Thoughts on brokerage/banks

was recommended interactive brokers (IB). cheapest in market, but service and platform were dubious I have read.

I have no first hand experience, no do not represent any interests of IB.

Interactive Brokers is great, I know some who use it, there is a minimum and it's more geared towards professionals. love it!

I like the platform and service available on my thinkorswim account. Their rates are very good and executions are fast. The standalone (and beta web) platform gives you streaming CNBC and similar which you may find useful if you don't have cable or access to a TV during the day.

I also have a schwab account with $0 in it that I had to open with my checking account...their platform seems pretty crappy if you want to do any sort of active trading (unless they have some standalone software I have not seen yet).

I would recommend IB as well. Depends on your account size of course and what do you want to do. If you want to trade simple, plain vanilla derivatives than IB or any other discount broker will do fine. If you want some exotic stuff, you need to be an investment bank client with few milli's on your account, but then you probably wouldn't ask SF

if you have to ask on SF, IB may not be suitable. just sayin ...

I use TOS like otc and it's wicked awesome.

In terms of reach vs cost ib can't be beat. Most others will have geogrpahical limitations, or will be damned expensive.

interactive brokers for certain

I have used USAA for stock and options trading in US markets, and like them. Can't make any recommendations on foreign markets.

Interactive Brokers is good for algo trading. I have heard the same thing about Lime Brokerage. Both have very reasonable fees. Interactive Brokers has some pretty good historical data though it is hard to query and their customer service is atrocious. They have a pretty good API though it only works when you have their GUI running. Lime has pretty good customer service but it only covers U.S. markets. Think or Swim is decent. It offers no historical data so you need to subscribe to another provider like DTN for system development. ToT is good if you are a beginner. Tradestation is kind of in the middle. Their platform is expensive. You can do a lot of silly stuff with it,

What do you mean as algo-trading exactly? IB has order cancellation fees as far as I remember, which means you can run up to medium-frequency strategies. Lime is better in terms if you are serious, but they require at least $100k and commission will be negotiated with you. You can run some more serious algos there, but if you really mean business, you should get prime-brokerage service from serious institution.

Stay with retail guys - Interactive, ThinkOrSwim, Zecco etc

By algo trading I mean using algorithms to decide entry and exit points. Not all algos are high frequency - think beta arbitrage for example. Besides their API, I see no compelling reasons to use interactive brokers. As a retail investor you can get international exposure through ETF, or by many other means.