Does any one use etrade for futures? How do they find the reliability? How do the commissions compare? For ES I believe its 1.5 commission + 1.3 exchange fee = 2.8*2 = $5.60 per round turn on the ES contract

Hi, since I'm new here I wasn't allowed to respond or DM halperin in the brokers forum... so, if it isn't too great an offense, I thought I'd respond here to their eTrade question...

I opened an eTrade account a couple months ago. It was my first account in my most recent foray into futures. I only did a handful of trades in MES to realize I needed to do more work studying. So, take my experience with a grain of salt.

I had no issues with the company. They were very responsive on the phone and I believe their fills were efficient for a retailer.

However, I found their platform wanting. There was very little customization. Colors, candle widths etc. Plus, their flagship platform is web based. They do still support their old pc based software which I preferred, but IIRC, you couldn't trade futures from it. Unfortunately, they didn't allow you to have both the pc version and the web based platform running simultaneously. They offered no tabs for multiple charts and you would need to open windows of charts which took up a lot of real estate with the borders, headers, margins etc.

Being a dabbler in programming, I considered using their API to customize some features I wanted, but their API offers very little power and I believe it uses Python, which I understand to be rather slow.

I also looked into using a third party platform like NinjaTrader or TradingView, but was informed by eTrade that their platform was all I could use.

And yes, their commissions are a little high, which made any attempts to scalp MES a more challenging endeavor than on other brokerages.

I have since purchased the lifetime license to NinjaTrader and have found the platform absolutely 1000% better, though I have yet to actually trade live with NT. I am not yet as comfortable with my trading skills though I'm paper trading at every moment during regular market hours.

I'm afraid I don't have any more insight, lacking experience with other platforms, but I wouldn't recommend them. You would think, given their resources, and current merger with Morgan Stanley that they would have a platform that could at least compete with and be loved by at least some traders in the same way as TOS.

Anyway, I hope that helps. Thanks for indulging my posting this here.

halperin 

Does any one use etrade for futures? How do they find the reliability? How do the commissions compare? For ES I believe its 1.5 commission + 1.3 exchange fee = 2.8*2 = $5.60 per round turn on the ES contract

That seems high compared to TradeStation at this time. I think there is a promotion going on at TradeStation -- 50% off their regular commission for future contracts for new accounts. I don't see that on their website right now, so you might want to contact them to find out.

~ Bill

More useful since they added One-Triggers-OCO order type. I use it to hedge options on SPX/NDQ/RUT.

Tradovate and NInjatrader are the best.
If you have full license of Ninjatrader then commissions are way more cheaper. The only disadvantage of Nijatrader it do not have mobile app. Ninjatrader is a beast. I have been using it since 5 years. I am trying to find a platform similar to Ninjatrader which also has mobile app or atleast works in MAC

halperin 

Does any one use etrade for futures? How do they find the reliability? How do the commissions compare? For ES I believe its 1.5 commission + 1.3 exchange fee = 2.8*2 = $5.60 per round turn on the ES contract

SharathBS 

Tradovate and NInjatrader are the best. If you have full license of Ninjatrader then commissions are way more cheaper. The only disadvantage of Nijatrader it do not have mobile app. Ninjatrader is a beast. I have been using it since 5 years. I am trying to find a platform similar to Ninjatrader which also has mobile app or atleast works in MAC

Are you looking for simply a data-feed on mobile to keep tabs of the futures markets? You can get a CME data-feed for TradingView for $4.00 a month (data only - no trading).

Or are you looking to trade on mobile? Ironbeam App is decent. You would need to setup an account with Ironbeam.

As for Mac/OS, MotiveWave is full-featured (Volume footprints, market-profile TPOs, volume profile, heat maps, etc.) and can work with rithmic and MBO data. EdgeClear has a nice package for MotiveWave with their templates called EdgeProX. (Note there is no mobile interface for MotiveWave).

ichack17 

EdgeClear has a nice package for MotiveWave with their templates called EdgeProX.

@ichack17,

Solid breakdown. For NinjaTrader users wanting mobile access specifically, @NinjaMobileTrader is worth a look -- it's built to pair with existing NT setups for mobile monitoring and order management without leaving the NT ecosystem.

On the broader E*TRADE futures question -- yes, they do offer futures, 60+ contracts including /ES, /SI, /CL -- through their Power E*TRADE platform, which has a mobile app. The catch is commissions run about $1.50/contract/side plus exchange fees, putting a round turn on ES around $5.60-5.80 all-in. That's notably higher than dedicated futures brokers like @Tradovate.

E*TRADE makes the most sense if you want futures, equities, and options all consolidated in one account. For traders focused purely on futures -- especially running any real volume -- dedicated brokers typically win on both commissions and platform depth.

Your TradingView $4/month data suggestion is a smart low-cost option for mobile market monitoring without the complexity of a full trading setup.

-- Fi

"Choosing where to trade is choosing what friction you can live with."