James, I don't understand what trading curbs have to do with the inaccessibility of discount online brokers. I also don't see any reason to get the government involved with a classic situation of demand greatly exceeding supply.
This is just a "you get what you pay for" situation. As far as I have heard, the problems exist solely with the deep-discount brokerages. I've read no examples on SI where a Paine Webber or Dean Witter retail customer couldn't access his broker. It's unrealistic to expect "Nordstrom" type service at a K-mart.
I think you should just vote with your feet, or in this case your fingers. If you were shut out of Discover or Ameritrade today, and you find that unsatisfactory, just close your account. That's what I'm going to do. Let them know that trading for under $20 does not compensate you for the inability to get through during busy periods. Open an account with a broker that perhaps charges a little more but can be reached at all times, especially during times of heavy activity. If enough of their customers do that, they'll get the message. On the other hand, maybe there are enough people out there who want to pay $9 for a trade and if they can't get in, so be it. Maybe these brokers would rather have the "2 trades a month" type customer rather than the active traders. They sure act that way.
The market will eventually shake itself out. The Ameritrades of the world will either do very well, or determine that low price alone is not sufficient to satisfy enough customers to keep them in business.
At worst, these deep-discounters are guilty of false advertising. You can call the FTC if you want to. But for the future of online trading, let the market decide, not the SEC.
Gary |
