To: John Powell who wrote (6596 ) 3/25/2001 11:18:37 PM From: John Powell Respond to of 8925 Did a little digging and found this posts which answers may of my questions. To:H G Eichorst who wrote (43080) From: SE Wednesday, Jan 3, 2001 8:32 PM View Replies (1) | Respond to of 44291 I don' know about the practice thingy, but made a note to ask him tomorrow. OK all, notes from my conversation with Rob Smok at Reifler, in no particular order. Phone number is 800-548-4813. Fee is $9.98 all inclusive, no extra charges for calling order desk. Website is out of date and account minimum is $5,000. They have two platforms that Rob still supports, Leo and Best. He has had enough problems with PMB that he won't start any new accounts on that platform. He finds the best out there, then uses it. Won't use inferior stuff because he is the man that solves the problems. Customer satisfaction appears important to him and each time I called the phone was answered within 2 rings and the order desk is the number I called. I did call about 20 minutes after the rate hike, and it was answered promptly, although he told me he would need to talk to me later, he was kinda busy! :) Although the Demo shows OCO as an order option, it is not for eminis. He is introducing a new order entry system that supports OCO orders, but it is browser based and not up on the website yet. He said they do no advertising and have built the business via word of mouth. I have not reviewed any Futures or TASC mags to verify that, but will take him at his word on that. Says Leo costs more to run, the LFG fees are higher and he cannot do $9.98 if you prefer the Leo system. Says he doesn't mess with fees, but believes in giving the best fee available and then letting the trader work their plan. The direct to Globex is not a big deal any longer. He says a couple years ago he might have been more interested in bypassing Tops, which is LFG's order routing system, but now it is very good and whether you go Tops or the new CME routing system it doesn't really matter. Day margin on emini is just unde $2,400. I asked him if I could post my findings to the thread and he said yes that that would not be a problem. That is how he gets most his business, so he likes that." MY QUESTION: - is there any problems with speed and trade security if you go through a third party vendor of the software instead of directly to the source. From my understanding there should not be a problem since trades are routed directly and all brokers are covered under SIPC for $500K minimum ($100K cash). However I am not sure if I am missing anything.