The BEST Online Trading Brokers for 2025 (Day Trading, Non-PDT, Commission Free)
Zusammenfassung
TLDRIn this video, the presenter ranks the best brokers for day trading by comparing 17 popular options based on execution speed, commissions, and user experience. The analysis reveals significant differences in execution speeds among brokers, emphasizing the importance of fast order execution for day traders. The presenter shares personal testing results, highlighting that while commission-free brokers may seem appealing, they often come with slower execution speeds. The video concludes with a comprehensive ranking of brokers suitable for various types of traders, including those with small accounts and international traders, and encourages viewers to consider their trading needs when selecting a broker.
Mitbringsel
- ⚡ Fast order execution is crucial for day trading success.
- 💰 Commission-free brokers often have slower execution speeds.
- 📊 Personal testing reveals discrepancies in reported execution speeds.
- 🔍 Consider user experience and platform features when choosing a broker.
- 🌍 International traders have different options compared to US traders.
- 📈 Light Speed is ranked as the best broker for execution speed.
- 📉 Ocean One is recommended for small account traders.
- 📝 A free PDF guide on day trading strategies is available for viewers.
- 💡 Payment for order flow allows commission-free trading but may affect execution speed.
- 🔑 Key features for trading platforms include level two data and hotkeys.
Zeitleiste
- 00:00:00 - 00:05:00
In this episode, the host ranks the best brokers for day trading, comparing 17 popular brokers that accept traders from the US, Canada, and internationally. The comparison is based on over 30 points, culminating in a Ross score for each broker, indicating their suitability for real money trading.
- 00:05:00 - 00:10:00
The first point of comparison is order execution speed, which is crucial for day trading. The host highlights that brokers like Weeble have slower execution speeds, while Light Speed and Centerpoint are among the fastest. The importance of fast execution is emphasized through a trading example, illustrating how delays can lead to missed opportunities.
- 00:10:00 - 00:15:00
The host conducts a live execution speed test with Fidelity, demonstrating the slow update times for order fills. The results show Fidelity as the slowest broker, followed by Robinhood and Weeble. The host stresses the need for fast execution to succeed in trading, sharing personal testing experiences with various brokers.
- 00:15:00 - 00:20:00
The discussion shifts to the differences between commission-free brokers and those that charge commissions. The host explains how payment for order flow affects execution speed and the trade-off between commission-free trading and faster execution. The importance of understanding these dynamics is highlighted for traders.
- 00:20:00 - 00:25:00
The host introduces the concept of market structure and how orders are processed through brokers and exchanges. The evolution from traditional brokers to electronic trading platforms is explained, along with the implications of payment for order flow on execution speed and trading costs.
- 00:25:00 - 00:30:00
The host emphasizes the importance of platform user experience, including features like level two market data and hotkeys for executing trades. The discussion narrows down to brokers that meet the necessary criteria for active traders, eliminating those with inadequate platforms.
- 00:30:00 - 00:36:45
Finally, the host ranks the best brokers for various categories, including small accounts, commission-free trading, and international traders. The rankings are based on execution speed, commissions, and platform usability, with Light Speed trading emerging as the top-rated broker overall.
Mind Map
Video-Fragen und Antworten
What are the top brokers for day trading?
The video ranks 17 brokers, including Light Speed, Weeble, and Fidelity, based on execution speed and user experience.
Why is execution speed important for day trading?
Fast execution speed is crucial for day traders to capitalize on market movements quickly and efficiently.
What is the difference between commission-free and paid brokers?
Commission-free brokers often have slower execution speeds, while paid brokers provide faster execution but charge commissions.
How does payment for order flow work?
Payment for order flow allows brokers to offer commission-free trading by routing orders to market makers who pay for the order flow.
What should I consider when choosing a broker?
Consider execution speed, commissions, platform user experience, and whether the broker meets your trading needs.
Are there brokers suitable for small accounts?
Yes, brokers like Ocean One and CME Capital Markets are recommended for small account traders.
Can international traders access these brokers?
Some brokers, like Ocean One and Trade Zero, accept international traders, but options may vary by location.
What is the best broker for Canadians?
Ocean One is recommended for Canadian traders, while Weeble is also an option but with some limitations.
What features should a trading platform have?
Key features include level two market data, hotkeys, and the ability to see halt levels.
How can I learn more about day trading strategies?
The presenter offers a free PDF guide on day trading strategies linked in the video description.
Weitere Video-Zusammenfassungen anzeigen
- 00:00:00[Music]
- 00:00:01in today's episode I'm going to rank the
- 00:00:03best brokers for day trading I'll be
- 00:00:05comparing the top 17 most popular
- 00:00:07Brokers that accept Traders from the
- 00:00:09United States Canada and internationally
- 00:00:12so no matter where you're located there
- 00:00:13will be a broker on this list that you
- 00:00:15could choose now I'm going to be
- 00:00:16comparing these Brokers based on more
- 00:00:19than 30 individual points of comparison
- 00:00:21so this is a comprehensive Deep dive and
- 00:00:24at the end of this episode I will give
- 00:00:25each of these Brokers a Ross score I
- 00:00:28will share with you whether or not I
- 00:00:30would use them with real money so let's
- 00:00:32go ahead and jump in to this broker
- 00:00:34comparison now when it comes to day
- 00:00:36trading one element that we need in our
- 00:00:38Brokers that we just absolutely cannot
- 00:00:41live without is fast order execution and
- 00:00:44that's why order execution is our first
- 00:00:45point of comparison so these 17 Brokers
- 00:00:48here's something that's really
- 00:00:49interesting they have wildly different
- 00:00:51execution speeds you can see Weeble eade
- 00:00:55these are among the slowest whereas
- 00:00:57light speed guardian and Centerpoint are
- 00:00:59among the fastest so here's the deal
- 00:01:01when I see a stock hitting my scanners
- 00:01:03and it's squeezing up I'll give you a
- 00:01:05little demonstration this is one of my
- 00:01:07favorite patterns to trade stock starts
- 00:01:09squeezing up why is it moving higher
- 00:01:11most likely it had breaking news right
- 00:01:13here let's just say 8: a.m. eastern
- 00:01:15standard time it's surging higher it
- 00:01:17pulls back just for a moment we get a
- 00:01:20little bottoming tail there and my
- 00:01:22strategy is to buy the first candle to
- 00:01:24make a new high so that right there
- 00:01:26let's just say this is
- 00:01:28$810 that's my entry point so when I see
- 00:01:31the stock starting and nose up here and
- 00:01:33pop up to that level I'm going to send
- 00:01:35my buy order now let's just say that's
- 00:01:3710,000 shares all right so 10,000 share
- 00:01:39buy order and then this thing squeezes
- 00:01:41up here if I send that order to the
- 00:01:43market and I don't get filled at exactly
- 00:01:46the price that I wanted on a pre-market
- 00:01:48trade I'll miss the whole thing because
- 00:01:51remember pre-market we don't have Market
- 00:01:53orders we only have limit orders so when
- 00:01:55I send that order it needs to get filled
- 00:01:57in an instant and when I see this stock
- 00:02:00starting to roll over I see one of my
- 00:02:02exit indicators and I want to get out I
- 00:02:04want to press that sell button and those
- 00:02:06shares better be gone so you can expect
- 00:02:09that with some Brokers but with others
- 00:02:11well you're going to sit and wait and
- 00:02:12here's the deal trading is hard enough
- 00:02:15without using a broker with slow order
- 00:02:17execution it just doesn't make sense so
- 00:02:20here's how I got this data in this on
- 00:02:22this row right here we have the
- 00:02:23execution speed for each one of these
- 00:02:25Brokers well with the exception of Robin
- 00:02:27Hood which chooses not to publish this
- 00:02:29data but all these other Brokers
- 00:02:31actually publish this data so we can
- 00:02:33look at it so let's look at Weeble for
- 00:02:35instance Weeble right here under order
- 00:02:37execution on their website they publish
- 00:02:40the average execution speed now it
- 00:02:42actually varies depending on the number
- 00:02:45of shares that you're trading so you
- 00:02:47have to kind of pull the average but if
- 00:02:49you pull the average your average order
- 00:02:51execution with Weeble is going to be
- 00:02:54well unfortunately fairly slow .12
- 00:02:57seconds but you know what's interesting
- 00:02:59I decided to actually take all of this a
- 00:03:01step further I funded accounts with
- 00:03:04these Brokers executed trades and timed
- 00:03:06them to see whether or not the execution
- 00:03:09speeds that they're reporting were
- 00:03:11accurate and you know what I found out
- 00:03:12Weeble is actually a lot faster than I
- 00:03:15expected and some of the ones that seem
- 00:03:16to be fast well according to their
- 00:03:18reports were actually much slower so wow
- 00:03:21that adds a little bit more color to
- 00:03:22this so here we go now on this these
- 00:03:25Pages here for Robin Hood for Fidelity
- 00:03:28for erade they all dis play their
- 00:03:30average execution speed Fidelity says 04
- 00:03:33seconds uh E Trade is uh .11 seconds
- 00:03:37similar to uh Weeble trade station over
- 00:03:41here at
- 00:03:420.43 seconds that's quite fast and
- 00:03:45Charles Schwab over here at 05 seconds
- 00:03:49so now these are all commission free
- 00:03:52Brokers so the commission free Brokers
- 00:03:54are supposed to file uh they have these
- 00:03:58uh regulation 605 report that they file
- 00:04:00which disclose order execution and um
- 00:04:04the quality of the fill we'll talk more
- 00:04:06about that in a moment but this right
- 00:04:08here is the actual data of how long
- 00:04:12these orders took to fill so I'm going
- 00:04:14to just uh start by saying that the
- 00:04:17slowest one right here it's it's beyond
- 00:04:20slow so this is the this is the slowest
- 00:04:23and this is Fidelity so I'm going to
- 00:04:24pull up my fidelity account and I'm
- 00:04:26going to show you what it looks like so
- 00:04:28we're going to do just a quick execution
- 00:04:29speed test on this so I'm going to press
- 00:04:31an order for buy ask this is going to be
- 00:04:34a buy order at the ask on Ford just for
- 00:04:3710 shares I'm going to click the buy
- 00:04:39button the way I time these orders is
- 00:04:40the second I lift my thumb off the
- 00:04:43button it's going to change from the
- 00:04:45sort of Click down to the popped UPS uh
- 00:04:47phase so when it changes like that
- 00:04:50that's when I my second timer starts and
- 00:04:53then on Fidelity it'll say right here
- 00:04:56the order is filled long before it
- 00:04:59actually displays in the position window
- 00:05:02which is really kind of silly so in fact
- 00:05:04for me the way I time Fidelity is I go
- 00:05:07like this I click right now and it shows
- 00:05:10open and then filled at
- 00:05:139465 but it's not showing in my
- 00:05:15positions window right it's not showing
- 00:05:18there it goes so that took a second so
- 00:05:21when we actually time that and we'll go
- 00:05:22sell we'll we'll do sell bid and we'll
- 00:05:25flip around and just get rid of that
- 00:05:26position so I click I sell it fills it's
- 00:05:28still sitting there it's still and then
- 00:05:30it's gone so when you actually time it
- 00:05:33you pull it into the video editing
- 00:05:34software like I did here and you time it
- 00:05:36down to the second this is how long it
- 00:05:38took for the actual position to update
- 00:05:41that is way too long now how long it
- 00:05:44took to actually fill the position was
- 00:05:47this line right here because it shows
- 00:05:49that it did fill it just took longer to
- 00:05:51update so that is f Fidelity right here
- 00:05:54so Fidelity came in at the slowest the
- 00:05:57second slowest with real testing real
- 00:05:59money Robin Hood the third Weeble the
- 00:06:03fourth think or swi swim the second is
- 00:06:06interactive brokers the third is trade
- 00:06:09station right here and now wait a second
- 00:06:11wait there's one more that right there
- 00:06:13is light speed trading so this also puts
- 00:06:16in perspective this is Light Speed
- 00:06:18trading right there that broker that
- 00:06:20right there is light speed trading order
- 00:06:22execution and then there's Fidelity holy
- 00:06:26smokes I mean we're talking about a
- 00:06:28completely different ball game here
- 00:06:30right in terms of execution speed so now
- 00:06:33let me just say one thing I want let me
- 00:06:34say two things the first thing I want to
- 00:06:36say right now is that I have zero
- 00:06:38affiliate relationship with any broker
- 00:06:40dealer so I'm not paid to tell you one
- 00:06:42is better than the other it makes no
- 00:06:44difference to me which broker you use
- 00:06:46except that I want to see you using
- 00:06:48Brokers that allow you to extract profit
- 00:06:50from the market which means in my
- 00:06:52opinion you need a broker that is super
- 00:06:55fast so the broker that I'm choosing to
- 00:06:57use is Light Speed it is fast it's the
- 00:07:00fastest of the Brokers I've tested but I
- 00:07:03do pay a commission there so I pay a fee
- 00:07:05for that speed with commission free
- 00:07:07Brokers you get well you get free
- 00:07:10commissions but the sacrifice is on
- 00:07:12execution speed now that might not seem
- 00:07:15totally intuitive why would it be that
- 00:07:19free is is slower how does that
- 00:07:21translate why is that the case well
- 00:07:23let's jump back on the to the Whiteboard
- 00:07:25here and let me help you better
- 00:07:26understand this so the Brokers that are
- 00:07:28on this compar comparison sheet really
- 00:07:30fall into two camps on the one hand we
- 00:07:33have Brokers that are commission free
- 00:07:36they charge zero commission but you'll
- 00:07:38notice that for all of them the order
- 00:07:41execution is a little bit slower so the
- 00:07:43second um line item here is commissions
- 00:07:47commission for options commission for
- 00:07:48stock so these Brokers here are all
- 00:07:52commission free except for uh
- 00:07:54interactive brokers right there so these
- 00:07:56ones are commission free so you know
- 00:07:57what I'll just go ahead I'll bump one
- 00:08:00column to the left and I'll just move
- 00:08:02interactive brokers um ibkr Pro and I'll
- 00:08:05put it over there just so we're all
- 00:08:06grouped together here all right so I'll
- 00:08:08insert one more column to the left so
- 00:08:10all of these Brokers here are and I'll
- 00:08:12just make this white all of these
- 00:08:14Brokers here are commission free so the
- 00:08:17fastest commission free broker that I
- 00:08:19timed is trade zero trade zero USA trade
- 00:08:22zero International Weeble well it they
- 00:08:26disclose that they're the slowest but
- 00:08:28actually in my own testing uh they were
- 00:08:30they weren't that bad now again these
- 00:08:32these just my tests so it it obviously
- 00:08:35will vary and I should assume that their
- 00:08:38results are going to be the most
- 00:08:39accurate because they're obviously um
- 00:08:42compiling and aggregating thousands and
- 00:08:44thousands of Trades whereas I'm just
- 00:08:46taking a couple of sample trades that
- 00:08:48are my own so I could take their word
- 00:08:50for it that on average this is their
- 00:08:52speed and I should do the same with
- 00:08:53Fidelity on average that's going to be
- 00:08:55their speed even though my experience
- 00:08:56was a little bit different that probably
- 00:08:58is the typical experience so nonetheless
- 00:09:01these Brokers at the fastest are 035
- 00:09:04seconds whereas light speed Guardian
- 00:09:07Centerpoint Cobra CME ocean 1 and
- 00:09:11interactive brokers here are all
- 00:09:13significant well interactive brokers is
- 00:09:15kind of on the cusp but the rest of them
- 00:09:17are all quite a bit faster so the reason
- 00:09:20for this is because of the the way
- 00:09:23orders are actually sent to the market
- 00:09:26so we're going to take a moment and I'm
- 00:09:27going to help you understand exactly how
- 00:09:29Market structure works by the way my
- 00:09:31name is Ross Cameron I am a full-time
- 00:09:32Trader and I funded my first account in
- 00:09:342001 more than 20 years ago so I have a
- 00:09:37unique perspective here having traded
- 00:09:39for so long having used dozens of
- 00:09:41different Brokers and platforms to be
- 00:09:42able to share with you what I think are
- 00:09:44the key features that you need in order
- 00:09:47to extract profit consistently so um now
- 00:09:50let's go ahead and jump onto the
- 00:09:51Whiteboard I just wanted to introduce
- 00:09:52myself for those that perhaps are tuning
- 00:09:54in for the first time okay so um this is
- 00:09:57the way it works this is you right here
- 00:10:00this is your broker and we're going to
- 00:10:02do this kind of in the old days this is
- 00:10:04the market here so this is actual Wall
- 00:10:08Street that's the that's this is the
- 00:10:09exchange right here so NASDAQ New York
- 00:10:11Stock Exchange so in the old days this
- 00:10:14is this is your your grandfather your
- 00:10:16grandmother they had to call their
- 00:10:18broker and what did the broker do the
- 00:10:19broker had to call their Trader that was
- 00:10:22on the floor and their Trader walked
- 00:10:24over got your shares came back gave it
- 00:10:26to the broker and so on so forth now in
- 00:10:28the 19 '90s we had the um the the
- 00:10:32release of electronic trading platforms
- 00:10:34and so all of this became electronic so
- 00:10:37you instead of having to actually call
- 00:10:38your broker you're using you know now at
- 00:10:40this point an app or a desktop uh
- 00:10:42platform on your computer so you send
- 00:10:44the order to the broker it goes
- 00:10:46electronically to The Exchange and comes
- 00:10:48right back now what you may not realize
- 00:10:51is that the exchange has to make money
- 00:10:55so they need to make money to cover all
- 00:10:56their operating expenses and the way
- 00:10:58they do that is by charging a fee on
- 00:11:01every share that goes to and from the
- 00:11:03market so the fee is per share so
- 00:11:06whether it's one share or 100,000 shares
- 00:11:09your your rate of what you would get
- 00:11:10charged is based on the number of shares
- 00:11:12you trade so the broker has to pay that
- 00:11:15fee so in the past we used to have to
- 00:11:18pay our broker a commission of like
- 00:11:21$9.99 right old TDM trade it was $9.99
- 00:11:25old eade before commission free trading
- 00:11:27this is how much we paid and then there
- 00:11:30was um something that changed and this
- 00:11:33is the payment for orderflow business
- 00:11:35model so payment for orderflow uh Works
- 00:11:39a little bit differently you have market
- 00:11:41makers uh which are institutional
- 00:11:43Traders so institutional trading firms
- 00:11:46these huge uh financial institutions
- 00:11:49what they decided to do is they actually
- 00:11:50went to the broker and they said hey we
- 00:11:53got an idea instead of sending all your
- 00:11:55orders to the exchange can we buy all
- 00:11:59all of your orders you send them all to
- 00:12:01us so we will execute the orders
- 00:12:03essentially on our own it's like an
- 00:12:06exchange but they actually call it an
- 00:12:08alternative trading system an ATS or a
- 00:12:11dark pool so the institution is going to
- 00:12:13fill all of the orders here and those
- 00:12:15orders actually don't route out to the
- 00:12:17market so how does this work well the
- 00:12:19institutional Traders are actually
- 00:12:21essentially scalping fractions of a
- 00:12:24penny on all of those uh orders that go
- 00:12:27through so instead of the exchange
- 00:12:29making money now the institution is
- 00:12:31making money on the actual trades so
- 00:12:34because they're making so much money
- 00:12:37they pay the broker in payment for
- 00:12:40orderflow so the broker is now getting
- 00:12:42paid they're getting paid enough that
- 00:12:44they realize wait a second we could get
- 00:12:46rid of the commission and if we get rid
- 00:12:47of the commission you know what that's
- 00:12:48going to mean it's going to mean more
- 00:12:50trading and more trading means more
- 00:12:53money so now there's this relationship
- 00:12:55where the Brokers are really trying to
- 00:12:57encourage more Trading because higher
- 00:12:59volume means more trading volume going
- 00:13:02to the market makers in payment for
- 00:13:04order flow and more profit to them now
- 00:13:06because of the inherent potential for a
- 00:13:09conflict of interest in this
- 00:13:10relationship the Brokers are required to
- 00:13:13file disclosures which disclose the
- 00:13:15following execution speed and quality of
- 00:13:19execution so the speed well we
- 00:13:21understand that it's it's pretty obvious
- 00:13:23the speed is slower than Brokers that
- 00:13:27currently allow you to send your orders
- 00:13:29straight to the market so this is now
- 00:13:32where we have um the the free commission
- 00:13:35Brokers down here free Comm
- 00:13:37Brokers and then we have the um I would
- 00:13:41say direct access Brokers um even if
- 00:13:45it's not exactly direct access we're
- 00:13:46just going to sort of call it that these
- 00:13:48the Brokers that send your order
- 00:13:50directly to the market but you still pay
- 00:13:52a commission plus fees right you still
- 00:13:55are paying this fee but what you're
- 00:13:57getting in exchange is fast execution
- 00:14:00now I know this looks like a little bit
- 00:14:01of a crazy whiteboard but hopefully
- 00:14:03you're able to follow along with that so
- 00:14:05these commission free Brokers now are
- 00:14:07filing their quarterly disclosures which
- 00:14:09are what I pulled right here this is
- 00:14:11where they're actually saying how fast
- 00:14:13your execution is except for Robinhood
- 00:14:15but all the others display the speed and
- 00:14:17they're telling you the ex execution
- 00:14:20price Improvement which means
- 00:14:22essentially the argument here of
- 00:14:26why why a retail Trader should use a
- 00:14:29commission free broker is that you get
- 00:14:33commission free trading so you're saving
- 00:14:35money and the institutions that are
- 00:14:38doing payment for orderflow can do
- 00:14:40something the exchanges can't do they
- 00:14:42can split the penny so if you've ever
- 00:14:45looked at a stock trading on one of the
- 00:14:46big exchanges and I'll just pull up um
- 00:14:49my orders right here so xnet this stock
- 00:14:51right here 391 by 392 right a 1-cent
- 00:14:55spread so if you bought 10,000 shares
- 00:14:58and sold it across cross the spread
- 00:14:59that'd be $100 right it's a $100 spread
- 00:15:02with 10,000 shares with $100,000 shares
- 00:15:04it's a $1,000 spread and so what the
- 00:15:07alternative trading systems are doing is
- 00:15:09they're actually able to cut the penny
- 00:15:11in half the exchanges can't do that
- 00:15:13transactions can't go through between
- 00:15:15the spread it's either it's the it's is
- 00:15:17the spread which is 1 cent but the
- 00:15:19alternative trading systems can so what
- 00:15:21they essentially do is they split the
- 00:15:23spread so now on 100,000 shares of
- 00:15:25volume which just one Trader like myself
- 00:15:28might do 500 th000 shares of volume so
- 00:15:30they could make potentially they
- 00:15:32wouldn't make $5,000 but maybe they make
- 00:15:34a third of that maybe on one Trader like
- 00:15:36me they could make $1,500 a day so I'm
- 00:15:39getting a little bit of that kicked back
- 00:15:41to me in terms of when I press the sell
- 00:15:44button instead of getting filled at
- 00:15:46391 I'm getting filled at 391 and a
- 00:15:50quarter of a penny so on 100,000 shares
- 00:15:54I got $250 of quote price Improvement I
- 00:15:58got a little price Improvement the
- 00:15:59broker made a little money the
- 00:16:01alternative trading system and the
- 00:16:02market maker made a little bit of money
- 00:16:04and the person who sold the stock also
- 00:16:06made a little money so everyone seems to
- 00:16:09win and the big loser in all this is the
- 00:16:12exchange and that's because the exchange
- 00:16:14doesn't allow trading below 1 cent so if
- 00:16:18they really wanted to eliminate payment
- 00:16:19for order flow they would probably
- 00:16:21change the rules and say that the
- 00:16:23alternative trading systems can't split
- 00:16:26the penny or they would say exchanges
- 00:16:28can split the penny and then it's even
- 00:16:30but until that happens it hasn't
- 00:16:32happened yet it might might not ever
- 00:16:34happen uh this is the arrangement that
- 00:16:36we have so payment for order
- 00:16:39flow uh the the so so at the end of the
- 00:16:43day traders who are using Brokers that
- 00:16:45offer payment for order flow are getting
- 00:16:47something of real value if you trade an
- 00:16:49average of uh let's say so let me pull
- 00:16:52up the price Improvement so this is the
- 00:16:55column for Price Improvement so all of
- 00:16:57these Brokers here have no no price
- 00:16:59Improvement at all you don't get price
- 00:17:00Improvement because it's not a
- 00:17:01commission free broker but with Weeble
- 00:17:04you get 31 cents of price Improvement
- 00:17:07for every hundred shares 31 cents okay
- 00:17:09so you know what maybe that's not a lot
- 00:17:10of money maybe it's not enough to make
- 00:17:12it worth using because the order
- 00:17:14execution is slow trade zero um they
- 00:17:17don't publish the exact amount but they
- 00:17:18say you get Improvement on 25% of your
- 00:17:20orders trade station gives you price
- 00:17:22Improvement of
- 00:17:24a129 for every hundred shares so now you
- 00:17:27do a th000 shares that's $102 of price
- 00:17:29Improvement you do 100,000 shares I mean
- 00:17:32this starts to add up and so in a sense
- 00:17:36you could start to get paid to trade
- 00:17:39because you get to split some of the
- 00:17:41profit from the payment for orderflow
- 00:17:42relationship so just for the sake of
- 00:17:44argument let me show you what it looks
- 00:17:46like to get paid to trade by a
- 00:17:47commission free broker all right so I'm
- 00:17:49going to pull up uh thinker swim here
- 00:17:51now think the Thinker swi platform as we
- 00:17:54said I'm not a fan of it I think it's
- 00:17:56too slow it's too clunky I don't have my
- 00:17:58hot keys so one of the other points of
- 00:18:00comparison that we have to look at for
- 00:18:03all these platforms we've got number one
- 00:18:05execution speed we've got number two
- 00:18:07commission and then the third that's
- 00:18:09really critical in my experience is the
- 00:18:11platform ux the user experience the
- 00:18:14ability to use hot Keys the ability to
- 00:18:16see level two and and everything else so
- 00:18:19I'm going to pull up Dash Trader this is
- 00:18:21software that I have integrated with my
- 00:18:25thinker swim Charles Schwab account so
- 00:18:26instead of using thinker swim I can
- 00:18:28execute all my trades right here and I'm
- 00:18:30going to show you forward so right now
- 00:18:32I'm up $2.94 and let me just show you
- 00:18:34what happens if I start trading this so
- 00:18:36I'm going to start buying this right
- 00:18:37here and I'm going to use a hotkey I
- 00:18:39could do shift one for a hotkey for 10
- 00:18:41shares so now I'm going to start buying
- 00:18:43it I've now got 100 shares now I'm going
- 00:18:46to start selling it and look at this now
- 00:18:47I'm up
- 00:18:48$3 you see this $
- 00:18:513.97 do you see how I'm actually making
- 00:18:54money right now doesn't seem like that
- 00:18:56should work that way but
- 00:18:59in fact it does I'll mute my speaker so
- 00:19:01it's quiet so this is kind of crazy but
- 00:19:05the reason that I'm able to make this
- 00:19:07money is because of payment for
- 00:19:10orderflow so the broker my thinker swim
- 00:19:14Charles Schwab sends the order through
- 00:19:16the wholesaler and the wholesaler splits
- 00:19:19the penny so they get a little bit of
- 00:19:20profit I get a little bit of profit and
- 00:19:22the person I'm buying the shares from
- 00:19:24gets a little bit of profit so
- 00:19:26essentially they you you've got and and
- 00:19:29I'm going to cancel these open orders
- 00:19:30there's a few still still out there so
- 00:19:32you've got people that are it seems like
- 00:19:35everyone is making money in this
- 00:19:37relationship except for who the exchange
- 00:19:40so now at this point you guys have a
- 00:19:41great understanding of Market structure
- 00:19:43and you recognize that you don't get
- 00:19:45fast execution and commission-free
- 00:19:47trading in one package you really have
- 00:19:49to choose one of the other and
- 00:19:50prioritize one of the two for me for my
- 00:19:53day trading strategy I prioritize speed
- 00:19:57and I'm willing to pay the Commission in
- 00:19:59fact I believe and I'm quite certain of
- 00:20:02this that the the cost that I spend in
- 00:20:04commission is less than the amount of
- 00:20:06money I would lose as a result of Simply
- 00:20:09missing opportunities because when I've
- 00:20:11used commission free Brokers while some
- 00:20:14of them are faster than others even the
- 00:20:15fastest ones they just don't compete
- 00:20:18with direct access Brokers so you could
- 00:20:20see again just on here I mean this is
- 00:20:22this is what we're talking about we're
- 00:20:23talking about you know a a just such a
- 00:20:26big multiple of speed difference it it's
- 00:20:29you just can I mean you can compare it
- 00:20:31obviously but uh but it really doesn't
- 00:20:34it doesn't compare the only reason
- 00:20:36anyone would choose any of these other
- 00:20:37Brokers is because they're free that's
- 00:20:39that's their compelling that's their
- 00:20:41advantage that's their offering and the
- 00:20:43reason that people continue to pay for
- 00:20:46Brokers like these ones here is because
- 00:20:49they're fast it's because of the speed
- 00:20:51that's what you're paying for okay so
- 00:20:53our first uh point of comparison was
- 00:20:55execution speed and our second was
- 00:20:57commission and there was a lot to cover
- 00:20:58on that because it's it's not totally
- 00:21:01black and white to most beginner Traders
- 00:21:03why there's such a wild difference in
- 00:21:05commissions and execution speed all
- 00:21:07right so then the next thing that we
- 00:21:10have to look at in my opinion is
- 00:21:12platform user experience because you
- 00:21:15could have fast execution speed and you
- 00:21:16could have relatively reasonable
- 00:21:18commissions you know whatever but if you
- 00:21:21don't have a good platform none of that
- 00:21:23matters if you're using software that
- 00:21:24crashes repeatedly obviously none of the
- 00:21:27other things matter so these are sort of
- 00:21:29the three most critical components
- 00:21:31execution speed commissions and your
- 00:21:33platform user experience so we're going
- 00:21:35to scroll down on this sheet a little
- 00:21:36bit I group the most important platform
- 00:21:39ux features right down here the first
- 00:21:42one is we need to have level two Market
- 00:21:44data that's the depth of the market
- 00:21:46that's critical I think that that goes
- 00:21:47without saying but for some of you that
- 00:21:49may be information that's new so level
- 00:21:52two data is critical and you get it
- 00:21:54basically everywhere except on Robin
- 00:21:56Hood Legend and ibkr light both both of
- 00:21:58them I think it's coming soon but it's
- 00:22:00not here yet now the second is hot Keys
- 00:22:04hot keys are what I was using on Das
- 00:22:06Trader that allow me to execute orders
- 00:22:08with a press of a button and are super
- 00:22:10fast they are critical and while you
- 00:22:13have them to a limited extent on thinker
- 00:22:16swim they're not functional to what I
- 00:22:18need you also don't have them on a ibkr
- 00:22:21light you don't have them on Fidelity
- 00:22:23and you don't have them on Robin Hood
- 00:22:24Legend which is crazy so these these
- 00:22:26three Brokers really are completely off
- 00:22:28the the list like they're just on the
- 00:22:29side cuz they're not even they're not
- 00:22:31even worth considering for me the next
- 00:22:33Point uh for ux is hotkey offsets a
- 00:22:37hotkey offset is when we say I want to
- 00:22:40buy at the ask plus 10 cents and the
- 00:22:42reason we would do that type of order is
- 00:22:44because during the pre-market session
- 00:22:46when these stocks are moving quickly if
- 00:22:48there's only 100 shares for sale on the
- 00:22:50ask but you want to buy a th you need to
- 00:22:53make sure that you can not only buy the
- 00:22:54100 shares for sale at the ask but you
- 00:22:56can buy the next 500 shares or th000
- 00:22:58that are a couple of cents higher so you
- 00:23:00need to set your order so it's a limit
- 00:23:02order to buy ask plus 10 cents or
- 00:23:05whatever the case is I use ask plus 10
- 00:23:08so if I can't do an offset then I'm not
- 00:23:11going to be able to trade the way I want
- 00:23:12to trade and that's what puts Charles
- 00:23:15Schwab with a thinker swim platform out
- 00:23:17of the running for me so the only way I
- 00:23:19would use Charles Schwab is by
- 00:23:20integrating with Dash Trader and
- 00:23:23spending the extra $175 a month right
- 00:23:26now the third our fourth point of comp
- 00:23:28comparison is the ability to sell based
- 00:23:30on a percentage of your position so if
- 00:23:32we pull up um thinker swim here or
- 00:23:35Charles Schwab here again I'm going to
- 00:23:36take kind of some odd positions here so
- 00:23:38I'll take 10 shares and I'll mute the
- 00:23:40audio here so I'll I'll add a little bit
- 00:23:42more so now I've got 60 shares I'm going
- 00:23:45to press contr X and that's going to
- 00:23:47sell half my position gone 30 shares
- 00:23:49sell another 30 gone sell another
- 00:23:51another 15 I'm selling in halves so see
- 00:23:54how it's automatically calculating the
- 00:23:56number of shares I've got so those
- 00:23:58numbers are changing based on how I'm
- 00:24:00pressing the buttons and I made another
- 00:24:03couple bucks there or well a couple
- 00:24:04cents at least so that is critical for
- 00:24:07me because I want to be able to trade
- 00:24:09without having to type in the number of
- 00:24:10shares I'm holding so unfortunately that
- 00:24:13puts interactive brokers Trader
- 00:24:14workstation on the no list and trade
- 00:24:17station for that reason well they don't
- 00:24:20meet that standard neither justes think
- 00:24:22or Swim neither does E Trade neither do
- 00:24:24Robin Hood Fidelity or ibkr light and
- 00:24:28then the next is seeing halt levels and
- 00:24:31halt resumption quotes So when a stock
- 00:24:33is about to be halted I'll pull up
- 00:24:35thinker swim here um mlgo this stock has
- 00:24:38an lld Limit Up limit down halt level at
- 00:24:41460 that means if the stock goes to 460
- 00:24:44right now it'll halt up if it drops to
- 00:24:46377 it'll halt down I need to know those
- 00:24:49prices I'm trading volatile Securities
- 00:24:51and I need to know if it's about to get
- 00:24:53halted so if I can't see halt levels
- 00:24:55that's going to be a problem so any
- 00:24:58essentially any platform that doesn't
- 00:24:59display halot levels is not going to be
- 00:25:01a platform an active Traders going to be
- 00:25:03able to use certainly if you're trading
- 00:25:05volatile stocks now if you're trading
- 00:25:07large caps which almost never halt
- 00:25:09that's different but if you're trading a
- 00:25:11strategy more similar to mine then
- 00:25:13you're really going to need to trade uh
- 00:25:15you're you're really going to need to
- 00:25:16see halt levels so all right so now um
- 00:25:20so trade station is also out on that uh
- 00:25:23thinker swim is out e trades out these
- 00:25:25ones are all gone and all we really have
- 00:25:28have left here are the direct access
- 00:25:30Brokers plus Weeble so Weeble to me
- 00:25:35really is a solid platform when it comes
- 00:25:36to ux
- 00:25:38now from the ux perspective we've now
- 00:25:41kind of narrowed this down to
- 00:25:43interactive brokers Pro doesn't meet
- 00:25:45doesn't kind of Meet the standard
- 00:25:47unfortunately so they're going to be off
- 00:25:49the list as well uh so now we're down to
- 00:25:51these two four six uh seven Brokers that
- 00:25:55are all uh fast execution super super
- 00:25:58fast but charge a commission and we're
- 00:26:00down to really like three and then
- 00:26:03Charles Schwab only if you're willing to
- 00:26:05use Dash Trader and spend an extra 175 a
- 00:26:07month and if you do that I actually have
- 00:26:09another um let's see let me just I'm
- 00:26:12going to insert a column right here and
- 00:26:14I'm I'm going to just go let's see I'm
- 00:26:15going to insert a column one to the left
- 00:26:17and I'm going to add Schwab with dask
- 00:26:20there we go okay so now when we add
- 00:26:22Charles Schwab using DH Trader yes this
- 00:26:24is going to be an extra 175 a month but
- 00:26:26all of these check out so this is is now
- 00:26:28something that we could say is is doable
- 00:26:31by the way for those of you guys that
- 00:26:32are watching and are interested in
- 00:26:33learning more about my day trading
- 00:26:35strategy I will put a link I'll pin to
- 00:26:37the top comments and I'll put in the
- 00:26:38description where you can download my
- 00:26:39small account worksheet it's a PDF
- 00:26:41that's going to walk you through my five
- 00:26:43criteria for stock selection how I
- 00:26:45manage my risk and I'm going to share
- 00:26:47with you some more details about the
- 00:26:48entry indicators and the exit indicators
- 00:26:50that I use to get in and out of my
- 00:26:52trades every single day so if you're a
- 00:26:53beginner Trader wanting to learn more
- 00:26:55about day trading strategy you're
- 00:26:57welcome to download that free pdf as a
- 00:26:59resource okay so you guys can check that
- 00:27:01out now there's another important point
- 00:27:03of comparison and that is account size
- 00:27:05you might have a broker that you would
- 00:27:06love to use but their minimum account
- 00:27:08size is $25,000 so well that broker is
- 00:27:12off the list so here's what I'm going to
- 00:27:13do I'm going to begin ranking the best
- 00:27:15brokers and I'm going to rank them based
- 00:27:17on category and the first category will
- 00:27:19be best brokers for small accounts now
- 00:27:23if you are a small account Trader and
- 00:27:24you are located in the United States you
- 00:27:27know that in order to day trade with a
- 00:27:29margin account where you would get
- 00:27:31typically four times leverage you need a
- 00:27:33minimum of
- 00:27:35$25,000 yes of course you could fund an
- 00:27:37account with cash and with a cash
- 00:27:39account if you take uh if it's $2,000
- 00:27:41account you've got a th000 shares of a
- 00:27:42$2 stock that's $2,000 position you take
- 00:27:45that trade you close it and you can't
- 00:27:47trade again until tomorrow because you
- 00:27:48got to wait for that trade to settle so
- 00:27:50essentially you could take you know like
- 00:27:52a couple trades a day which is better
- 00:27:54than nothing but it it's not as much as
- 00:27:56most people would want a day trade so a
- 00:27:58us uh Trader the best broker for small
- 00:28:02accounts well they're going to be
- 00:28:03International Brokers now these three
- 00:28:05are what I would say the best brokers
- 00:28:08for small accounts and only two of them
- 00:28:10except us Traders ocean one Securities
- 00:28:13and cmeg capital markets Elite group
- 00:28:16they accept us customers and they offer
- 00:28:18six times leverage so with $1,000
- 00:28:20deposit you've got $66,000 of buying
- 00:28:23power now let me be the first to tell
- 00:28:24you that trading with leverage on
- 00:28:27borrowed money with a small account is
- 00:28:28very risky and you really shouldn't do
- 00:28:30it you should really practice instead in
- 00:28:32that cash account with small share size
- 00:28:35and only scale up to potentially using
- 00:28:38one of these Brokers once you've already
- 00:28:39got a proven track record so trade zero
- 00:28:42International uh they do offer six times
- 00:28:45leverage and they don't enforce the PDT
- 00:28:46rule but they don't accept us residents
- 00:28:50so if you're in um you're in the UK or
- 00:28:53you're in Europe or whatever then you
- 00:28:54could open an account with trade zero
- 00:28:55International with $500 and would be
- 00:28:58fine but they're not going to be a
- 00:29:00broker for us residents now I suppose on
- 00:29:03that same note I have another tab here
- 00:29:05of best brokers for international
- 00:29:06Traders and there'll be a couple others
- 00:29:08over there um so International Traders
- 00:29:11do have more options but for us Traders
- 00:29:14with small accounts you've got only two
- 00:29:16options and they both score pretty
- 00:29:18similarly on the raw score of 1 to 10 a
- 00:29:217.75 for ocean one the only reason they
- 00:29:24score slightly higher is because the
- 00:29:25execution speed is so fast the
- 00:29:28commission is a little higher than CME
- 00:29:31and CME so a little lower commission but
- 00:29:33a little higher uh order speed and and
- 00:29:36and the the longer order speed with ceg
- 00:29:39most of the orders are very fast but
- 00:29:41occasionally orders will lag and I don't
- 00:29:43know why that is but it does happen to
- 00:29:45me uh so that's a little bit of a
- 00:29:47problem and then trade zero you know
- 00:29:50again like I said not a broker for us
- 00:29:51customers or us Traders but for
- 00:29:53international traders who want six times
- 00:29:56leverage and who don't want to be uh
- 00:29:58putting in $25,000 to be above the PDT
- 00:30:01rule so these are my ranking of the best
- 00:30:04brokers for small accounts now let me
- 00:30:07give you my ranking of the best brokers
- 00:30:09for commission free trading when it
- 00:30:11comes to commission free trading Robin
- 00:30:13Hood Fidelity interactive brokers ibkr
- 00:30:16light erade Pro and Charles Schwab using
- 00:30:19thinker swim are pretty much out of the
- 00:30:21running they're really not that great
- 00:30:24now Charles Schwab is the only one that
- 00:30:25I would say I know some of you guys like
- 00:30:27thinker swim and if it works for you
- 00:30:29then by all means but the fact that they
- 00:30:31don't have the hotkey offsets they don't
- 00:30:33have the halt resumptions it just the
- 00:30:35platform's not good enough for me so I
- 00:30:38would give honestly the best score would
- 00:30:41be to Weeble because their desktop
- 00:30:43software is phenomenal and it's a 7.5
- 00:30:45right out of the gates that software is
- 00:30:47great yes the order routing is a little
- 00:30:49slower but that's what they disclose in
- 00:30:51my own experience it really wasn't that
- 00:30:53bad so I think they're a great broker
- 00:30:55for a relatively small account such as a
- 00:30:58cash account if you've got a cash
- 00:31:00account you could trade there you run
- 00:31:02out of cash you trade again the next day
- 00:31:04you don't have to pay $175 for a
- 00:31:06platform fee Charles Schwab D Trader
- 00:31:09$175 a month for that extra software but
- 00:31:12it's a great platform you get great
- 00:31:14price Improvement and this is a great
- 00:31:16one if you've got more than
- 00:31:17$25,000 and you're trading hundreds of
- 00:31:20thousands or even millions of shares a
- 00:31:21day because you're going to get really
- 00:31:23nice price Improvement trade station
- 00:31:25it's fast but the platform the ux nah
- 00:31:29it's not as good as it could be so the
- 00:31:31the winner is Weeble the runner up is
- 00:31:34Schwab using Dash Trader and to be
- 00:31:36honest if I was with Schwab using Dash
- 00:31:38Trader I would be seriously considering
- 00:31:41some of the other Brokers that are out
- 00:31:43there that do charge a commission but
- 00:31:45have faster execution because I would
- 00:31:47wonder if that could make the difference
- 00:31:49but in profitability so that's something
- 00:31:51I would consider now the next ranking
- 00:31:53best brokers for Canadians now I have a
- 00:31:55full Breakaway episode for Canadian so
- 00:31:58you can check that out if you haven't
- 00:31:59already but this is going to be a
- 00:32:01similar ranking ocean one they accept
- 00:32:04Canadians Brokers like trade station
- 00:32:06Charles Schwab they don't accept
- 00:32:08Canadians so you can't even trade there
- 00:32:09even if you want to trade zero Canada
- 00:32:12Weeble Canada Centerpoint Canada $25,000
- 00:32:16$30,000 minimum at Centerpoint Canada
- 00:32:19and then interactive brokers it's just
- 00:32:20not good enough so it's on I mean I
- 00:32:22honestly I could take it off the list
- 00:32:24it's just it's just to me really not
- 00:32:26good well I'll just leave it on there
- 00:32:27for right now but that's the score it's
- 00:32:29available for Canadians but it's just
- 00:32:30not a good enough platform in my
- 00:32:32experience and Rule 144 which I won't
- 00:32:34get into um in a lot of depth here is a
- 00:32:36rule that interactive brokers enforces
- 00:32:38they're the only broker in the world
- 00:32:40that I've ever heard of that enforced
- 00:32:41this rule it's a major problem for
- 00:32:43people who are trading small caps so
- 00:32:45interactive brokers that's just not
- 00:32:47going to work so if you're Canadian
- 00:32:50ocean one's probably going to be your
- 00:32:51best bet or Weeble Weeble charges $22.99
- 00:32:56per trade it's not committ free in
- 00:32:58Canada and it's still a little slower
- 00:33:01but if you did 100,000 shares with
- 00:33:03Weeble it's only $2.99 cents 100,000
- 00:33:07share trade with ocean one with the
- 00:33:08commissions is actually 200 bucks so
- 00:33:12Weeble would be cheaper in Canada if
- 00:33:14you're trading with bigger share size
- 00:33:16okay so this is the ranking of the best
- 00:33:17brokers for Canadians now the best
- 00:33:19brokers for international Traders we're
- 00:33:21going to split them between your small
- 00:33:23account brokers in which case you've got
- 00:33:25ocean 1 CME trade zero International and
- 00:33:28Weeble these are small account Brokers
- 00:33:30they don't enforce the PT rule if you're
- 00:33:32not a US resident so Weeble doesn't
- 00:33:35enforce the PTT rule in Canada it
- 00:33:37doesn't enforce it in other
- 00:33:38jurisdictions except in the United
- 00:33:40States so this is for international
- 00:33:42Traders so these are your top four and
- 00:33:44they all score similarly it's really
- 00:33:45going to come down to a question of
- 00:33:47commission structure Weeble commissions
- 00:33:49can be really good in some places and
- 00:33:51can be really expensive in other places
- 00:33:53so you got to check where you're located
- 00:33:55at your branch trade zero International
- 00:33:58it's the same CME ocean one ocean one
- 00:34:01generally right now is the preferable
- 00:34:02platform now International Traders with
- 00:34:05large accounts cannot use any us broker
- 00:34:08dealers that do payment for orderflow
- 00:34:10you can't use thinker swim you can't use
- 00:34:12trade station you can't use Robin Hood
- 00:34:13not that you'd want to but you're not
- 00:34:15allowed to so if you've got a larger
- 00:34:17account light speeed trading is going to
- 00:34:18be one of the fastest platforms and has
- 00:34:21the best ux if you are a short seller
- 00:34:23you may be interested in one of these
- 00:34:25three and now let's go to the next
- 00:34:26ranking which is the best platforms for
- 00:34:28short sellers Guardian Centerpoint Cobra
- 00:34:32trading these are the top these all
- 00:34:34require minimum $25 $30,000 accounts so
- 00:34:38they're more expensive to create the
- 00:34:39account but they're great for short
- 00:34:41sellers ocean one small account broker
- 00:34:43also has great availability of shares to
- 00:34:45borrow trade zero International and
- 00:34:47trade zero USA $255,000 minimum account
- 00:34:50size I'm actually going to change that
- 00:34:51to Red
- 00:34:53$25,000 so for a small account short
- 00:34:55seller trade zero or ocean one will be
- 00:34:58probably your preference for large
- 00:35:00account short sellers Guardian
- 00:35:01Centerpoint Cobra are going to be the
- 00:35:03tops all of these are great for uh
- 00:35:06International Traders and uh Centerpoint
- 00:35:09accepts Canadians with Centerpoint uh
- 00:35:11Canada so I could actually um I'll just
- 00:35:14add another column right here and we'll
- 00:35:16drop in the Centerpoint Canada because
- 00:35:19Centerpoint Canada and Centerpoint USA
- 00:35:21are um are the same the same company
- 00:35:23they just have a um the two the two
- 00:35:25sister branches so popular there
- 00:35:28for Canadians uh there with Center Point
- 00:35:31Canada and with that I have now given
- 00:35:33you a comprehensive ranking of what I
- 00:35:35think are the best brokers for day
- 00:35:37trading across the board if we're going
- 00:35:39to talk about who gets sort of the award
- 00:35:42if on my master sheet right here it's
- 00:35:44light speed trading with a score of nine
- 00:35:46they are the highest scoring broker
- 00:35:48dealer again I have no affiliate
- 00:35:49relationship with them I just think
- 00:35:51they're a great platform they're really
- 00:35:52solid um and then the rest you can see
- 00:35:55kind of as the ranking goes down uh
- 00:35:56Interactive Broker will move that back
- 00:35:58over into a spot there um and this is
- 00:36:01how it all ranks out so if you are
- 00:36:04interested in learning more about my
- 00:36:05strategy make sure you check out my
- 00:36:06small account PDF linked in the comments
- 00:36:08down below and pin to the top pin to the
- 00:36:10top comment and Linked In the
- 00:36:11description if you're interested in
- 00:36:13having me do a platform demo or broker
- 00:36:15review of one of these platforms you
- 00:36:17haven't seen leave that uh as a note for
- 00:36:19me in the comments I have done Breakaway
- 00:36:21episodes on almost all of these Brokers
- 00:36:24so full length platform demos so if
- 00:36:26you're interested in learning more about
- 00:36:27one of those you could check out one of
- 00:36:29those episodes that is an even deeper
- 00:36:31dive and if you enjoyed today's ranking
- 00:36:34I hope you hit the Thumbs Up And
- 00:36:35subscribe the channel thank you as
- 00:36:36always for tuning in I'll see you for
- 00:36:38the next upload real soon
- 00:36:39[Music]
- day trading
- brokers
- execution speed
- commissions
- user experience
- commission-free trading
- payment for order flow
- small accounts
- international traders
- trading platforms