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A lot has changed since NinjaTrader opened their own brokerage and due to this some of the past brokers they worked with are no longer an option. I am sure there are various pros and cons for going with different brokers but I am interested in knowing who has the cheapest commissions at this point. I am only looking at this on the Equities side, so I am not interested in Forex only brokers. I have not found anything on this forum that specifically addresses the full list of brokers available to use with NinjaTrader since their list drastically decreased a few years back.... so I was hoping to punt this out there and start a discussion.
On the equities side, from what is on their website NinjaTrader is still doing business with InteractiveBrokers, MB Trading , AmeriTrade, Forex.com and "Others" (From their site site it reads available through these brokers and "others" https://ninjatraderecosystem.com/brokers/). Not sure who the others are, but I would like to know who they are still working with at this point, since I know they no longer support some of the brokers they used to. Unfortunately I did not have a lifetime license prior to the date where they started dropping support, so I won't be able to use AMP for example... Unless I am missing something.
I think I am going to try to be somewhere around 1,000 to 3,000 contracts per month, 100% Algo trading, so interaction with the broker will be minimal. So I am looking for the best option for volume discounts.
Here is what I have found so far. I am hoping that others can add to this, so that i can make an informed decision.
Per Side (Entry or Exit not both) RT = this * 2
1. NinjaTrader Brokerage: .53 with the lifetime license. No volume tier that I know of.
2. MB Trading: Tiered: .85 for the first 250, then .65 for 250-2000, then .45 for > 2,000
3. Interactive Brokers: .5 for < 1,000 then for 1,000 to 10,000 it goes to .4. Do I have this right?
I haven't found anything for the others yet. So it is looking like Interactive Brokers might be the lowest cost for my case.
But I know there are other things to consider:
1. Order Routing / Data: I don't think this is a lot maybe .10 cents or so per trade, but some brokers may offer this for free or do a flat monthly fee which are preferable to a per trade variable cost. NinjaTrader had this as a separate fee. Any thoughts on this topic? Do some offer superior performance over others in terms of order execution?
2. Outside of Exchange fees are their any other fees that are buried in the fine print. Clearing fees for example may be applicable, and some brokers put this into their overall commission figure, others might break it out. Introducing brokers may have some other fees too for example.
So what I am hoping to find is what the fully calculated all in cost to do business will be with each broker, so from there I can make the best decision. Obviously I am making the assumption that anyone left on the short list to due business with Ninja Trader is very reputable on speed, performance, reliability, and financial health, so these topics are non issues and at this point so cost is likely going to be the deciding factor. If I am wrong in this assumption please let me know!
You may also want to have the possibility to 'contact' your broker in case anything happens.
This can be (but not limited to)
- the light goes out, you have no more access to your computer or trading plaform and want to close a position
- something is wrong with an instrument (config, etc...
- you have a technical support need (i have seen cases where ninjatrader points to the broker and the broker points to NT... at the end it was rythmic who changed something and NT had to issue a fix, it took nearly a day to fix...
- something to consider also is a back-up plan, i still remember very well the disaster with NT and zen fire, i was down with my trading for weeks and finaly had to migrate to another broker, etc.. (so think if you would not split your business over 2 brokers and accounts)
So probably you want to look at the whole point from a more holistic view
I am still very perplex how vendors release software in an uncontrolled way, you have only the option to install it in production, it works or it breaks... under any other normal condition, no industry is accepting this, this is most likely because this is retail trading and too close (similar) to installing the next version of a computer game and not close enough to business and banking with a decent DRP and/or BCP plan... just my personal frustration...
You can see NT Brokerage's "all-in" commissions here: https://ninjatrader.com/pricing/margins/ This includes all clearing fees. 1 contract round-trip on ES is 3.64 for lifetime license. 1 contract on IB would be $4.08 round trip I think.
I think I was looking at IB's FX section and not their futures section. It is a bit confusing the way that it appeared on the website, but I see now it starts off quite a bit higher than NTs lifetime price of .53. MB Trading would get cheaper if I was trading significant volume, but I won't likely get there right off the bat, so it looks like NinjaTrader Brokerage is the only affordable option.
So is this just it then? Are there any other options out there that anyone else knows of?
