Looks like both stylark3 and I overlooked one area where E-trade does have greater safety than IB. E-trade now promises to reimburse funds fraudulently stolen from a customer's account, but IB doesn't make this promise. This thread, however, seems to show that E-trade doesn't actually keep its promise in reality.
Etrade makes a bunch of promises that they manage to weasel out of with mountains of disclaimers and legalese.
To Rockford and IB rep: Check my post again and you will see that I was asking questions about IB thus looking for answers via this thread. Talk about people reading but not understanding.....! Ok, I made some errors about my understanding of FDIC coverage. So what? You corrected me and I am grateful. But, check the majority of the threads on Elitetrader where people make errors in their statements and you will see that there is balance on this forum in that a post will come along to make the correction, as did happen here. But this crap about viewing my post with creditabilty suspisions is rude and uncalled for! Maybe you should learn how to read better, Rockford and IB before you go accusing people of telling a bundle of lies when, in fact in my case, my post were seeking answers to questions posed. Read It Again! Thank you.
I looked again at your posting comparing E-trade to IB. I think that any misinterpretation, if there was any misinterpretation, was your own fault. I still think that your posting should be taken to demonstrate a lack of credibility and a reason to regard everything you say with suspicion. I think that the purpose of your posting was not to seek answers to questions. I think your purpose was to convince people that E-trade is safer than IB, without bothering to check the accuracy of your imaginary facts offered in support of your comparsion.
Has anyonelse had as much trouble finding the physical address in Connecticut as I have? Correct, it is at the very bottom of the home page (you have to scroll to find it). The problem is it is not obvious. For one thing it is in gray print - A color used to trick the human psyche into thinking it is not of importance to read so, you would tend to totally overlook it unless you were really searching hard to find it. I know a thing or two about use of color coordination for computer screen layouts as I am a professional programmer. Secondly, in designing website layouts, it has become a standard of placing location and phone numbers under 'Contact' Information. Under your contact info, I find only phone numbers. No wonder I feel like I am dealing with a CyberBroker. Your locations are not obvious and this apparently is your intention -- to train all users to concentrate on contacting you by phone or email only. Yeah, and I finally found that menuitem with the multiple paragraphs that makes mentioned that IB is headquartered in Connecticut (it still didn't give an address though). And, why is the mentioning of it buried in the paragraphs like that? Finding physical locations for your company should not be this hard. You should put everything under Contact Info to avoid the appearance of your being a CyberBroker only i.e. contact via e-mail or phone. Sorry, but there are still some customers out here like me that still would like to know that a company has a store front also.
Imaginary facts? I stated no facts imaginary or otherwise about IB. I was searching for answers. I was asking questions because I wanted my concerns about their appearance of being a CyberBroker and their appearance of making it difficult to freely get your own money out of your account (without jumping thru hoops via paying fees and waiting days to get your money) to be addressed. I got my answers but in a very unfriendly and rude manner. Unfortunately, I was made to feel that I had to come to this forum for answers to my questions. I couldn't find info on check writing priviledges, I couldn't find info on debit card usage and I couldn't find basic info on a physical storefront in the U.S. without searching long and hard. (That info should be under Contact Info). If you continue to stand by your statements that I have no creditability and that my statements should be viewed with suspicion then you have no creditability with me either. Apologize or let things stand as they are. Thank you.
Sorry to say that I too was with BrownCo and happy until JP Morgan sold BrownCo to Etrade. I ACATed all accounts but one from BrownCo to my current broker shortly after the sale to Etrade was announced. I later tried to have my remaining account ACATed from Etrade to my current broker. I found Etrade to be incredibly slow on ACAT transfers out. It took weeks. An error was made and the transferred funds went into the wrong account. The remedy was to have Etrade reclaim the funds and then repeat the ACAT into the correct account. (Don't ask me why, but i suspect it has to do with reporting requirements.) It's been 23 days since the funds were ACATed back to Etrade. I am still waiting for Etrade to ACAT back to the correct account. In the meantime i can't access or trade any of these funds. Perhaps Etrade is OK as long as everything is routine, but they may not efficiently resolve problems. I would imagine they impose a fee for outgoing transfers which my current broker will reimburse. It will be interesting to see if they charge twice in this instance once the final leg of this ACAT Odyssey is complete, whenever that might be.
I'm sorry but again I need to question your blatantly misleading comments. If you are going to make a statement, at least try to spend a minute or two on our site to get your facts straight. The search button works well. As for funding and withdrawals, this too is readily available via a drop down menu appropriately labeled "funding". If you read it you would have found: "To make a withdrawal of funds, you must complete a Withdrawal Instruction under Account Management. While the first cash withdrawal in any one month is free, there will be a charge for each additional withdrawal. We have implemented this policy to cover its costs in order to maintain our low commissions. Click here to see a schedule of the fees charged after your first monthly cash withdrawal." I'll save you the work. The fees are $1 for ACH and $10 for wires AFTER the first FREE WITHDRAWAL each month. Sounds reasonable to me but if you find the instructions difficult to comprehend or think they are intended to make it difficult to withdraw funds - so be it.
Hey guys, remember... He is a programmer, so he knows a little something about programming. PAL. I programmed for 15 years.... Made a nice mint off of doing it. Lets stop blowing your own horn. If you really wanted to find out the things you asked, you would have visited the website and studied. You didn't want to know, you wanted to "restore" Etrades rep. That ain't gonna happen. I RAN AWAY from Etrade because of all the hassles. For me, this is customer support. When I have a real problem I cant solve by reviewing the website, and you help me.... Then you have supported me. Personally I like reading. Being a programmer and all, I would think you would be an expert at reading. Don't programmers read code day in and day out... Maybe not, When I was a programmer, thats what I did. READ!!!! SO drop the facade. You are an ETRADE Cheerleader. Bottom Line. Well Cheer on, but when your team is losing get real, and get on THEIR case..... I closed 5 different accounts at ETRADE because of their Psalty biz practices..... We only have one left, and that is an IRA. Like I said. thats what they are good for IMO. And yes you posed your insidious comments as Questions. Ever heard of a rhetorical question?? It's asking a question that doesnt need to be answered... Well you didnt spew rhetoric, you asked questions in such a manner as if to establish that this compnay has none of these things... No different than me "asking"... Do Etrade Brick and Mortars offer the ability to hand cash over a counter to you???? Anyone who has been to one knows the answer..... There will be no Brinks truck hanging out at the Etrade Branch tonight. Etrade Brick and Mortars are not BANKS.... Etrade is an INTERNET BANK. The B&M's are Customer Service Centers, plain and simple. You yourself said you have never been to one. well Pal... I HAVE!!!!! and when they told me they couldnt do anything for me, and that my recourse was to GO HOME and call Customer Support. I said to my wife, we OUT!!!!! When I do what you ask of me and you sned me through hoops, I bail. That is a prelude to future hassles with you. Experience has taught me that one.... Finally... Rude... No one has been rude. we have expressed how we feel STRONGLY. Guess thats too much for a simple cheerleader. Rude would be to call you names and play elementary school games. None of that has been done. I strongly dislike Etrade. I struggled with them to "get it right" because I wanted all the services they claimed they would offer me. I got to a point that I realized, they just werent worth the headache. I left. I dont seek sites to blast them, but when people ask, I offer my opinions and experiences. You blasted IB... Well I have a take, if Etrade has 197Billion in Client assets to IB's 4.9, they better "offer" some kind of services. Too bad what they offer is a joke. IB is peaceful, I have an issue here or there, but overall I am VERY happy and satisfied. Are they perfect??? Is there such a thing as a perfect brokerage??? They do what I need and do it well. They allow me to trade unhindered. They dont give me hassles about letting me have access to my money. They Just work for me. Perhaps when I become a REAL trader and start trading 2K lots and more with regularity, I might revisit my position.But then I do have an alternative broker (SOGO) for trading larger STOCK lot sizes, so I guess it isnt an issue. I didnt join IB to trade stocks. I joined them for Futures and Forex. And when I had a question, they were very helpful. All I had to do was read. They have never been rude, etc..... And life goes on... LOL. Peace, and happy trading...
One more thing related to ETURDES ATM refund policy... SO I suppose if I pull out $20 bucks everyday when I am on tour because I don't like carrying a bunch of cash around (when gigging) and I incur an ATM withdrawal fee EVERY DAY for 30 days, they have the right to not refund those fees, if they consider that excessive...... All the catches... They could deem 10 fees a month excessive. Tthere is too much OPEN ENDED opinion there. I dont think 30 fees is excessive. My Money, My ATM card you SAID... then after all of that you come back and SAY again.... Oh well..... At least wehn IB changed it's stock policy that we all are in arms about, the placed it in plain NON_INTERPRETIVE writing for all to see. If I had one complaint, it would be this.... IB keep the 2 basis points for stocks over $2.00, and keep the .5 Basis points for stocks under $2. I tend not to trade pennies (often) I tend to trade in the $2-$9 range OFTEN, pennies account for 5% of all my trades (upon recent review)