Freetrade - CAUTION

[mugur]

www.choicetrade.com $5 unlimited pinks

[timhyma]

Thanks- I'll take a look

[extelecom]

Tim, I personally advise against Scottrade unless they have gotten considerably better than they were.. See Scottrade board....

I have an InteractiveBrokers account and while it could be slightly more expensive trade wise depending on how many shares you trade I doubt you will find better executions.

I am going to miss my 20 free trades a month!

[swampboots]

KEPPIN the new $5 thang, none cheaper at that size Co. I suspect.

[doniam]

Now that the free in Freetrade is going away, wondering which is the best place for my account to be. Don't do many trades anyway these days.

[timhyma]

I noticed executions were getting slow anyway. Think I'll be moving to scottrade.

[swampboots]

What does it mean to you?!!!!!!!

I'll tell ya, $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ lost down the drain.

[timhyma]

Your Freetrade account is moving to Ameritrade Izone!
Dear Valued Client,

Ameritrade has launched a brand new trading platform - Ameritrade Izone. We designed Izone with some of the same great low-cost features you enjoy at Freetrade by Ameritrade like NO share limits and NO maintenance or order handling fees.1

At the end of the regular market session on April 29, 2005, Freetrade accounts are being transferred to Ameritrade Izone.

What Does That Mean For You?
Izone is backed by considerable technical and business resources. This will give Izone the ability to offer additional trading features and continued enhancements to Ameritrade Izone™ clients.

With Ameritrade Izone, you'll enjoy advanced trading technology and more access to trading features including:
FREE real-time quotes.
The ability to create your own UserID and password.
Enhanced stop-limit orders - At Izone, you can set a stop price and a separate limit price.
Short selling in the Extended-Hours Trading session.2
Customizable home page.
The ability to create equity order defaults so your trading ticket fits your style.
Programmable timeouts that allow you to set both the amount of time your trading site remains idle before logging you out and the length of time your review order screen is available before closing.
Even with all these extras, you'll pay just $5 commissions for online stock trades.3 Please review the complete commissions, margin rates and service fees at our web site.

Click here to find out more about Izone.

What To Do Now
Nothing. Any subscriptions you have at Freetrade will be automatically transferred at the same rates. Account history, banking instructions and tax information from your Freetrade account will automatically transfer to Izone. Even your account number and PIN will stay the same.

And just like Freetrade, everything at Ameritrade Izone is electronic. You'll use the Internet to retrieve statements and trade confirmations, fund your account and contact Client Services.

Once The Transfer Occurs...
You'll simply use your account number and PIN to create your own UserID and password. That means more convenience and greater account security for you.

Freetrade Will Close On April 29
As the day approaches, we'll send you more information on what's happening. In the meantime, take a look at the links in this e-mail for more information about Izone and review the minimum system requirements for the Izone site.

We're confident that you'll enjoy all the new trading features your Ameritrade Izone account will give you. If you have any questions before the transfer, please e-mail our Client Services department.

We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you as an Ameritrade Izone client.

Sincerely,

James A. Ricketts
Vice President
Freetrade

P.S. If you don't wish to have your account converted to Izone, you must initiate your transfer to another firm by April 25.

[olico ™]

not sure I agree with 'daytraders avoid freetrade like the plague'

I have it, have margin with ONLY 10k in my acct on avg, trade in and out well over 100 times PER DAY, NO MARGIN CALL..........well, that is unless I buy a marginable stock with more than I have in my acct, then I get the mc.

But truth be told, since I set my acct up as margin, I do NOT get margin calls etc, I just have that running red 'day trading power call' lit up........means NOTHING I have been told, and have been doing this for over a year now with Freetrade.

Dont know what to tell you guys, but this is a fact.

[PDC ™]

Sweet. Looks interesting. Thanks.

[timhyma]

Yep- check out this board for some of the details
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/board.asp?board_id=3134

[PDC ™]

lol. sorry sent a private message not releasing i just spoke with you publically. A bit out of it today.... ha had a bunch of friends over last night.

[PDC ™]

I use MyTradz ---- horrible and expensive Ameritrade ---- which compared to MyTradz is great .... and just opened the Freetrades -- the commision is so super cheap, however, I am a big daytrader. So a bit worried and just starting that acct. with 3500.00.

didnt even know Ihub was doing a brokerage. That's Great!

Thanks for you reply :) Cheers and Merry Christmas

[timhyma]

I've made a few day-trades with no problems, other than execution is slow, imo. I'm definitely looking for a better brokerage. Maybe what Ihub is putting together will be better. Thanks for your imput. What brokerage do you use?

[PDC ™]

on the description of this board:
Freetrade seems to give decent fills and order processing but their daytrading requirements are a mess.

Daytrading buying is frequently LESS than regular margin requirements and they will put you into a call if you trade intraday.

DAYTRADERS avoid Freetrade like the plague.

---- what exactly are the regualr margin requiremnts and if they call you on intraday's how long until you receive funds. Is settlement 3 days?

[swampboots]

Actually for me the ANCCD opened 3.45 7 seconds, it took to take my 1000 shares out at 3.24 and just do the 3.45. Can't believe I was only seller below 3.45 at that time,. Will only happen to me once in 10 years,lol.

[timhyma]

Hmm, good idea. I plan to open an Ihub trading account when they come on line.

[swampboots]

Hard to say........HSKA shows 1.05 trading but I got no fill until it rose above 1.09 , then dropped to 1.07....Sometimes orders come from other exchanges and dribs and drabs. It is when ya have 2 orders out with 2 brokers when ya can really test the dissing Vigorish.

[timhyma]

OK- I think they duped me today.

got a partial fill on CRDS- Notice the chart show it dipped again around 2ish, and I didn't get filled. Starting to wonder if freetrade is on the up-n-up. Not the first time they didn't fill me when it dipped below my order.


I put in a small bid at 1.41 around 10:15. Only got 100 shares.
Buy 500 CRDS Limit at 1.41,
Buy 500 CRDS Limit at 1.41, DAY Partially Filled 100 at 1.41 2004-12-15 10:29:22

[swampboots]

ANCCD $3.04. No lie put in to sell @ 3.24 this morning onFreetrade and they show the sell @ 3.45??????????

[timhyma]

Dear Freetrade Client,

Some Freetrade by Ameritrade clients experienced degraded website performance on Monday, October 11 and Tuesday, October 12.
I want to update you on what caused this issue, how it was resolved, and what steps are being taken to prevent this from occurring again.

What happened?
For approximately one hour on each of these two trading days, some clients experienced poor website performance. This included degraded responsiveness as well as an inability to trade online. On both days, we were able to isolate the problem and restore full website functionality.

What has been done about it?
It has been determined that a third-party software problem caused the degradation. Changes were put in place on Tuesday evening to prevent this issue from recurring in the future.

Thank you for your patience, and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Sincerely,

James A. Ricketts
Vice President
Freetrade by Ameritrade

[timhyma]

Hmm, freetrade down? I can't see if my limit orders hit. Anyone else having problems?

[timhyma]

I've only had a couple of times where it was down. I have notice execution seems to be a bit slower, but you get what you pay for <g>.

[cintrix]

That's unbelievable! I still haven't taken the plunge because I keep hearing people posting "Freetrade is down" or "is Freetrade down for you" etc. It seems like it happens often, no?

[timhyma]

Going over my trades for the year. 190 trades (buys and sells) have cost me $100.69. Saved about $2K on commissions <g>.

[blurring]

oh boy, freetrade is down yet again...

sigh

[timhyma]

I don't hold long enough to ask for certificates <g>. Sorry I'm not much help in that department. Why do you want the certificates? Makes them harder to get rid of, imo.

[rkilly]

Stock Certificates? Can you get stock certificates through freetrade? I know ameritrade charges you $40 but i cant find the link anywhere on the freetrade site. Thanks.

[timhyma]

I don't use any of the freetrade extras.

I do look at this site for RT, but it is limited.
http://www.island.com/bookviewer/javaversion.asp

[Must Be Patient]

timhyma or anyone else, what do you guys do to get realtime quotes on freetrade? It looks like you can't get a real-time quote without paying something? Is it worth it to get the $20/month real-time quote lists vs. just paying the 9.99/month for the streamer?

TIA

[timhyma]

Glad to here that it wasn't a freetrade glitch <g>. Welcome back to the world of trading, lol.

[swampboots]

OK got ADWARE 6.0, free cleaner upper, to nab run away embedders, after Norton zapped my virus.
Freetrade back to normal after field event conquered (my computer infections).

[swampboots]

Floata thanks.......How do I get rid of the worm?....went thru the files with my Norton stuff but they say nothing found. Did the sasser run and all ok.
Any fast way of checking my cookies?

[flota]

I have logged on plent of times....you might have a worm or somthing. scrwed up your cookies....

[swampboots]

Timhyma: trying to find out if it is just me not being able to log in last 3 days most of time. Can be virus, carrier or cookie foul up etc.

[timhyma]

I've not had any problems with them to speak of. I'm not an active trader though. About 10-20 trades a month.

[swampboots]

Changed codes for nothing. They were down for over 24 hours. There service is bad but saving 1000's makes it trivial.

[swampboots]

NUTS! Now cannot get in (no log in possible) do not know if my cookies are 1/2 baked or if FREEtrade is suffering from tech difficulties.
Anybody else having trouble logging in?
Its trure I would save 20K per annum if all Ameritrade moved here but with no calling sytsem they must be almost infallible.

[swampboots]

OK took 1/2 hour to get new codes.

[swampboots]

Denied entry with usual codes.........Taking long time to resolve .
I mean I need to trade and I get case number, will notify later.
Anyone have similar problems?

[timhyma]

T-man, I moved funds from my Ameritrade account to Freetrade. I have not set up a way to pull cash from it, as I contimue to roll profits into the next play. This account is for retirement purposes, so No need to pull any funds for a couple years anyway <g>.

I sent Cashier's check to Ameritrade when I opened that account a few years back, but I think you need to wire in the money for freetrade

[T-Man]

Hi all...

I have quick question for anyone using FreeTrade concerning the initial funding of the account. How can an account be funded for the first time, after a given bank is verified via electronic funding?

I've attempted to deposit funds via electronic transfer or deposit to my new account, yet am told that I cannot deposit an amount exceeding my Liquidation value (which is still $0.00 because my account has yet to be funded). What am I missing here?

Thanks in advance.

[timhyma]

Dear Valued Client,

Thank you for being a Freetrade by Ameritrade™ client.

In May 2003, President Bush signed into law the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. We wanted to let you know how this may affect your margin account(s).

The new tax relief act includes a reduced tax rate on certain dividends paid by corporate issuers. Because of this, the government will tax any "qualified dividend income" an individual receives at the long-term capital gain rate (generally 15%) rather than at ordinary rates (35% maximum) as long as you satisfy a 60-day holding period.

While this is good news for individual investors like you, there are some exceptions to the new law. To be eligible for the reduced tax rate, you must hold the dividend-paying security for a 60-day period. There are also situations where the investor receives "payments in lieu" of dividends on stocks a broker has borrowed as part of its securities lending practices, which do not qualify for the reduced rate.

Because Freetrade may borrow your dividend-paying stock in the normal course of business, you might receive a "payment in lieu" of dividends instead of a qualifying dividend. When this happens, Freetrade will credit your account for the difference between the long-term capital gains rate of 15% and the maximum 35% ordinary rate.

We'll also include the additional tax due on the difference (or a "gross-up"). We'll calculate the gross-up as the difference between the 35% ordinary rate and the 15% capital gains rate divided by 65% - resulting in a premium payment of 30.77% on the payment in lieu. After we credit your account, if you are in the highest tax bracket, you should be in approximately the same after-tax position you would have been in if you had received a qualified dividend. If you qualify for a lower tax bracket, you'll actually receive more income receiving a payment in lieu. For an example of the "payments in lieu" and "gross-up" after tax position, please see example at the end of this e-mail.

As your account is self-directed, we're not allowed to give you tax or investment advice. Please contact your tax advisor with any questions about the effects this tax law change may have on your account.

If you have any questions about your account please contact a Client Services representative at [e-mail].

Again, thank you for being a Freetrade client. Your business is very important to us and we look forward to serving you for years to come.



Sincerely,

James A. Ricketts
Vice President

[timhyma]

FWIW, I transferred about half my playing account at first. After 3 months, went and moved the rest of it to freetrade.

[excel]

Thanks Tim. Wonder if just stock would transfer faster. I need to do it. But you know that adictive feeling of not being able to trade stops me. LOL!
I wish I could afford a vacation and transfer then. LOL!

[timhyma]

About 3 days for stock and cash to transfer.

[excel]

Any of you who were Ameritrade clients who switched to Freetrade did any of you try to fill out the forms after trading hours on a Friday and find yourself transferred sometime Monday morning?

What was your transfer time from Ameritrade to Freetrade no matter what day you did it?
Thanks!

[extelecom]

At one time I thought maybe FreeTrade & Ameriturd had different systems, but apparently not, now we have FreeTurd & AmeriTurd...<VBG>

[timhyma]

Missed that also. Did see a couple folks post about ameritrade being down. Freaking work (day job) is getting the better part of the day lately <g>

[timhyma]

LMAO- thanks for the laugh. Come on over to BTS if you want- we will help you with that problem