PT Burnem - "in spite of Penson's idiotic margin rules" - these rules are mandated daytrading margin rules, not a Penson creation.
As to how did CyberCorp customers do as a group? Obviously, I have no access to inside information, but it should be pretty easy to figure out: badly.
Not badly because of Cyber - badly, because they are more active traders. There are very credible studies done, which show that the more often you trade, the lower your overall returns. The very most active traders (read: daytraders), do the worst. This has been confirmed numerous times.
Now, before someone jumps in to say how well they have done daytrading: sure, there is the 1% (not an exact number, but pretty small), who do very well indeed, but the vast majority underperform the market. For the vast majority, they'd be better off in index funds: less stress, less commissions, less taxes, greater returns.
In fact - most daytrades LOSE money over the long term. The only folks who do well, are the brokers (and the fee-based industry that's grown around daytrading - seminars, books, courses, etc). But, don't blame the broker - it is not Cyber's fault. They provide a service. It is your choice to use it.
Good luck in the market!
Morgan |
