There are lots of new people trying to make some cash trading stocks, do you have any horror stories that you could share with us? Are there Brokerages you refuse to do business with because their liars and don't live up to their promises or you discover their platform is a piece of dog excrement? I hear people rally for cheap commissions and I agree, which Brokerages do you recommend for new people trading? I get asked that question and have a hard time because often their getting lots of value in the Brokerage their already in. Those who do get a reduced commission will over-trade and was it really worth getting a $.10 option contract if your paying $.02 or $.20 more than a real brokerage might help you get? Can you please provide your thoughts and insights for all us to see and reflect on? Thank you for your time and sharing your experiences with us.
Please don't post names when calling Brokerages liars because I don't want you to get in trouble or held for libel, appreciate your help, please be cautious dear traders!
Held for libel on an anonymous forum? Jeez, I hope some angry (ugly) brokers won't as far as requesting IP addresses from Baron and then roam some internet cafes in Indonesia or where have you just in order to find the pawn that stepped out of line. But let me nonetheless start the list: FXCM, FXCM, FXCM. I recommend you run, not walk, run, as soon as you hear the term FXCM. This firm has done more harm to unassuming beginners than most likely any other brokerage. The number of official complaints, suits, settlements, regulatory sanctions is uncountable and all available in public domain. I have never touched them nor will I ever consider them as legit broker because they look to rip off clients wherever and however they can. No other broker has been accused more of wrongdoing and exploiting the fact that currency markets until recently had been completely unregulated.
funny Wall Street 1987 movie reference. the ticker symbol for BlueStar Airlines was BST...Buy Sell Trade...
This is not my worst, but my best brokerage story ever: One day, may years ago, my (introducting) broker called me and said he removed my account from Refco and put it with another company. A few weeks later I understood why. I think the introducing broker withdraw all his clients from Refco in one time. They probably already knew something was going to happen.
I had an account with FINECO around 2000. FINECO of Italy but also operating in a number of european countries has over the years, been found guilty (Italian courts) of false advertising, reassigning profits and losses between clients accounts and failure to promptly communicate what personal information it held about him to a former client. They are very active in promoting themselves with those moronic ads about the caring and professional bank. The name itself attempting to exploit the positive connotation word "ecology" (eco friendly, green...) without any justification should alert about the original thought behind its inception. Avoid them.
A trader who has been an exchange member for a couple of decades and traded on both the floor and the screen said he refuses to do business with any brokers or money people in Florida because of the general lack of honesty there. I've heard of a clearing firm reverse-engineering a customer's trading strategy and share it with their favored clients resulting in the trade drying up for the original customer. And also a broker using its discretion to jack up margins overnight on a thin product, then liquidate customer positions against orders rested well off market by the brokers' affiliated proprietary trading/market making unit. A top feeder wanted a quote in substantial size for an exotic option on a very illiquid currency...the bank didn't want the risk on its books but wanted the order...so they had their wealth management unit convince a billionaire's son that the opposite side was a good "investment" - the latter was forced out of his position in a matter of days with an 8 figure loss.