After leaving the investment company that I was with for over 12 years and my father passing away, I decided I was going to actively managed my families funds. I have experienced some good and some bad as I started with Charles Schwab. Initially I was very impressed with the tools available through their website and trading tools with their computer software, StreetSmart Edge, and mobile application along with investing with artificial intelligent portfolios in ETF's with no fees. Unfortunately I have found the real truth elsewhere.
I have shared my experience trading with a friend. I recommended he use ETrade due to their tools and didn't recommend opening an account with Schwab. I decided to stay with Schwab so I can manage my mother's account and participate in lower transaction cost. Unfortunately Schwab has me very frustrated because their mobile application is horrible and does not provide the ability to use trailing stops. Only the full blown StreetSmart Edge, which is only available on a Windows 10 PC or a Mac, is capable of doing complete entry and exit strategies on the one platform.
I do have a Windows 10 computer that is awesome, but would like to be able to be free and not attached to it at all times during the day trading. I use my Samsung phone and tablet for doing work
and would prefer to use it for trading also. The mobile application is extremely slow and I have found using the mobile website to be better for some things. Charts are not practical on a mobile device through Schwab. I have had a tendency of using Yahoo Finance (not instant updates) or ETrade to view charts with indicators through the day when I am mobile.
When I am mobile, I have found that I can access my computer at home via a remote desktop application and use the StreetSmart Edge software on my home computer through my mobile device. This is not fun as my connection with the internet is strong for the most part, but may lose connection with my computer at home or experience a lag that causes me to miss clicking on the correct button at the correct time. The mobile device only views a portion of the home computer's screen which makes it difficult to click when you are actually moving the screen and vise versa.
So the next step was to find a Windows based tablet or laptop that I could use for trading and everything else. Costco has a current sale on a Surface Pro 6 bundle with type cover and stylus bundle, so I took advantage of it. The Surface starts up very quickly and works great. When I logged into StreetSmart Edge, I loaded my saved layout after connecting to my TV as an extended wireless monitor. It was fast, but blown up!
I have 4 different company charts on the 2nd screen, but I could only see 2 and a half of the charts. On the main screen, the chart I have to the right was hidden under the account details and watch list. After further investigating, the TV was set to 150% and the main screen of my tablet at 200%. So I changed both to 100% and the display on the TV looked perfect, but the tablet screen print was so small I could not make much out. This was not working out too well.
In another attempt to try to make it work is using the browser version of StreetSmart Edge. I already knew that the it would not work in Chrome as I tried it on a Chromebook in the past. I also tried it on Firefox. It said that it works in Internet Explorer, so I figured it would work in Microsoft Edge. WRONG!!! This is really bad since Microsoft is trying to get rid of Internet Explorer for good.
On top of that, Schwab's StreetSmart Edge software is buggy. The later in the day, it slows down. I have called their technical support, got someone in trading who had to transfer me to someone in technical support, and then they want you to install a browser add on so they can look into your computer. They have backed up my StreetSmart Edge layout, wiped StreetSmart Edge clean and restored my layouts. This typically works better for about a day. After that it is slow again.
I have tried to find different ways to salvage my relationship with Schwab, but ultimately it feels like they don't want to be in a relationship with me as their tools have not improved and actually worsened. I have tried to make an egg into an orange and it has not worked. I feel insane doing the same thing everyday expecting a different result.
I don't know why it has taken me so long to finally come to the determination about wanting to leave
Schwab. I know that ETrade and TD Ameritrade have the tools available on all platforms that are available on StreetSmart Edge with very little to no lag time. I have an old ETrade account and opened a paper trading account on TD Ameritrade. I will contact Schwab first to find out what they are going to do to improve on the situation. I will then contact TD Ameritrade to see if I can negotiate lower sales commissions.
I have shared my experience trading with a friend. I recommended he use ETrade due to their tools and didn't recommend opening an account with Schwab. I decided to stay with Schwab so I can manage my mother's account and participate in lower transaction cost. Unfortunately Schwab has me very frustrated because their mobile application is horrible and does not provide the ability to use trailing stops. Only the full blown StreetSmart Edge, which is only available on a Windows 10 PC or a Mac, is capable of doing complete entry and exit strategies on the one platform.I do have a Windows 10 computer that is awesome, but would like to be able to be free and not attached to it at all times during the day trading. I use my Samsung phone and tablet for doing workand would prefer to use it for trading also. The mobile application is extremely slow and I have found using the mobile website to be better for some things. Charts are not practical on a mobile device through Schwab. I have had a tendency of using Yahoo Finance (not instant updates) or ETrade to view charts with indicators through the day when I am mobile.
When I am mobile, I have found that I can access my computer at home via a remote desktop application and use the StreetSmart Edge software on my home computer through my mobile device. This is not fun as my connection with the internet is strong for the most part, but may lose connection with my computer at home or experience a lag that causes me to miss clicking on the correct button at the correct time. The mobile device only views a portion of the home computer's screen which makes it difficult to click when you are actually moving the screen and vise versa.
So the next step was to find a Windows based tablet or laptop that I could use for trading and everything else. Costco has a current sale on a Surface Pro 6 bundle with type cover and stylus bundle, so I took advantage of it. The Surface starts up very quickly and works great. When I logged into StreetSmart Edge, I loaded my saved layout after connecting to my TV as an extended wireless monitor. It was fast, but blown up!
I have 4 different company charts on the 2nd screen, but I could only see 2 and a half of the charts. On the main screen, the chart I have to the right was hidden under the account details and watch list. After further investigating, the TV was set to 150% and the main screen of my tablet at 200%. So I changed both to 100% and the display on the TV looked perfect, but the tablet screen print was so small I could not make much out. This was not working out too well.
In another attempt to try to make it work is using the browser version of StreetSmart Edge. I already knew that the it would not work in Chrome as I tried it on a Chromebook in the past. I also tried it on Firefox. It said that it works in Internet Explorer, so I figured it would work in Microsoft Edge. WRONG!!! This is really bad since Microsoft is trying to get rid of Internet Explorer for good.
On top of that, Schwab's StreetSmart Edge software is buggy. The later in the day, it slows down. I have called their technical support, got someone in trading who had to transfer me to someone in technical support, and then they want you to install a browser add on so they can look into your computer. They have backed up my StreetSmart Edge layout, wiped StreetSmart Edge clean and restored my layouts. This typically works better for about a day. After that it is slow again.
I have tried to find different ways to salvage my relationship with Schwab, but ultimately it feels like they don't want to be in a relationship with me as their tools have not improved and actually worsened. I have tried to make an egg into an orange and it has not worked. I feel insane doing the same thing everyday expecting a different result.
I don't know why it has taken me so long to finally come to the determination about wanting to leave Schwab. I know that ETrade and TD Ameritrade have the tools available on all platforms that are available on StreetSmart Edge with very little to no lag time. I have an old ETrade account and opened a paper trading account on TD Ameritrade. I will contact Schwab first to find out what they are going to do to improve on the situation. I will then contact TD Ameritrade to see if I can negotiate lower sales commissions.
No comments:
Post a Comment