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Strategies & Market Trends : Picks of the quarter -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Arthur Radley who wrote (8722)	12/28/2009 12:28:09 PM
From: SARMAN	Respond to of 20435

I agree, we should have a discussion to be able to trade ETFs. Maybe we can limit the choice to start with.

To: Arthur Radley who wrote (8722)	12/28/2009 12:51:46 PM
From: Sr K	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 20435

If we allowed ETFs, it would defeat the purpose of "picks" of the quarter. And even if we did, allowing leveraged or inverse ETFs (such as the 3x FAZ) which you wanted to do, would allow leverage without putting up collateral. In October some brokerage firms - I think it was imposed by the SEC (or FINRA) - increased the margin required for a leveraged ETF to match the leverage of the ETF. To do the same, we would have to limit such a 3x position to 1/3 of $50 maximum (at the start of a round), or $16.66 in the 3x ETF while not allowing 33.32 to be invested. It would complicate the record-keeping. If you check other boards on SI, or SeekingAlpha, you will see that leveraged ETFs are dwindling assets, based on how they are rebalanced. It would be a different game. And someone might try to short a leveraged or inverse ETF, gaming the game. You can only trade once a month. If Elroy had cancelled your order, as I suggested, you could have invested all $100. He decided in the "Christmas spirit" that late orders Thursday were accepted. So you can't invest the other $50 until January, which looks like January 8, unless he makes another exception.