Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The Final Frontier - Online Remote Trading -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Richard Estes who wrote (4260)	5/21/1998 8:47:00 PM
From: steve goldman	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 12617

Richard, it'd be my pleasure to give them a shot: What is the smallest price that can be margined by the fed's rules? Stocks over 5 bucks might be marginable, yet some clearing firms/brokerage firms might not allocate a loan value to certain stocks without putting up a fight. I have heard of firms not allowing YHOO and XCIT or KTEL to be marginable, without a phone call, even those these stocks are highly priced, far greater than 5. I don't recall the rules on marginability, but the $5 range seemed right. Is it possible to sell a stock costing less than $4 short? I believe it is, as long as stock can be obtained. If margin rates are set by feds, how can these 90% margin places exist? **They each have their own agreement, but it is the LOAN value that is set by reg T. so that loan value on a stock is 50% currently. I have never been even close to being associated with a firm that gives you 10:1 on your cash but I believe that the firm only lets your positions go against you the 10% then the wipe you out. Get a name of one of the them and call and ask how they get around it. They are proabably doing something where you put up 10%, they put up 90%, you split profits x%/y% and if it goes down 10% you lose your first. In the no-service discount brokerage, how much does average order-taker broker make? Well, lets figure it this way, if you go to a firm that has absolutely no service, no backoffice support and thus can go with the least expensive clearing firm, figure they probably have clearing costs of $6 $8 bucks a trade. Add a buck for printing and mailing confirmations/statements, and you're at about$9, 10 bucks. I can tell you that a "full-service" discount firm like ours has clearing costs of about $16, $18 bucks a trade, but then we have transfer, IRA and other departments which make service go far better. We have to have these because we have multi -million dollar accounts that dont accept the "well we're discount and you get discount service" routine. I would question how many large accounts these noservice discounters have. Figure $2.50 for SNET fees per execution..ie..you do three snet trades for 1000 shares (200,300, 500) you have $7.5o in snet fees...SOES is a few pennies per hundred, ACT is the same small amount. I would be glad to discuss this more but it is difficult to discuss how others do business. I would be glad to discuss how we do business. We do it with clients anyway. We don't shy from it. We feel we offer top quality services for discount commissions, well worth their charge. If you have some followups , let me know. -Steve@yamner.com