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Pastimes : Daytrading and Stock Trading Addiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: marie fouchia who wrote (322)	6/3/1999 9:29:00 PM
From: bobby beara	Respond to of 330

Marie, your dissertation here will be a foundation for a class action lawsuit, and I am quite sure it will happen in a big way, the recklessness of advertising island domains and helopads on your lawn is inexcuseable and irresponsible. thats why i would recommend shorting internet brokerages as part of your solution. bb

To: marie fouchia who wrote (322)	6/3/1999 9:31:00 PM
From: Sword	Respond to of 330

Marie: Brokerages are obligated to ask the customer what type of risk exposure they are planning to pursue. The choices at my latest broker were low, moderate, speculation, or high risk. (I indicated "speculation.") Depending on the interpretation of this information one may conclude that the brokerage is going to evaluate my trading to insure that it meets with my objectives for the account. If your trading was non-soliticed by a broker (quite likely) this argument may not fly. Certainly if you indicated "speculation" you've admitted to accepting the risk associated with day trading. Nevertheless, you and many others may be able to make reference to this information, asked for by the brokerage, in determining if there is legal grounds for a suit. What category did you choose when you opened your account? -Sword

To: marie fouchia who wrote (322)	6/4/1999 12:29:00 AM
From: kaz	Respond to of 330

"I just feel that online brokerage firms could have a computerized screening system that alerts them when a regular customer changes their trading patterns to ridiculously frequent with large losses sustained over and over--and then give them some kind of notification and even suspension from trading." You know, that's really not a bad idea. However, if they did do that and then made a mistake, they could be liable for unlimited damages. To some extent they do monitor what you are doing when they issue a margin call (they're telling you there's not enough money in your account to cover any more losses). Your worst sin was putting all of your money in the account, something that no one will recommend. In fact, most brokers want to know your net worth in addition to your income so that they won't allow someone to trade their entire savings. I don't know how you got around this. Regardless, this does nothing to ease your pain (of which I am quite sensitive). If you really believe there was negligence on the part of your broker, talk to a lawyer. You may find that you have no claim, but at least you would feel that you did everything you could. Have you looked into any of the programs mentioned on this thread like Gamblers Anonymous? That may also help you cope as you'll be face to face with others who can really relate with what you went through. Many people, myself included, were quick to blame you for wanting to put responsibility onto another party. The truth of the matter is that most of the time when the public hears about some "outrageous" settlement awarded by a jury that simply defies logic, there is information that the public does not or chooses not to hear. So, you have nothing to lose by consulting a lawyer, and no apologies to make if you recover some money. Frivolous suits are thrown out all the time, we just rarely hear about them. So the "obscene" awards we do hear about either had some merit to them or you have to believe that the judge and jury were incapable of thinking rationally (not that it can't happen, it's just not as common as the papers make it out to be). Okay, rant over. Good luck, Paul Kaz

To: marie fouchia who wrote (322)	6/7/1999 4:18:00 PM
From: Sword	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 330

Brokerages Plan Trading Restrictions Looks like your concerns about liability are spreading..... UNLIKE THEIR DISCOUNT-ONLINE competitors, who generally say they aren't responsible for their customers' trading decisions, Merrill Lynch & Co. and other big firms are being more watchful. In new accounts combining traditional-brokerage services with online access, brokers can monitor customer activity and, in some cases, may even stop what they consider excessive or inappropriate trading. But the big firms face a quandary when they seek to mix brokerage advice with the freewheeling Internet. While their approach appears to reduce the risk that investors will make an unsuitable investment, it also could increase the firms' own liability. msnbc.com -Sword