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I don't trade options, but used Dreyfus for at least 1 year
of active on-line trading in individual stocks. I've closed
my account, because:
1. Their fills were poor, especially when compared to
the same order entered with another broker. I received
several adjustments from Dreyfus, after speaking with the
floor manager, etc. But who needs that extra aggravation
during the day? And how many fills should have been
adjusted that weren't?
2. Their bookkeeping system was poor. You had an
equity / buying power at the beginning of the day. The
buying power would adjust based on new/closed positions, but
you would have no idea what your real-time equity was,
unless you computed it by hand!
3. I often carried short positions (though the opposite
would apply for longs), & when a stock split, Dreyfus would
not reflect it until the following day -- unlike every other
broker I'm familiar with. Thus if yesterday I was short
1000 shares & there was a 2-1 split, this morning I am now
short 2000 shares, yet Dreyfus would only show 1000 until
the following day. So, if I wanted to cover more than my
1000 shares I had to telephone their order desk, so they
could override the computer! Imagine holding on to cover
1000 shares of PMCS (or such) when it was trading in the
$150-$200 area (just an example; I don't recall if PMCS
actually split at that time.) However, I did have this
happen several times.
NOTE: WANT TO HAVE FUN WITH DREYFUS? The flip side of the
above is that since they did not adjust splits until the
following day, my buying power during the day would
incorrectly jump. Say I was short 1000 PMCS at $200; the
split is effective this morning; now I should be short 2000,
at $100, or $ 200,000 tied-up in PMCS.. But Dreyfus still
has me short 1000, & once trading starts, the current price
adjusts to $100, or $100,000 in PMCS. Since I was short,
that gives me an imaginary $100,000 profit, or $200,000 in
buying power. By the next morning Dreyfus will fix things.
But Dreyfus -- owned by Mellon Bank -- permits this type of
accounting?
I closed my account early this year, so things may have
changed, but I think you are far better with a direct
connection broker, rather than a web-based one. And IMO,
avoid Dreyfus.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Augustine" <RonAug@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <omega-list@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 11:19 AM
Subject: Re: OptionVue5
> I've used Dreyfus for quite some time -- probably lowest
commissions for
> on-line Broker -- no major complaints --
>
> http://www.edreyfus.com/
>
> At 10:05 AM 08/08/2001 -0500, you wrote:
> >Anyone have a referral for a decent, reputable options
broker?
>
>
>
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