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Non-Tech : Web Street Securities (WEBS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gorak Shep who wrote (475)	7/23/1998 9:42:00 AM
From: Linda Kaplan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1339

Wow, Gorak! I never read the beginning of this thread. I will tonight. I believe that is the same Ryan. If I'd seen that he had he dubious ethics to tout the company without revealing his relationship to the company, I could have saved myself a lot of grief. I'd never have used them as a broker. At least his behavior here confirms my statements about his honesty. Linda

To: Gorak Shep who wrote (475)	7/23/1998 8:14:00 PM
From: Roger Thrash	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1339

Webstreet is FAR from perfect. Plenty of bugs and problems. And overcharges and so forth. But the people are generally very pleasant to deal with and Ryan specifically is a heckuva nice guy and generally helpfull. I'll vouch for him. Dont let those few early posts mislead you. He's a good fellow but a bit overzealous back then. Personally I've been WAITING for about 2 1/2 -3 weeks to get on their NEW system supposedly with less bugs. First i had to send a form in. Didnt hear back. Then when I did they said they couldnt read my account number but needed ME to call. ??? Anyway I did last week and Ryan assured me she (whoever she is) would send an e-mail telling me what to do. I'm still waiting. I value the level II quotes. They are NOT professional quality but the price is much lower which fits my usage. I dont want to and wont spend $300 a month. Also the free trades are nice when appropriate. I wouldnt reccomend Webstreet as one's only broker but if you are going to be buying a 1000 shares or more, why pay $10-50-1000 when you can FREE at webstreet ? You gotta watch them. You cant LET their market maker hose you. Make smart decisions and you'll reduce the heck out of the mm's advantage over you. I'd say that out of every 3 1000 share blocks they make a 32nd on me. That comes out to $10.41 per trade. But they pay 2 cents a share for that privledge. So webstreet makes $60 and the market maker loses $29. But they make it up on less astute investors i'm sure. Check out...From the trading desk...if you dont know what I'm talking about...this guys firm is probably a good bet. Its $30-35 a trade but its WORTH it for folks without much experience as they can get you the price improvements & stuff . You can get it at webstreet....but you gotta know what you're doing. I suspect many dont. Thats a GREAT thread.....a LOT of knowledge imparted...much I already knew but wish i would have been able to read it rather than learn by trial & error over the last 12+ years ! If you guys think webstret is bad, try Suretrade. A total nightmare. Brown is good $5 & 10 up to 5000 shares. Just dont forget and buy 10,000 or the commission goes WAY up. Oh...they only take experienced investors which I like...that way the broker knows I'm not an idiot and the orders are taken qucikly cleanly & efficiently. Their website leaves things to be desired too however. Frankly I cant figure out my $ balances or total account value at either place ! Till the statements come ! Months ago I had such problems with webstreets market maker representing my limit orders (despite CONSTANT complaints) that I complained on several occasions formally to the NASD. Apparently it helped as limit orders (only on nasdaq issues) get represented now. Their maker maker was fined I believe. I think it may have been NAWE's computers werent doing something right. Now they rep my orders or send them to another mm if they dont make the issue.