i was just wondering if anyone else had been charged an extra desk fee upon leaving Bright. I have just recently heard about 2 traders that have been hit with this extra charge and thought i would ask Don if this were true. it doesn't sound fair to charge for software usage that bright doesn't have to pay for, what gives Don?
Hi C Robinson, Don is on vacation, so I'll try to answer in his stead. We don't have an exit fee or anything like that. Nor do we charge you any additional desk fee when you leave. If what you say is correct, the only thing that I can think that might have happened is that. someone left in the first 3 business days of the month. If that is the case, they might have been hit with a desk fee for that month after they said they were leaving. This is because the desk fees mainly represent the fees we are charged by the exchanges and our clearing firms. This is charged to us on any login that is active on the first day of the month. The seat fees hit the trader's account on the third business day of the month. So, if a trader traded the 1st day, and then said he wanted to leave, he'd incur the desk fee on the 3rd business day (he gets his money after 3 settlement days). I handle remotes, so things may be different in the office. They may be charged a reduced pro-rated fee to cover the expenses Bright incurs. As far as I know, no one has been charged any desk fee they didn't incur. But as I said, I only know about the remotes.
Thanks Cash for the response. i would understand if a trader traded even one day of a new month but i am certain that these individuals gave notice way before the end of the month. if i am wrong i will be the first to get on this board and say so. i know one of the guys was charged $400 and hadn't traded in the office in awhile. maybe it is different for office traders vs remote.
Hmmm... I guess it might be something for Don to address when he gets back. My guess is that in a few hours he'll be soaking up some sun on an Aruba beach and ET is the last thing on his mind!
For the record, I was not charged any extra desk fees or misc. charges when I left. My money was returned the week that all my final trades had cleared. FWIW, I was charged the desk fee for the month in which I left, but that is to be expected and reasonable in my opinion.
I think he's in Florida either now or the next day or two. He'll be at the MoneyWatch expo in Orlando on Friday
why do people hate Don so much? Is his services that bad? He seems to be nice, but every time a post is made by him on this site, there is someone who post a really negative comment.
I have nothing against Don. I'm just not a big fan of their business model (i.e., the traveling snake oil salesman tour, radio shows, desk fees, training fees, etc.). Their model is intent on the revolving door, high volume concept as opposed to being highly selective and developing strong traders. Developing a strong organization can only be done by having successful mentors closely supervising a handful of high quality trainees each. This prohibits the high volume, accept all newcomers with a $5K check concept. Don makes good money from his business model and you can't begrudge him for that. The name of the game for prop firms is volume, volume, volume and the Brights have it down to a science. I just believe that the emphasis for trading groups should be on the percentage of net profitable traders, not the desk occupancy rate and monthly volume quotas. There is a real conflict of interest between being a clearing organization and a bonafide trading organization, IMHO. Look at the link for Cash Coyne's MoneyWatch Expo above to see how the marketing for this industry has been degraded. It looks like an advertisement for a blue light special at Kmart as opposed to a financial services ad. Obviously, Cash is making cash from overrides on remote trading customers.