Is TD ameritrade worth it with DAS

[Dylan irish 0]

Hello everyone, I searched the forums before starting this to answer my question but it was more just people talking about how they should switch. Has anyone who has DAS and was on Interactive brokers actually switched to TD ameritrade and stayed? I am trying to see if the no commissions is worth the switch. How is the execution speed, availability of shares for short? Those seem to be the most important aspects of the broker but if anyone has any other ideas throw them down. I am weighing the benefits of both brokers and execution speed is extremely important. How is the integration with DAS, any glitches?

Edited August 10, 2021 by Dylan irish

[Samuel Blake 3]

Hey Dylan,

I can only comment my experience with TD and TOS. I have been using them for the past year and a half and have been able to be profitable. My strategy does not require the best execution speed to be able to trade the open like other members of BBT and I cannot speak to the function of TD with DAS.

That being said, if you are looking for excellent fills (or any fill) when the price action starts moving quickly, you likely will be disappointed. I have had many times that I did not get the fill despite hitting the ask. Obviously a market order would go through but I would expect that to have a terrible fill. I would not recommend it if you rely on scalping strategies that require execution speed at the time and price you want, I just haven't had a great experience with that on this platform (which results in chasing the entry).

There seems to be a fair number of stocks available for shorting. Most of the major stocks that are consistently showing up in the premarket show have shares for short (easy to borrow) with exception of the random low floats and various other stocks that cross the screener from time to time.

Another downside is that by not paying for DAS you miss out on the full extent of the Level II. It is included in TOS but I'm fairly sure it is a fraction of the data that should be showed.

I plan to switch to DAS at some point but so far the no commission trading and free platform has been good enough for my strategy to be profitable. You could always give it a shot with a small account and see if it would work for you. Best of luck!

[zulkafil 38]

Hello,

I am using TOS for last one year.  I am also curious about DAS with TDA account. I found a few traders using DAS with TDA and they are experiencing better execution speed than TOS.

[Trader2021 0]

Thanks for sharing the info about TOS and DAS.

[noob 5]

Ver 1.4

## this adjust the correct number of shares, but leaves the b/e at the entry stop price, versus to b/e.

Sell 1/4

CXL ALLSYMB;ROUTE=MARKET; ROUTE=LIMIT;Share=Pos*.25;Price=Bid-.01;TIF=DAY+;SELL=Send; TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice-0.1 ACT:SELL STOPPRICE:StopPrice QTY:Pos TIF:DAY+;

Sell 1/2

CXL ALLSYMB;ROUTE=MARKET; ROUTE=LIMIT;Share=Pos*.5;Price=Bid-.01;TIF=DAY+;SELL=Send; TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice-0.1 ACT:SELL STOPPRICE:StopPrice QTY:Pos TIF:DAY+;

Buy 1/4

CXL ALLSYMB;ROUTE=MARKET; ROUTE=LIMIT;Share=Pos*.25;Price=Bid-.01;TIF=DAY+;Buy=Send; TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice-0.1 ACT:BUY STOPPRICE:StopPrice QTY:Pos TIF:DAY+;

Buy 1/4

CXL ALLSYMB;ROUTE=MARKET; ROUTE=LIMIT;Share=Pos*.5;Price=Bid-.01;TIF=DAY+;Buy=Send; TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice-0.1 ACT:BUY STOPPRICE:StopPrice QTY:Pos TIF:DAY+;

============================

Ver 1.5

 

## this adjust the correct number of shares, places the stop @ b/e. 

Sell 1/4

CXL ALLSYMB;ROUTE=MARKET; ROUTE=LIMIT;Share=Pos*.25;Price=Bid-.01;TIF=DAY+;SELL=Send; TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice-0.1 ACT:SELL STOPPRICE:AvgCost QTY:Pos TIF:DAY+;                       

Sell 1/2

CXL ALLSYMB;ROUTE=MARKET; ROUTE=LIMIT;Share=Pos*.5;Price=Bid-.01;TIF=DAY+;SELL=Send; TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice-0.1 ACT:SELL STOPPRICE:AvgCost QTY:Pos TIF:DAY+;         

 

Buy 1/4

CXL ALLSYMB;ROUTE=MARKET; ROUTE=LIMIT;Share=Pos*.25;Price=Bid-.01;TIF=DAY+;BUY=Send; TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice-0.1 ACT:BUY STOPPRICE:AvgCost QTY:Pos TIF:DAY+;   

Buy 1/4

CXL ALLSYMB;ROUTE=MARKET; ROUTE=LIMIT;Share=Pos*.5;Price=Bid-.01;TIF=DAY+;BUY=Send; TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice-0.1 ACT:BUY STOPPRICE:AvgCost QTY:Pos TIF:DAY+;   

I just switched and ran into few issues. I had to make some changes to my script and hot keys. You can take a look at it via this link here. 

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by noob