I think that I have finally come to a decision on moving away from E*Trade.  When thinking about it, I had to conclude that there really isn’t anything bad about ETrade – I just need a little more in terms of tools and I will admit that I am looking forward to something a little prettier.

Since I have been trading actively since I was in college, and due to a variety of mergers in the online discount brokerage space, I have made the rounds with the early players.  The only thing I can conclude about my move is that I would like to move to a little more professional platform and service than the ETrades, TD Ameritrades et al of the world offer.  I am not looking for a bank, a debit card or a home equity line of credit – I just want the best trading platform that I can find for a trader such as myself. 

Earlier this week, I had mentioned that I narrowed down my search to ETrade (with whom I currently have an account and have for some time now), Interactive Brokers and Thinkorswim.  I have been constantly weighing the advantages/disadvantages, likes/dislikes, pros/cons of each.  I think that I have reached a point in my trading “career” where I need a more robust platform that ETrade.  They have been a great broker and I ultimately have no complaints about what they offer – I simply am just moving beyond the level of depth that I need.  No hard feelings there. 

In terms of IB vs TOS … I honestly have not completely made a decision.  I have opened an account with TOS, in efforts to learn more about their service and get a better understanding of how their trading software works.  I have really liked it thus far and enjoy using the paper trading feature where I can manage $100k of “fake” capital to test and learn.  Aside from a view minor (but some very significant) things that I would like to see addressed with TOS’ platform, I would have to say it is very appealing.  I said this before, but I see TOS as being Mac of online brokerages/trading platforms, whereas others like TD Ameritrade/Scottrade/ETrade et al would be the old PC. 

The two major issues I have with TOS at this point is that it is very much geared towards options traders.  Now, I like options, even though that is a relatively new area for me that I am still learning to master, but sometimes I feel like TOS developers have almost over-engineered the platform making it a little more complex than it needs to be.  Which leads me in to my other major issue … I think TOS has been so focused on providing extensive tools for trading options that they have missed some very basic things that should be a no brainer like providing fundamental analysis for stocks, or at least making it accessible with one or two clicks.  Now, I  realize this data is not difficult to obtain; indeed it only takes a second to access the needed data on Yahoo Finance or Google; however, this is something that I need right there in my trading screen. 

Overall, I can get around these things I think.  The other option I am considering is Interactive Brokers.  I mentioned some of my general thoughts about IB’s platform in the previous post, and I still really like this option.  I am even considering using both TOS and IB, but I would rather not go that route. 

The thing with IB is that it is more commonly used by institutional and professional traders.  As I am enhancing the depth of my own trading, I like that fact, so from an aesthetic view, this option is really appealing to me.  I like their platform too and I think it would address all of my needs.  The major negative for me here is that they charge a fee for certain levels of access to information, so you’re essentially paying a monthly fee to use IB; however, this is not necessarily asking too much, because I would likely save on commissions what I would otherwise be paying at ETrade. 

Overall, I am liking the direction I’m going with both TOS and IB.  At this point, I am laying some groundwork for where I hope to be in the next few months in my trading activities, and selecting my new brokerage is a key component to that.  Still more to come as I continue on this quest …