Strategic Asset Leasing Inc (LEAS)

[jmbar2]

Penson/MMTE discussion updated 05-12-11 at 07:10am
(Thanks Janice, Chroma-Z, Kingrat, Rocketman, JackRoch, Hyborianwar - Yahoo board)
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Background
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=62772188
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New
Stocks affected by Penson freeze as of May 2, 2011 (Thanks to Hyborianwar - Yahoo board)
http://www.tradingdirect.com/Static/StandAlone/non_dtcc_list.pdf#zoom=80%

Explanation of the high fees charged by Penson
"Trading non-DTC eligible securities will incur additional settlement fees including; a certificate fee $75, DTC TRF fee $90 and shipping fee $40 (when necessary). There will also be a DTC NYW fee and a transfer agent fee, which will vary and may be substantial." (Source: Chroma-Z)



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Brokerages confirmed to be affected so far
- ZECCO
- SCOTTRADE (From King Rat: Buying and selling MMTE not affected, but you cannot transfer in a pink unless you have other nonpink holdings)

Brokerages that use Penson as a clearinghouse - may be affected
- eOption
- Firstrade
- Noble trading
- OptionsHouse
- Scottrade- uses Penson for options but not stocks
- Sogotrade
- SpeedTrader
- Thinkorswim
- Tradeking


Brokerages that don't use Penson (check and report back)
- Fidelity
- TD Ameritrade
- E-Trade
- Interactive brokers
- Merrill Lynch
- Schwab
- Sharebuilder
- Vanguard
- WellsTrade

http://www.onlinebrokerrev.com/2011/01/broker-clearing-firms.html

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What you can do
- Add your knowledge, experiences to this board so we can track the situation as if affects real investors

- Contact SEC, FINRA etc and ask for help

- If SEC FINRA can't help, contact your elected officials, especially those on banking, financial reform committees.
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Complaint links

SEC https://tts.sec.gov/oiea/QuestionsAndComments.html

FINRA http://www.finra.org/Investors/ProtectYourself/p118628

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My complaint to SEC (Sent May 5 - no response as of May 12 )

URGENT REQUEST FOR CLARIFICATION/ASSISTANCE

I am a small individual investor/trader of penny stocks. On Thursday, I tried to sell some shares of MMTE through Zecco and was told that I could no longer do so without paying a $200-700 fee! This exceeds the value of the holding, leaving me trapped.

I talked to ZECCO and they said this was not their decision, but that of their clearinghouse, Penson Financial. Apparently, Penson has distributed a list of stocks that can only be manually-cleared to brokers, and will now require each investor pay a $200-700 to buy or sell that stock.

I am in communication with other traders on trading boards and so far we have identified several stocks being affected, including MMTE, APCX, CPRKQ, and STAU.

The inability to freely trade these shares put many small investors at high risk if the stocks tank on us and we cannot get out of them quickly. This affects many thousands of small stock investors/traders. We are not only professional investors, but also housewives, teachers, retirees, and active duty armed forces personnel trying to augment our incomes with small stock trades. We need immediate help.


My questions to you: How can this be legal to impose such a fee with no notice or recourse? What can we do to trade our small stocks without such fees.

We urgently request your input on this situation as a new trading week dawns and we are now at risk of uncontrollable losses.

Thank you