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CMA,
I bounce around with a few brokers before settling on TRADING
DIRECT over two years ago. They are a division of York Securities
and based in NYC. I was leery of the "NY" attitude before signing
up (sorry you NYers), but have been very pleasantly surprised by courteous
and attentive help on the few times I've had to call them.
I pay $9.95 per ticket. Any size order, limits and stops at no
extra charge. Note, this is NOT for day trading. I've done
day trades there, fairly often, but you can't use the money more than once
per day. Good rates on options, too.
Check out www.tradingdirect.com
Good luck, Ken
CMA wrote:
Here is some of the material I gleaned from the Gomez
collection of client
broker reviews. There were quite a few positive comments about Brown,
focusing
mainly on the cheap commission cost. Here is a sample of the negative
comments.
Note the emphasis on the perceived extreme rudeness and hostility of
the Brown
personnel towards customers. I have never been a Brown customer and
was
considering it, but must take into account these customer comments.
I would appreciate feedback as to whether clients of other brokerages
feel
that they must accept rudeness, arrogance and hostility in return for
low
commission rates.
I will put up with the rudeness and hostility in return for the low
rates,
if,in addition, the broker is not going to try to rip me off on the
fill and
commissions.
Here are some comments, edited for length, from the Gomez site.
65. THE ABSOLUTE WORST........
Ann from Atlanta
January 24, 2000, 12:14:25 AM
Brown is the worst in the business. I now have accounts with 4 companies
and
trade often with all of them. Have been with Brown for about one year
and have
had unbelievably bad experiences every time I try to do something.
I have, on
numerous occasions, entered the same orders with all my companies and
invariably, Brown screws up the order and does not get it filled, when
the
others do. And if they finally do get an order filled, it is always
much higher
than the other companies. Every time I call them (at least 30 times
now), I am
on hold for at least 30 minutes each time. Last week I placed a GTC
order at
the beginning of the week, only to find that it was cleared out of
the system
two days later when I looked for it. I am closing the account this
week...could
go on forever on all the problems.
1 year experience with Brown as follows:
Mark from Seattle from Seattle
January 12, 2000, 01:16:55 AM
..in the trading of a few select stocks - AOL for example typically
has a
spread at Brown of about $.50 to $1.00, whereas at Waterhouse the spread
is
more like $.25 (I know because I've checked the quotes simultaneously
on both
web sites). I therefore conclude that Brown uses inferior market makers
in some
instances. Also, I trade JDSU frequently, but recently at Brown I discovered
that the market makers they use were routinely filling only 100 shares
immediately with the rest being filled manually later on at a different
price.
37. Steer clear of arrogant and nasty-mouthed Brown & Co....and
of bragging
"better-than-thou" writers in this space.
Martin from USA
August 30, 1999, 09:29:27 AM
As the service at Brown & Co. is so completely the OPPOSITE
of the good
qualities I've described above, there seems little reason to tolerate
them --
or to tolerate a rate of interest on credit balances awaiting investment
(cash
in your account) which is a full 2 percentage points or more BELOW
what is
easily available at other brokerage firms offering comparably attractive
commission rates.
Brown very cleverly offers a combination of relatively attractive commissions
AND a downright PUNITIVE rate of interest on your money. So, if you're
not
invested almost all the time, your money is being severely punished
almost all
of the time, and Brown, correspondingly, is making some serious income
on your
money almost all of the time -- instead of YOU....
Don't settle for abusive and ignorant jerks. You don't do so
elsewhere in your
life, and you have even less reason to do so when YOU are the one paying
the
broker's salaries and other bills. In sum, avoid Brown.
31. Part 1 of 2: Avoid Brown & Co., Unless You Think Self-Abuse
is Healthy for
You and Your Money
Character and Courteousness Matter, BIG-TIME from Chicago
August 4, 1999, 12:57:08 AM
Having been a Brown & Co. account for around 2 years, I can tell
you that the
great majority of its representatives (so-called "traders") with whom
we've
spoken are consistent - consistently rude, arrogant, cocky, and, most
of the
time, unabashedly disdainful of their customers. The women reps are
every bit
as insolent and brash as are the men. We intend to leave the Brown
& Co. rats'
nest of brokerage malcontents and misfits very soon.
Brown nearly ROUTINELY overcharges our account. For example, if I enter,
and do
not modify, a single order to buy (or sell), for example, 1,000 shares
of
Lucent Technologies @ $67, and I receive a report, on the same day,
of partial
buys totalling 1,000 shares (say, 500 @ $67, then 300@ $67, then 200
@ $67),
the first execution should correctly be charged their commission, but
the
second lot, of 300 shares, and the third lot, of 200 shares, should
not be
charged any commission, as these lots were part of the same one order,
on the
same side (buy or sell), for the same security, in the same account,
on the
same day, and all shares were executed on the same day.
As you can probably guess, that is NOT what happens at Brown & Co.
Brown has
been charging additional full Brown & Co. commissions on the additional
parts
of the same order. Yes, they have made the necessary corrections of
these
ERRORS OF THEIRS if and when I have pointed them out. But their comportment
over the phone makes it clear that they consider such corrections a
real
nuisance. And, almost all of the time, they are condescending, snotty
(appropriate imagery), and abrasive. This is UNETHICAL CONDUCT in the
context
of a customer's polite calls in which the customer legitimately takes
issue
with undeniable, and frequently recurring, firm errors.
16. Brown&Co. cheap for a reason
Matthew from Clearwater,Fl
May 3, 1999, 01:41:26 PM
Brown&Co is a disgrace.Confirmation response time is the worst I've
seen.I have
conceled orders and found out 15 to 20 minutes later I own the stock.
When I've
called to find out where my confirmation is, the broker has
responded,"sometimes our staff is too busy and can't call it in. They
call when
they get the chance". On heavy volume days, hang it up. In the end,
Brown ends
up costing you money through opportunity cost. Their web site is slow
and
cumbersome along with their rude staff. They lost my business...
12. Brown & Co. is terrible!!
betmerick from Terre Haute, IN
April 22, 1999, 07:51:34 PM
I have traded with Brown for about a year. I turn over 3/4M per month
in
trades. The service is terrible from market open until at least an
hour later.
You can't log on, find out if you have bought or sold, and sometimes
confirmations are 30 minutes behind!!
It is IMPOSSIBLE to get a broker on the phone in the mornings and to
find out
about your account with customer service ...... forget it. I have NEVER
gotten
through on the customer service line..... EVER!!!
The brokers are short with you and condecending at times, as well as
belittling.
Not for the active trader
jam from Birmingham, AL
February 4, 1999, 12:52:42 AM
Brown has a good system when it works. Their system goes down at the
most
inopportune times. Don't try to trade the first or last 15 mins of
the day.
When the system is down, it's a good 20 minutes of holding for a broker.
The
fills are real bad so look elsewhere if you are scalping. All this
I can put up
with occassionally, but the traders are JERKS, particularly the Atlanta
Office.
When they make a mistake they act like you are inconveniencing them
to fix it
only after they try to convince you its your fault!
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