms don't give a stuff!

spider.

.

"If half the world weren't idiots, the other half wouldn't make a quid."
- Unknown

starboard_tack

Member

Post Number: 40
Registered: 04-2003

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0


Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - 03:03 pm:

I also concur with rhen. Commsec are at best arrogant when you ring or email them. I have also had a bad experience with their transfers to/from my CDIA(netbank) account. Their "current position" details are very poor and often misleading. If you are trading frequently you HAVE to try and keep track yourself. I have spent many hours over spreadsheets trying to reconcile my "actual" position. It should be something that is automatically shown on your screen.

Does AOT have a better system?

On another problem - Commsec have just released a professional trader platform (free if you have sufficient trades). However, I often have to close it down and restart because it freezes. The worst thing though is that it often (1 or 2 times daily) shows out of date data. It even reverts back to data from an hour before sometimes! Their are obviously problems with their data feed or something. This could prove very costly if you rely on it. Hope they get it fixed soon as the system is pretty powerful.

I am not looking for a broker that necessarily cares about me, but I do need reliability and service. I am in the process of checking out AOT.

Regards,
Starb'd

spider

Member

Post Number: 1147
Registered: 10-2002

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0


Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - 03:11 pm:

s_t,
on the problems that you mentioned, Sandford is excellent in that area.
Their account keeping pages are very quick to update, contract notes etc are always there, the whole area is very visual, pie diagrams etc. not the cheapest OL brokers, but their site is very easy to use and quite reliable, they rate very highly in trader satisfaction surveys.
No 'stops' though.

spider.

.

"If half the world weren't idiots, the other half wouldn't make a quid."
- Unknown

vermante

Member

Post Number: 93
Registered: 11-2002

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0


Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - 03:43 pm:

I use Macquarie on-line. The product is great. The help desk is fantastic. No complaints. May be a tad expensive though

Regards

Vermante

paolo

Member

Post Number: 68
Registered: 09-2002

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0


Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - 09:54 pm: