Maybe they send it to everyone who in their view needs to improve his performance and so be able to continue to generate fees for IB in the future. So actuallly I hope I don't get one of the books.
duh. no kidding IB is for active traders. the options thing has been beaten in the ground. unless you're an 'excessively active' options trader, their fees are still cheaper than others. i just stopped trading options *period* unless there's a hugely great reward opportunity, and complained to the SEC (about the exchanges, NOT IB). i haven't gotten the book yet (and it's a pleasant surprise), but honestly, i don't care for gifts from brokers. if i'm getting large amounts of gifts / holiday things / etc. from my broker, chances are, i'm paying them far too much on commissions. and when you're on a trading floor, many of those gifts either go into an old closet area, or are given to middle and back office people. IB is one of the best brokers around for active people who know what they're doing. and back to the book - any gift is a nice gift.
Use an average distribution of $6 for the maximum $10 monthly inactive fee. You pay $6 * 12 = $72 per year and $72 * 30 = $2160 for 30 years per account without taking into consideration inflation and fee increase etc. Ed Jones currently holds my IRA, it's $30 a year. I don't have a huge IRA. I hold 100 share lots. But to trade even just 100 shares of $10 stock is (or was last time I traded in that account) $52.95 including fees. All I need to do is trade 2 times a year to make up the difference between $30 a year at Ed Jones and $120 a year at IB. The only thing holding me up is that I'm just not ready to actively trade my retirement account, and IB doesn't list my Mutuals, which I'm happy with. In my IRA, I doubt I will ever trade often enough to have the fee waived. But so? It's paid for in one trade each month. All I have to do is pull 12 cents out of the market on 100 shares. Cripes, if one can't do that, they shouldn't be trading. André
[complain] You are misleading audience by making up your comparison and picking a jerk broker. $52.2? Are you on Mars? Find a broker who has $5-$20 schedule and no inactive fee if you trade two times per year in an IRA account. Alternatively, try no-load no-transaction-fee mutual funds that IB has never been offering. By the way if you only trade two times, IB will take $118 from you for being inactive no matter if the account is IRA or not.[/complain] Back to the topic of this thread, who the hell ultimately pays for these books!?
How so? I don't mind paying the inactive fee, because of how cheap it is to experiment on a position. With a cent per share, all I need is two cents to break even. I trade 100 share lots, usually. At $10 a side I need 20 cents to break even. You're going to pay one way or the other. You don't even need to trade that much or trade with scale to make IB worthwhile. André
] Back to the topic of this thread, who the hell ultimately pays for these books!? why would anyone complain about getting a gift? "oh no, IB sent me a gift for being a good customer. what a bunch of jerks" lol IB doesn't make anyone have an account with them and i find them to be the best for what i do,trading. ps im sure they got a big discount on the books for buying in bulk but how does that affect you?
got mine today... using it as a doorstop right now (still in cardboard package), and don't plan to open it or read it no offense to IB, which is a decent brokerage triple