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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Joe Hoek who wrote (47308)	2/13/2001 9:15:06 AM
From: manny t	Respond to of 57584

BEAS, Phil Orlando of Value Line Asset Managemnt,suggested on CNBC that software companies be bought,including BEAS.BEAS is rated a "one" in the Value Line Survey. Manny T.

To: Joe Hoek who wrote (47308)	2/13/2001 11:32:32 AM
From: Rande Is	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 57584

. . . . Wall Street Tricksters . . . . I'm thinking of getting as much as I can out of everything and NOT waiting to get my money back. That statement reminds me of another trick Wall Street Brokerages do to Individual Investors. And I will clue some of you in on other tricks as well. . . as I can remember them. When the market is sinking. . . they will extend you as much margin as you desire. . . NOT stopping at 50% equity. . .but allowing you to extend out to 10% equity. . . . passing it out like drugs. But just before the market is about to make a significant turn north, they will find some way to cut you off. . .such as: 1. Restricting your account to closing positions only [via a Fed Call loophole, which is applied unevenly]. . . 2. Unexpedtedly requiring 60%, 70% or more in equity on margin accounts. 3. Dropping your margin account altogether. . .without notice. 4. Margin Liquidation squeezes as we saw in our 4DML study. 5. Telling you that certain stocks, which you have been trading for many months on margin. . . are suddenly no longer marginable. . . without announcement. . . [a particular stock may be marginable to some and not to others within the same brokerage] 6. Tell you that funds you have wired into your account have not yet been received. . . sometimes for days. . .or longer. . . this especially happens at times when you need the money in by a certain date or get a restriction. . . or when the market is rallying sharply. 7. If you attempt to pull out of one brokerage to move your assets to another. . . .the tricks may run the gamut from not getting around to sending your funds or stock. . . to losing them. . . to finding a loophole that allows them to restrict your trading. . then notifying your new brokerage of the restriction. NOTE: Brokerages aren't the only ones playing this game. . . . If you have ever had trouble handling your bank accounts, you may find that the only bank that will accept you as a customer is the one where you had the problems. Always start new accounts before closing old ones! [NOTE: If any of you remember some of these tactics that I've forgotten to add to the list. . . . please add them. . . ] So when you sell a particular amount of stock that you have margined. . . .you will not be able to turn around and buy it back lower!! Over the last 3 years, I have received many thousands of emails. You guys have shared with me in great detail the ways Wall Street has been trying to put the screws to us. . . .illustrating the unethical tactics by brokerages. I hope my private responses have been of help. I typically start out the same way. . . .BEWARE of margin. If you have to trade on margin. . . .the BEST way is to stick a chunk of cash into your account. . . then dip into and out of your OWN MONEY!! This gives you the added oomph for swing trades. . . . .provided that you IMMEDIATELY cash back out! And keep your long-term investments in a different account [best at a different brokerage] than your TRADING account! This is CRITICAL to preserving your capital during tougher times. So rather than trying to build your equity within your account, the BETTER goal is to work to build up the cash available on the sidelines!! If you get nothing else from this article. . . . get that! I doubt anyone knows their exact equity at a given time. The numbers that the brokerage websites flash to you are FAR from accurate. They claim everyone should call them each morning actual equity, available cash and available margin amounts. Yet, with no "end of day", it is difficult at most brokerages to ever get the same answer twice. Some of you choose to close out of margin positions by the closing bell. . . that is not bad, if you are extremely disciplined. But it doesn't always work. . . there are many tricks which can catch you holding. So the BEST way to "play" is with your OWN money. We are going to campaign the SEC against the unfair policies associated with margin accounts [among other things]. . . and the frivolous and inconsistent ways that the brokerages handle them. We will be campaigning on many fronts in the near future. The SEC, the NASD, our Congressmen. . . .whomever we must. . .to help to level the playing field. Anyone wish to start a website called "RalphTrader.com". . . for collecting info and gathering ideas to further the interests of the Individual Investor? I am always interested in talking further to those who are most passionate about this stuff. There is MUCH to be done. And contrary to what the MarketMorons will tell you. . . .there is MUCH that CAN be done!! Some traders LIKE the way things work, [because they can profit from it]. And that is fine. But I despise the way that inexperienced investors and traders are exploited by Wall Street. . . and hope to continue to make a difference. We need to quickly evaluate Arthur Leavitt's successor. . . to make sure he is working in OUR best interest. But the time to get on that is now. . . by writing letters expressing our concern in the choice of Leavitt's successor. Thanks much, Rande Is