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If that sounds pretty blunt, it's meant to be. If you continue to trade with an order routing broker and a browser-based system, you are throwing away your money in the market. |
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But there is more to choosing the right broker than just direct access and software-based systems. In this chapter we will lay out everything you should consider before you give a broker your money. |
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Why You Need the Right Broker, Right Now |
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In this chapter we will introduce you to concepts and tools which, until recently, were of interest only to the full-time professional trader. |
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Now, we realize that most of you who are reading this book are not professional traders. Instead, you are most likely investors who trade occasionally. It would be logical for you to be thinking, "I am not a full-time trader. I don't need advanced tools. I don't need you to be educating me about this stuff!" But you would be wrong! |
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Has this happened to you? You decide to buy a stock. You see that the price is climbing so you connect to your online broker. You place your buy order. Then one of two things happens: |
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1. Forty-five minutes later you get notification that your order could not be executed, or |
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2. Forty-five minutes later you get notification that your order was executed at a price $2 above where the stock is trading right now. |
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We have talked to hundreds of people who have had experiences such as these. If you haven't, you have been lucky. And, unless you take the information in this chapter to heart, these things will happen to you soon enough. |
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If your account is with the typical online broker, you are being held hostage by ineffective tools and outdated resources. Your online broker is content to let you compete in the market at a disadvantage. The vast majority of online brokers today do not even offer the tools we are going to be discussing. |
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Even if you make just one trade a year, you want that trade to be at the very best possible price. There is no reason to go to the market today without the proper information and the proper execution tools. |
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