Are you goign to tell us who the firm is? We know it's not IB because handholding is not part of their program. LOL
You have two vending machines that really sell the same product. Do you: (A) pay $4 over and over and over, times 20,000 or (b) pay $2 over and over and over, times 20,000 I've heard it all, and if you trade it's super important to pay the least amount in commissions.
pay $4 to the one that is clean and doesn't get jammed and cut your intake down to 10k, pay the same, live longer, live happier
at anyrate, any strategy which generates cap gains is better off in a tax sheltered account. Unfortunately, most option traders lose money and that's just another 3k you can't write off.
When I traded with Schwab, one morning one of my holdings jumped up $40, almost doubling. I got two phone calls from Schwab premarket. The first was from a rep who was calling everyone who held the stock, just to give them a heads-up. (I had already noticed and had sold some of my position.) The second was from a rep asking why I had placed a limit order to sell some call options so far above the previous day's closing price. He was worried I had made a mistake. I didn't mind either call, but I kind of wondered why they bother calling people just for placing an order to close a long position at a higher than expected price. Not saying you shouldn't be concerned, just saying that it's common for the reps to look at what the customers are doing under some circumstances. I suppose I would have minded if someone at the brokerage was watching my trades and copying them, but I know I'm not that good.