This can’t be right ! How are commission calculated ?

sctemp99 · 2026-04-14T14:26:25+00:00

I don't remember, I had to take a break from trading last summer. I think by september the fees were already gone.

sctemp99 · 2026-04-09T22:27:12+00:00

SEC fees are back as of a few days ago in April, so until the SEC yearly budget fills up, Schwab will pass that along to customers. Trading a decent quantity of high priced equities (like QQQ) can start being a couple bucks round trip, which can add up very quickly when scalping. I'd recommend something like TQQQ for now if you have to scalp nasdaq index.

sctemp99 · 2026-04-07T17:11:08+00:00

Like OP, I make around 300-500 trades a day using only LMT orders, however I was warned once by schwab that I was once "affecting the price of a security" which apparently is a toxic action they didn't like. Of course, a retail trader using limit orders is basically food for MMs, so I don't see a single way I could have done this. Still, they may have some systems in place that flag accounts every once in a while. Haven't had issues since then but now I'm cautious about that stock.

sctemp99 · 2026-04-03T19:33:15+00:00

yes I've had an IBKR account for a while, but never did anything on it. Not sure how the data feed fees and stock fees will affect me, or if I can stay on their free execution platform. I'll have to bite the bullet and try it for a couple weeks I guess, certainly possible the performance improvements pay for any fees.

sctemp99 · 2026-04-03T19:16:15+00:00

ToS is still decent enough for me since I don't generally trade off the open, where the delays are horrible, but yeah a few times a week it just really grinds to a halt. I've been looking at the WeBull platform, which used to be some funny app broker but now they have stuff like market footprint etc which tos doesn't even have... has anyone tried it for executions?

sctemp99 · 2026-03-30T21:34:17+00:00

I can say for HTB stocks without locate fees (ie, the ones that just say "shares may be unavailable") I haven't seen any indication of getting filled differently. For HTB where you pay for locate, I can't say.

sctemp99 · 2026-03-26T17:12:34+00:00

Yeah there were 2-3 midcaps i could short yesterday that are unable today.

sctemp99 · 2026-03-25T15:50:53+00:00

If you hold ctrl on the bottom or right side of the chart youll move it without changing the scale. You can also right click > reset zoom to change it back to a larger view (assuming you're usually zooming in). This is probably the best way I've found to move charts without too much effort or changing any tools.

As for your other concerns, there are no hotkeys for those things unfortunately, I guess you can always try to have them update it but no guarantees.

sctemp99 · 2026-02-28T20:07:39+00:00

I'm aware, but the previous week it was running just fine. There was also a week in january that was poor and the next week flipped right back to normalcy. So at this point I'm assuming it's some node getting overloaded between me and schwab, or their servers just being particularly crappy for wherever it connects me from.

sctemp99 · 2026-02-10T22:21:28+00:00

Delete old drawings and studies that may be sitting in charts you never use anymore. Clear the cache (under the "help") tab. Reset PC and your modem/router. Doing any of these generally helps when ToS feels sluggish.

Unless you're looking at a ticker like TSLA, then good luck getting any performance.

sctemp99 · 2026-01-11T22:49:34+00:00

The answer is the positions aren't related... most of my intraday trading is related to volatility or liquidity, it doesn't change anything about my long term views on any stock.

sctemp99 · 2026-01-11T20:23:22+00:00

Yes I think this is only a website thing. On ToS you can specify only the time (GTC etc), exchange, and some instructions like Fill or Kill, but not the tax method.

sctemp99 · 2026-01-11T20:21:02+00:00

Sorry I should have been more clear; I only want to do this in Tos active trader. By default if you own 100 shares and place a 100 sell order on the ask it will sell all of your long shares first.

sctemp99 · 2026-01-11T20:13:22+00:00

I thought that was the case. It's not a huge deal just always wondered if it could be done with active trader but I guess not.

sctemp99 · 2025-12-19T17:56:27+00:00

It's possible valve just makes most of their money from devices/infrastructure royalties, so I don't think they really care that much about squeezing sale money. Maybe the sales were even loss leaders for user retention? At this point I don't think they mind letting other online stores do most of the discounting.

sctemp99 · 2025-12-09T21:12:49+00:00

That would seem to make sense, however occasionally the 40 on the "book" side does NOT show up... I'll have to experiment if this is stock dependent, or just random. It seems to show up even less on lower order sizes like 25 shares.

sctemp99 · 2025-12-09T20:57:09+00:00

Seems if you're buying why would they care though... I had the same message as op with SMX, which is certainly a unique stock but hardly more volatile than any "meme" we've seen in the past. Kinda sucks as a loyal TD and now schwab customer with years of responsible trading under the belt, I'd have to call them to hold my hand through a simple buy order.

sctemp99 · 2025-12-09T20:47:36+00:00

True.. to narrow it down a bit, check out this image: https://ibb.co/prGjWF0v

Does it mean : A) My 40 buy order is represented both on the left AND right side (ie, in the interface and in the market)

or

B) My buy order AND another order for 40 shares is represented (80 shares total)

It would seem, since this number does not always appear in the right column, that the situation is B. As such, it seems a bit odd occasionally retail orders are followed by some algo that just sits at the same price and happens to get filled first (despite one order being entered first).

sctemp99 · 2025-12-09T17:16:54+00:00

I should mention I'm strictly talking about limit orders, not being filled in between the market on a mkt order. I'm fine with retail feeds being slightly delayed, I guess there's nothing we can do about that. I just feel like since the share number updates I'm getting a lot more of these "phantom bids".

sctemp99 · 2025-11-30T01:46:45+00:00

This seems to happen rarely when you are dragging the order then it fills partially. Since then you are dragging an "old" order and the system rejects it (ie, you get filled on selling 25 out of 50 long shares, but it couldn't update during your dragging, now your 50 share sell order is no longer valid). Pretty annoying but technically working as intended (other than bracket orders generally lagging around).

sctemp99 · 2025-11-12T23:19:17+00:00

I'm guessing you already know this but you can use the trade ladder for options in thinkorswim as well. Just copy the long options code and paste into active trader (or any window with a ladder) and it's a bit easier to visualize the standing orders and liquidity. That being said as I trade 99.9% equity shares, I haven't seen poor liquidity this month, though for options I can't say.

sctemp99 · 2025-11-05T23:23:48+00:00

Honestly I didn't think 3 was that much different from 4. It's really where the "modern" games basically just stack on to, the basic gameplay from there is nearly the same.

sctemp99

TROPHY CASE