[BillyG.]

My thanks to everyone that replied to my questions and posts. Since the last post I have been checking out the Russel 2000 emini and the S&P500 emini as scalping territory because of the popularity at this site. Given the lesser cash required to start with I'm leaning in that direction. I'd rather test my skills and ability to learn with 3K as opposed to 25K. I have been in contact with Infinity Brokers. My contact is Patrick. They offer Sierra charts $25/mo. and free live feed with no monthly fees. I think I'm gonna start with them. Sierra is free for the first 2 weeks to paper trade it. Not sure If I need any other paid services yet. I'm looking to scalp now with the trend; up or down; and using a simple set-up with just 2 moving Avg's. for the Russell (The 20 and 5 simple) and just the 20sma for the S&P. I'm leaning strongly toward starting with one contract until I can profit then adding another and another as I grow more confident. However quicker scalps with multiple contracts is a very tempting thought. If I can make this work and learn from it I will stick with the eminis for however long it lasts. This seems to be the road of least resistance for me now. I want to keep it as stress free as possible. Thanks for reading, Billy

[brownsfan019]

Billy,
If costs are a factor, you can get FREE charting and FREE data with an account at OpenEcry. All things being equal, this will save you money.

I am going to venture to say that the commissions will be lower as well. I could be wrong, but OEC is very competitive and I have never received good rate quotes from Infinity. It's just my experience so take it for what it's worth.

OEC site: http://www.openecry.com/
OEC rates on their site: http://www.openecry.com/rates/rates.cfm
Note that those are the published, public rates. You are probably going to pay these or close to them in the beginning, but they can be negotiated down from there over time.

OEC review here at TL: http://www.traderslaboratory.com/for...html#post12570

[BillyG.]

Hi brownsfan019; As far as costs go I am referring to the initial start-up account funding. 3K as opposed to 25K for stocks. I was impressed with Infinity by the way the broker answered the phone and not someone who knew zip about trading. I'm not saying OEC brokers don't answer the phone---that I don't know. I do know that when I was with TD Waterhouse I sometimes waited for 20 minutes to get one on the phone. The costs I think are about the same as compared to OEC for a round turn trade but $0 for softwear is hard to beat compared to$25/mo. for Sierra. However I don't know enough about the softwears of each to compare them. Do you have or know anyone on here that has had any negative first hand experience with Infinity? They also have live training using their order system which sounds helpful for me. I am not going to fund for a few weeks until after I am caught up with my outside chores. This winter will be my time to learn. Thanks for reading; Billy

[brownsfan019]

Originally Posted by BillyG. »

Hi brownsfan019; As far as costs go I am referring to the initial start-up account funding. 3K as opposed to 25K for stocks. I was impressed with Infinity by the way the broker answered the phone and not someone who knew zip about trading. I'm not saying OEC brokers don't answer the phone---that I don't know. I do know that when I was with TD Waterhouse I sometimes waited for 20 minutes to get one on the phone. The costs I think are about the same as compared to OEC for a round turn trade but $0 for softwear is hard to beat compared to$25/mo. for Sierra. However I don't know enough about the softwears of each to compare them. Do you have or know anyone on here that has had any negative first hand experience with Infinity? They also have live training using their order system which sounds helpful for me. I am not going to fund for a few weeks until after I am caught up with my outside chores. This winter will be my time to learn. Thanks for reading; Billy

Billy,
As an experienced futures trader myself and having demo'd many, many software products over the years, I would say that the OEC platform and fee structure is really hard to beat. I think the charting is sufficient depending on what you need and the fact that you get tons of FREE data is amazing to me. Not sure how infinity is with Sierra, but you may need to pay for your data feed as well. Maybe they include a limited set of feeds. But let's say one day you want to take a look at bonds, or mini gold, maybe the DAX or the STOXX or some other foreign markets... With OEC you just open the software and off you go. The data is there, in real-time for free to customers. You'll want to know how that works with Sierra and Infinity - ask about the data fee(s), if any. Ask how many market(s) you get for free if they say it's free. The free feed may only be the CBOT, which is free to everyone for now.

You can get a 2 week trial from OEC and if need be, you can request it be extended as well. I suggest taking it for a test spin and compare. See how it feels and reacts to Infinity. You will want to be comfortable, so go with your gut.

Good luck.