Something tells me I am going to regret this, Sergil.
But you have made a good point.
First, let me state for the record that I have NO idea about
JB Oxford, it's operations, staff, practices, or anything else
about the firm. I know NOTHING about the firm and I make NO
judgements or references to any firm.
Still, you make a good point. People always look for the
absolute cheapest rate on commissions. There is, (and should be)
a difference between a firm offering internal research, investment
advice, etc etc etc. and a discount firm. There is ALSO a
minimum fixed cost ANY firm pays to get an order executed. The
closer you get to that minimum the less there is for the firm
to acquire things like "QUALIFIED PEOPLE". Someone on this thread
recently mentioned that "E-Trade" or someone actually manually checked orders entered by people on a PC. Believe me,as far as I know, EVERY FIRM DOES. If they do not, they have literally bent over & grabbed their ankles. They have done so not only financially, but from a compliance standpoint.
Folks, if there were no checks on your trades, any one of you could
move the S&P (or any other index) as much as you wanted. It would be
3 days before settlement & your co-conspirator on the other side
would have liquidated the futures/options positions & be waiting for
you in the country of your choice. In the meantime, your friendly
brokerage firm officials would be sent to a place that would make
the Gulag look like St. Tropez in mid-January!
This IS America. You get what you pay for.
Doug |
