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Strategies & Market Trends : Value Investing -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Carl Worth who wrote (26039)	2/15/2007 11:15:14 PM
From: Spekulatius	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78954

the response of course is that only certain clients make ETFC or AMTD any real money Nice and very comprehensive answer. I feel convinced enough to put in a limit order for ETFC <g>.

To: Carl Worth who wrote (26039)	2/16/2007 1:53:48 AM
From: Paul Senior	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 78954

(partial rant) "the response of course is that only certain clients make ETFC or AMTD any real money" Carl Worth, I suspect you may be right in your conclusions as to who these people are. I don't like the conclusions though. This week, I have been about 5 minutes away from contacting my attorneys regarding Etrade. I have a margin account. My concern is simple: There is no indication in my monthly statements or on Etrade internet screens as to what my margin rate is. When I call customer service, they can't readily quote me my rate. Oh, I can see the dollars deducted monthly, but the rate... no. (Rates vary by customer account: larger margin users get lower rates. So they say. And the rate can vary from month to month depending on what the broker has to pay for their monies.) I visited Etrade in person Monday and sat down with a "relationship manager" and after five minutes, she finally found my rate...sort of. (by her access to Etrade's records which are different from my Etrade internet screens) On the one hand, depending on how much margin one has and the spread between what Etrade pays for the money and what it charges the customer, it seems to me that more money and profits are in the margin business than the cumulative costs of the trading commissions. E.g. 300 trades a year got for $5-10 ea. is peanuts to somebody (not me) who has lots of margin debt over a year. Back otoh though, I must be wrong. It can't be I'm the only person around who's (figuratively) jumping up and down in front of his wife yelling, "The xs?#z's won't show me in writing what they're charging me!!" I can't believe there are no big guys...big users of margin... who aren't beating on Etrade to show them what their margin rate is. (That's show them in writing, not some guy cooing a number over the phone, and only after you call to inquire.) So maybe it is just as you say "a client who has a sizeable account and trades quite often is the ideal etrade profit generator." Perhaps margin clients just don't care enough about their rates or margin users are few and far between at Etrade. I read that margin use is near (or at?) highs. Somebody is borrowing money. I'd have bet most would like to know what rate they're paying. ... and I just as well will bet that Etrade and other brokerages would just as soon not tell them or make it as difficult for customers to see as the law allows. Oh well. 'Caveat emptor'