I do not have a problem with the fact that many brokers do not publish commission structures on their home page. What I have a problem with is sneaky sales techniques such as "feeling out" the customer to get a better idea whether to stuff him/her with unreasonable rates or whether he "sounds" smart enough to not being able to make this extra 50% mark-up off such potential client. I do not see any reason whatsoever for not being forthright about how much commission to charge for an average x-number of shares traded per month. I do understand that there are components in the broker's cost structure that are variable as a function of volume settled/cleared/held/lent and I find it fair that the broker tries to understand how much volume the client is intending to trade in order to determine the cost of doing business by taking into account a markup to stay in business. However, what I find disingenuous is that not only the intended volume is taken into account but also the broker's "feel" for the client's sophistication level. This I find unethical and sneaky. The broker may turn around and say "but we face credit risk, unsophisticated clients pose a higher counter-party and credit risk" which I dont buy into because all the shares bought/sold are either fully paid up or there should be sophisticated risk and margening systems in place that get a client out of the trade when margin limits are breached. The ugly truth in this broker business is that the money is made off INTRANSPARENCY. Thats why CDO-cubes were created and thats the reason why the financial market went bust in 2008 and thats the reason why brokers and other shady sales people love to hide the small details and are most of the time unwilling to put on the table a clean and COMPLETE sheet of costs vs features. Simple as that. Any broker who tells you otherwise is lying to you.
So, for transparency, I tell everyone who I am, what my background is, and what I do. For transparency as you would say, why don't you: Give your real name. What your experience is, and what you trade. How much you pay when you trade. Where you trade. What your volumes were last month. Is trading a full time job for you, or is complaining on forums about people you've never met or spoken to, your full time job. Transparency!