Fred,
I can't speak for Ryan, sounds like he used amazingly bad judgement in your case. As far as what will happen if I have a problem at WebStreet, I'm very confident that the outcome will be far superior to most online brokers, especially Datek. Here's a real life example.
One of my first trades with Web Street was in INTC, as a day trade. When I went to close the position, I went with a market order because of the fast market. My order was somehow executed 30 minutes later. I had actually bought and sold the same stock again in the meantime, it was a real mess. One phone call and 5 or 10 minutes later, my account was adjusted to reflect the price at the time I placed the original order to sell.
I compare this to several nightmares with lost market orders I've had at Datek. After 20 minutes of no execution of a market order on INTC (interestingly during the same week that I had the problem at Web Street), when I finally got through to Datek on the phone, the broker was after a few minutes only able to cancel the market order. I said what about an execution. He said "I got you your cancel, now your own your own."
I'm guessing Ryan didn't know what the industry standard is, maybe didn't know the details of Web Street's policy when you called. I don't think his actions are typical of Web Street's usually excellent customer service.
BTW, if I have a problem with Web Street, I'll be the first to report it. Having already had accounts at eBroker and Datek, I'm very satisfied with how they compare. I think their web page could be a little faster, and I'm not happy that they can't check whether or not they have shares available to short automatically and electronically. Otherwise, I'm very satisfied, and very happy about my commission savings.
Fred, on another topic, I am intrigued by your investment style of being equally long and short the market at the same time. How has this worked for you? Sounds like a great way to cancel market swings. Have the short positions been a drag on your portfolio during the strong bull run we've had the last few years?
Best of luck in your online trading with whatever company or companies you choose.
Esteban |
