Hi, Cali. On other online svcs, Prodigy in particular, eTrade has received some well thought out, seemingly well deserved BLASTS from very VERY unhappy customers and now former customers.
I usta do biz with J.B. Oxford...that is until I read the Business Wk expose' on their company and questionable "principal" and his lousy track record with previous brokerage firms he was a principal w/. Closed that account properly. Trading's hard enough, without a scuzzy self-service principal in the mgmt mix.
I considered Datek, until I heard they basically could be summed up as a bunch of generation X'ers who are SOES bandits and liked doing the online trading thing w/the public so that they could use the order flow to bet against you, the customer. This was from someone who went to visit their set-up in person and came away with his 50K and a very bad taste in his mouth. I decided I didn't need to do biz w/someone who had set up online trading just to bet against me.
I never heard anything nice about PCFN, online arm of Donaldson Lufkin Jenerette, and also associated w/Prodigy.
That left me Waterhouse and Trading Direct.
I picked Trading Direct because it is the online arm of a very large and major reputable brokerage firm, York Securities. Started with a small amount, to get out the wrinkles. It's been 10 weeks now. $9.95 per up to 5K shares.
Trading Direct and Waterhouse may bet against me, but I don't think that is the sole reason they offer online trading through their trading room.
Am also thinking of adding Waterhouse as well, since I understand they can clear Canadian stocks. Waterhouse also lets us US citizens short Canadian stocks, as a registered clearing broker dealer, a rarity in the US frankly.
These are my understandings of the scuttlebutt and you're welcome to chose whatever works for you. |
