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I'm certainly not an avid 'poster', but after having been at this new firm for a few months, I wanted to share my experience. In full disclosure, they asked me if I would write a review and I agreed (they didn't say it had to be good though )
I trade the e-mini S&P primarily, some Euro and Russell; about 50-100/day total. Previously I have been with Man, Mirrus and RCGdirrect and used mostly Ninja, but did use TT briefly.
I came across Generic Trade through an e-mail and after investigating them realized that they were just an IB of Farr (now Ironbeam) and only offered 2 platforms; neither of which I was familiar. I took the demo and really like the Firetip since it had what I needed and and was painfully easy to use. The rates were good, especially since I didn't have to call a broker to negotiate and make promises about my trading activity; apparently everyone gets the same rates ($1.18 rt) no matter what they do. I decided to set up the account and was shocked that it was set up in less than an hour (seriously). Well, it seems that their whole business model is like that - simple and easy.
Now the important stuff... I opened in mid September and I have to say that for what I trade, it's been as easy and as fast as anything I've used. I was really surprised that I like the platform better than Ninja; but keep in mind that I don't do any programming at all, so if you like advanced configurations, this is not for you. What I liked was that it was easier for me to do basic 1 -click and off the chart trading. Another thing I like is that since the data vendor (unfiltered direct), platform vendor and network are all provided by the same vendor, there is no discrepancy between the trade and quote that I have seen elsewhere in fast markets. I have only needed to call the trade desk once, but it was in the middle of the night and they were courteous and professional. I called another firm once (I won't mention who, but one of the above) and I swear I woke the guy up! Anyways, to sum up, these guys are simple, easy and fast. I recommend them if your needs are basic and you want a low rate without hassle or hidden charges. I do not recommend them if you need any direction in your trading (help from a broker) or want some of the advanced programming functionality that comes with TT or Ninja. If my experience changes, I will be back to post an update.
Thanks so much for this info........I contacted them today.......$2.05 a roundturn/contract in CL.........that beats AMP by almost half.........the only problem is they don't support Ninja.......and I like Ninja.......I wonder what it would take to get Generic on the Ninja bandwagon?????
I don't trade CL, but I know their total for a round turn including all fees and commission is $4.12. I trade the es and pay $3.50 rt all in. Amp quoted me a lot more; I trade about 80-100/day. Also, with other places I kept getting hit with other fees if I took time off.
Thanks for the information. I also tested and investigated them. So far, so fin. Option trading is also fine, easy and fast. There is an other one, which I would put in the same line and that is Futures Trading Brokers : Online Commodities Trading : Commodity Futures Trading : ExpoFutures.com . They use the same platforms and the commissions are the same like with Farr Financial in the past.
Expofuture:
Round turn USD 15.-- / Telephone orders free / 5 Rt per month and the platform is free other wise USD 65.-- per month
Generic Trade:
Round turn as you say / Telephone orders USD 5.-- / Fee for the platform USD 59.-- per month
Small volume traders have to think which one they choose, specially if they do some times orders per phone.
My perspective is that Generic Trade seems to be focused on the trader that only wants to pay for the best execution and software and goes out of their way to not offer (or charge) for other things that many traders might want; like education help on the phone with trades, direction, etc. I actually started out as a trader that wanted/needed those things and did not place many orders - for those I would recommend calling around and finding a broker you really like on the phone and paying $15-$25 per trade. If you are not trading a lot and need these extra's, you should pay a premium and get premium service. Also, it doesn't sound like 'micro second' execution is that important to you either so your best bet is to go to an 'old fashioned' brokerage with seasoned brokers like RJO or Rosenthal Collins.