I'm not a current subscriber but I have been able to read a few issues. I don't know how "helpful" the magazine can be, but it's fun to read. There are probably others on ET who could tell you more. EDIT: You can download an old copy of the magazine in Adobe format to check it out before subscribing.
Klaorman, I'm glad that things are OK for you there. The non-shortable non-feature is annoying, but something you can live with if careful. I was a little put off by mjt's experiences (not to mention Speedracer's comments), but your description has left Hold Bros as a possible contender for my remote trading.
Do any of you guys with accounts at Hold have problems with your cash transactions? I sent them $1400 over 3 weeks ago to cover a margin call and it still hasn't hit my account. Plus I didn't get interest for June even though I had my account funded by the end of May. I don't have much experience with Southwest Securities, so I don't know if it's their problem. Although I do have an account with Tradescape (they clear through Southwest also) and never had problems.
mjt, I haven't sent them extra cash beyond the initial funding, so I can't help you there. I checked my June statement and found interest there, but it seems to be way less than what I'm getting from Tradescape, where I have a similar-sized account. I'll have to ask Hold Brothers about this discrepancy.
Goldman Sachs' Abbey Joseph downgrades the Hold brothers to sell brothers. Abbey initially started coverage with a market ouperform, but due to the latest remote trading problems has changed her opinion lol Okay, here it is: Southwest simply suck. I used to have a ton of problems with them when MB Trading used to clear with them last year - including margin interest charged on cash positions, no interest paid on cash balances etc.. They switched over to ICS. It has gotten somewhat better, but I still question some of the accounting methods ... Bill
Hold Brothers just instituted a policy whereby all traders have to open up their trade blotters, copy their day's trades into a form, fill out the rest of that form stating that they confirm that the trades stated are the trades that they made and fax or email it to HB. They have to do this everyday! What a pain! Is HB doing this because their backend software is buggy and they're trying to cover themselves in case there's an error? Does any other firm require this silly bookkeeping?
Sniper: "Goldman Sachs' Abbey Joseph downgrades the Hold brothers to sell brothers. Abbey initially started coverage with a market ouperform, but due to the latest remote trading problems has changed her opinion lol " proptrader00: "What are you talking about.... HB is private. AJC never initiated coverage" Hey, prop, news flash...It's a joke. I can't believe anyone would take that seriously. Klaorman: "Hold Brothers just instituted a policy whereby all traders have to open up their trade blotters, copy their day's trades into a form, fill out the rest of that form stating that they confirm that the trades stated are the trades that they made and fax or email it to HB. They have to do this everyday! What a pain! Is HB doing this because their backend software is buggy and they're trying to cover themselves in case there's an error? Does any other firm require this silly bookkeeping?" Wow, if I was with a firm that required that I would be gone in a heartbeat. The only reason I can think of is that they don't know what trades you have done, or the software is missing trades. Do you want to trade on a system that has problems like that? There a lot of pro firms here that do not have problems like that, I suggest you find one. Courtney
Court... No... I received e-mails regarding the aforementioned post about HB. Some members believed it to be a factual statement which required clarification. As for your remarks in reference to Hold Brothers I suggest you review the post that initiated the discussion. Klaorman is referring to HB's remote trading which is an entirely different company from HB's "pro firm."