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I moved over to AMP recently, after several discussions with Matt at Optimus Futures. I was a bit hesitant at first but the AMP fees were very attractive and I decided to give it a try. That was several months ago, and the experience has been great.
I read a lot of this thread. I have looked up many brokers on the NFA website, almost all of them have had some sort of violation and/or disciplinary action. There is no need to mention them, but many names that would be recognized.
AMP not only has a commission structure that is roughly 20% less than I was used to paying, they also pay for my Sierra Chart platform (Package 3). That savings adds up over time for an active trader. I am a huge Sierra fan, but if I ever did decide to try something new, I like that AMP offers a lot of options, covering the cost of many of them. I downloaded a new one recently just to look, no cost.
The data with TT Net is just as fast as Rithmic, with zero down time since I moved there. Zero. (and of course, Sierra never fails...)
The customer interface on their website is actually preferred to me over some other brokers I have used. I schedule a withdraw online, takes 2 minutes, money hits my account in a day.
As I sit here thinking about it, I cannot even come up with anything to say. Both sides always answer the phone quickly, both have always helped with anything I have ever asked. The trade desk at AMP is fast and professional. Matt at Optimus is a very straight shooter.
Overall, my opinion, I could not be any happier with the Optimus / AMP combination.
They will send you a commission quote if you request it, you pick your instrument, platform and data feed, and can compare them. There is a link you will receive. and you can try all kinds of pricing options. The TT Net feed was the least expensive for me using Sierra. About 20%v lower than what I have been paying, and seriously no difference in quality.
I use 2 and 3 tick charts for microscopic views, and 1 minute for volume. I ran one , then the other (Rithmic), back to back, side by side. TT Net is pure seamless.
Now, I have seen variances in calculation of things, like VPOC between data feeds, and in that regard there did seem to be difference between almost all data providers. Price moves up and down, trade accordingly.
A data feed that keeps up with real time, zero lag, never goes out... That is what TT Net has been since day one, and every day after. And costs the least of any other combination (+ Sierra) that I have ever tried.
I did my own thing for years. Tried SO many platforms and data feeds. Not fair to list, but if it is a big name I probably tried it at some point.
Last year I was looking at AMP/TT, and very concerned about the low price. For me, I called Matt at Optimus and asked his advice on whether I should move or not. He starts, " OK, I am going to tell you the truth of what I believe..." One of the best things about him.... He spent probably 30 minutes on the phone with me, going over the pros and cons.
So far, what he told me was true, and I am happy I listened to him. (And, the times I have not listened to him did not always go as well.) The TT Net data has really been flawless, for my purposes. And there have been so many that were not.
Now, Rithmic was also flawless for me, but if I cannot tell the difference between the two (and I can't), I choose the less expensive. I was really amazed looking at years of transactions and seeing what my commission cost was. Trading is tough, and 20% is huge in cost reduction. You have to pay win or lose, and so many times the P&L without including commissions is very misleading.
To me, there was nothing given up in performance, but the cost savings adds up every day.
FWIW, AMP Futures has settled the case with NFA paying a penalty of $25,000 for compliance violations. Checked five other brokers on NFA website, four of them had violations. two paid $200,00 in penalty and one paid $90,000. Going by the amount of penalty, AMP violations don't seem to be that serious.
Reading this thread gave me the impression for some people are expecting 5-star customer service from a deep-discount broker. Lets face it, some of the people opened accounts with AMP because of the deep-discount structure and low initial capital needed to open the account. If someone is looking for a 5-star customer service, they should choose a big broker who charge higher commissions.
BTW, I am neither supporting nor condemning AMP. Sure, they had some procedural violations and they paid the penalty. Hopefully, those violations do not occur in the future.
Having said that, as there are no more disagreements at this time, I would appreciate if Big Mike lifts the ban on AMP.
...and, banned or not banned is not my agenda. I am not supporting AMP necessarily, I am offering my view of the service they provide, without really having looked into the why of that whole banned thing. There may be some valid issues.
There are many banks I could explain why I don't like LOL! But, we all keep moving.
@cogito I'm not lifting a ban for a company that sued me (and lost). You are out of your mind.
But all the info is on futures.io (formerly BMT) for all to see, including why they were banned as it happened in real time.
You'll also find plenty of info in the lawsuit documents, all of which I made public to demonstrate the tactics that they take in their business. If it didn't cost 20k to defend, it would be comedy gold.
In my opinion, anyone that does business with them deserves whatever they get for being so unbelievably naive.
In my opinion, AMP is to be avoided at all costs.
I'm sure the scalpers with their 1 tick charts love them!
It was just a suggestion.
Obviously, your decision is final.
Just that you know where I am coming from, I had a terrible experience with one high-priced broker (not going to rant about it). The offenses listed in this thread pale by comparison.
