Why Cybertrader (www.cybertrader.com) is My Favorite Online Stock Broker

Back in 1998, I started to dabble with daytrading.

Like most people at the time, I was stuck with a subpar trading solution. For me, it was trading at the Toronto Dominion bank. Their online stock brokerage at the time was horrible, charging outrageous commissions (I believe it was $39.95 per trade), offering absolutely terrible customer support and terrible trade placements (usually took 10 minutes to get my order filled and my trade confirmed.)

At the time, direct access trading was just starting to take shape. There weren't many solutions back then, and most people still relied on their online bank brokerages. E-Trade and Ameritrade were starting to rise to prominence, however, they were still beset by problems. Most notably, they had major trouble remaining up and functional on extremely heavy market days.

I saw an advertisement for Cybertrader in late 1999, and it looked very intriguing. The demo that I had tested out was light years ahead of anything that I was using at my bank's brokerage. Plus, commissions were half of what they were at my bank, and there was much more functionality, including Level II screens, real-time charts, watch lists, etc. I signed up for an account, wired my money in, and was off and running.

I'll never forget the first time that I filled a trade instantly. This was nirvana! I didn't have to wait 10 minutes to get a trade confirmation? I could actually get in and out of a fast-moving stock? All I just was fill in my order, wait to hit the bid or ask, and boom, my order would be filled instantly. Not only that, but the commissions were lower, I had real-time watchlists now, streaming news, and real-time charts. I was in heaven.

The thing is, almost 8 years later; I'm still in heaven. Cybertrader has continued to upgrade their service and lower their prices. I believe that the cost of a trade now is $12.95 per trade, falling to $9.95 if you do a certain number of trades per month. Their customer service is great; always available through a little chat screen in their trading software. The company listens to its customers, and always tries to incorporate new features into their latest builds. The company was bought by Charles Schwab, but the integrity of the product hasn't been compromised; Charles Schwab has been smart enough to maintain a largely hands-off approach to the development of the software.

Great customer service. Excellent and useful tools. Low commissions. Money is extremely easy to move in and out. Cybertrader is highly recommended, and not, they aren't paying me to say this!

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