Investor Help (NO Ihub questions)

[cintrix]

I am currently using Etrade and Schwab. Etrade used to be very good. They are horrendous now in terms of customer service. Their fills are still good and they get you the best price on the fills. But they used to have a platinum team for active traders that they got rid of completely. The wait time on the phone has recently improved - I don't wait over an hour now as I did last year to speak with someone, but the knowledge of people you speak to is pale in comparison to who used to work for them. They will first screen your call by connecting you to someone who really can't do anything for you - once you explain why you are calling they transfer you to a licensed broker. I don't trade pennies anymore so I don't know if they are still considered good for that. But I do know, and this is important if you trade pennies, that if a corporate action happens they no longer waive the fee for active traders the way they used to. So if you are trading a stock that does a reverse split a(which happens often in pennies) expect to be hit with a corporate action fee.
Just last week I called them and asked them to remove two equities that were in my portfolio under a cusip from 2011 and 2014. Instead of the guy removing both, I see in my account that they are both still showing. One looking still the same and the other one saying I was short. After calling them back Monday I find out that the dumb arse who took care of the transaction removed the one stock twice instead of two different equities. So he removed the one, then he removed the same one again and it showed up as a short position and the other one he didn't touch. It's a good thing I checked this before the end of year.

Schwab is good in terms of customer service. In fact I would give them an A. I have never traded pennies with them so I don't know if they are good for that. I do know that they do NOT charge a corporate action fee to the customer.

I personally like Etrade's trading platform Pro better than Schwab's Street Smart Edge and Think or Swim.

[been there]

Welcome any responses... Haven't made a stock purchase in two years but am gearing up to do so again in 2024. At present am hunting for best broker to go with that was like TD Ameritrade. Is SWAB good to stay with ? Would eTrade be more suitable than remaining with SWAB? Or is there someone better than these for day trading .000X shares? Thanks for your responses.

[sharpei]

The page layout has changed 'stocks messages' and Im no longer able to access my images folder to add image to a post. Please help. (I tried adding the url link but it takes the reader into my private X site rather than to a single image. HELP me please.

[ottoman]

Wow, thanks for that info. I have never heard of that as well. I'll keep it in mind. I consolidated all the "low priced" stocks into one Etrade account, and I'll eventually call in, and see if they will just dump them free of charge. lol. not expecting it.

[cintrix]

Just tried to remove two "worthless securities" from my account so I can get some losses to offset my gains. Both of these securities have no bid or ask. But there has been some activity - not much but I can see volume on some days. Tried to put in a sell at .0001 (lowest etrade allows you to enter) and nothing filled. So I spoke with a broker and they said they can not remove these securities as "worthless" unless the stock had gone 30 days without activity. This I never knew. So if you are looking to get rid of something like that keep an eye on the volume during the month and if you see 30 consecutive days of no volume they can write them off for you.

[tony56]

I have 500 Russian stocks mobile Telephone they were halted beginning of war-will they ever open again?

[Eli's Gone]

Hangin' in there--hope you are well

[cintrix]

Very good! And how are you, Eli? Long time, no see!

[Eli's Gone]

Cool---you're welcome...the screenshot I posted in my my last post was before I sorted the table with the "new tier" dropdown (red arrow in this post)---this will put the table in descending date order with the expert tiers on top---oldest 1st---that way you don't have to scroll thru all the others to get to the expert markets

[LocWolf]

Cintrix...thank you very much. I have gone to the OTC website time and time again but had no idea of what is hidden there but no doubt I will be studying all the valuable information that I didn't know existed, cool.

[LocWolf]

Eli's Gone....thank you for that link and especially your instructions. I had no idea of the massive information that actually exist there, again thank you.

[Eli's Gone]

can help with a list of expert market stocks and when they got there---no idea how to predict their exit

you can get a list of expert market tiers and dates here---you can't search for individual tickers but can scroll thru the list:

start here:
https://www.otcmarkets.com

under the "market activity" dropdown list (top left), select "corporate actions"

under "symbol changes" dropdown, scroll down and select "tier changes"

under the "security type" dropdown on the left, select common stock if you want to get rid of the warrants and foreign ordinary shares entries which knocks the list down to about 1600 from over 4000

on the "tier change" page, click "new tier" header of the table (5th from left)

the table will sort and display all expert market tickers according to date

cumbersome but you can now scroll down thru the list

GL

[LocWolf]

You know ....maybe I will put in a call or email to OTC, thank you.

[cintrix]

I don't know of one but I would just keep your eyes glued here https://www.otcmarkets.com/ and check the filings to make sure they are current.

[LocWolf]

TIA....is there access to a database "referencing dates" when pinks sheet stock were thrown into the expert market or ending date projecting total delisting ?

[cintrix]

Yeah, that's what I would do. So technically they are worthless to you, but they aren't really worthless unless they no longer trade because you can still sell them. That's better for you. I really don't recall what other brokers do in this case. It's been so long since I traded otc's. But I hear you on the Etrade rant. Morgan Stanley has ruined that brokerage. They used to be so much more customer friendly to active traders. Now they nickel and dime you for everything.

[ottoman]

Hi Pat. 🤗 Well I'm in the process of consolidating all the "worthless" (or extremely low value) stocks together in one account. Yes, I figure I'll either sell them, or call and see if they'll waive the fee, especially in situations when I have a total of 8 shares with a total value less than a penny lol.

The commission is $2.95 for otc stocks, so it would be cheaper and easier to sell them. I think I have one or two stocks with no symbol (cusip number only). Those I'm guessing are "worthless".

I don't recall any other broker charging to get rid of worthless (or super low-priced) securities. I've done it before several times over the years for free. I just rolled my eyes when, naturally, Etrade charged for it.

[cintrix]

What would be the point of paying $5 to get rid of a "worthless" security?

-Well, I could think of a few. One that you brought up. If they are penny stocks that you have held for many years the chance of them reversing again and hitting you with another reorg fee are possible. Wouldn't you rather pay $5 to get rid of them then chance a $38 fee down the line? Why can't you just sell them online yourself instead of having Etrade do it? The way it used to work was (and I point this out because they have changed so many rules since MS took them over) if say you sell the entire position, they only charge a commission up to what it was worth. So if your entire position only comes to $3 but you pay $5 commission, they just charge the commission at $3.

-Not sure if theses stocks are actually "worthless." If they are still trading and doing reorg like reverse splits then they are not considered worthless. You could clean up your account and have a nice loss to offset your gains so you don't have to pay any taxes on them. If those losses exceed your gains you can use them each year as a carry over to offset future gains as long as your bottom line doesn't exceed a negative 3k for the year.
If they are truly "worthless" and they are listed under a cusip number you technically need to rid of them the year they officially became worthless. If you didn't do that in the year they became worthless you could always go back and do an amended return - I think you have up to seven years to do that.

Going back to pre MS, I have in the past removed stocks that were listed in my port as a cusip. I thought they would be considered worthless but Etrade figured them in as a total loss on my 1099. Maybe a stock isn't considered totally worthless even when it is under a cusip.

I'm guessing from your description that your stocks aren't truly "worthless" and you can easily use them as a tax loss. Unless you are still following them and you think there is a future event that may catapult them why bother keeping them?

[ottoman]

Another rant against Etrade......

They charge $5 fee for disposing of "worthless securities". That's right, for a stock that is considered worthless (even if it's worth less than 1 penny), you will be charged a $5 fee for EACH stock they dispose for you.
What would be the point of paying $5 to get rid of a "worthless" security? Etrade is the worst worst worst when it comes to fees.

I have plenty of stocks that are worthless in multiple Etrade accounts. One of those stocks went through a reverse split last week, and I didn't realize it, so I was charged a $38 reorganization fee for each account. The stock pre split was worth 2 pennies. The customer service guy I spoke to removed 2 of the charges, but I have several accounts with Etrade

So, now, I'm interested in consolidating all the worthless stocks I've accumulated over the many years, and getting rid of them, so another reverse split doesn't cost me a few hundred dollars. But now they say it'll be a $5 charge for each.

I was told that I should call in, and talk to a trader, and ask if they will waive the fee. If they don't, I'll just let the stupid stocks sit in there forever and screw them if they reverse split, I'll just keep a negative balance forever lol. It's not like I really use Etrade much anymore.

[ottoman]

My guess is you would be able to sell them in Schwab. If the shares are allowed to move over to Schwab from TD Ameritrade, you should certainly be able to sell them.
There may be a requirement to call in to Schwab, and have a broker sell the shares for you (hopefully they would waive the broker-assisted fee) Not sure, but if they are restricted in some way, Non-DTC eligible etc. I'm guessing that whatever process was allowed in TD Ameritrade, it will probably be the same with Schwab.

Or you could just hold on to the stocks once they're in Schwab. Hopefully, those three stocks (CNNA, ICOA, WALN) eventually explode upward and it makes all this pain in the ass worth it for you lol. Who knows.

So yeah, let them transfer over to Schwab, I think you should be good.

Good luck

[fishnman]

Thank you for your information. So are you saying I might not be able to even sell them? I know for example you cant buy cnna if you live in the US. I wonder if I should try to sell it before TD closes. Got almost $3000.00 of Cnna as of today....actual Value

[ottoman]

Brokers have really moved away from the Grey Sheet / Expert market stocks. Were you wanting to just hold/sell your ICOA, CNNA, WALN or buy more? I don't really know any brokers that would allow buying these anymore, at least self-directed trading online. Of all the brokers I know, I thought maybe T. Rowe Price might allow expert market purchases, but I placed a test buy order for all three (ICOA,CNNA,WALN) and couldn't buy any. They are "restricted". WALN doesn't seem to even exist. (symbol doesn't come up). Even otcmarkets.com doesn't show it.

Fidelity is good, they allow pink-current stocks but not Pink No Information, Grey Market and Expert Market stocks.(similar to Schwab, Etrade). And fidelity doesn't charge a commission for OTC stocks (unlike Schwab/Etrade).

It's possible some broker would allow an greysheet or expert market stock purchase with a broker-assisted trade. I did a test trade online with Schwab for symbol CNNA and it said:

" 1. This order cannot be placed online. To place this order, please call a Charles Schwab representative at 1-800-435-4000. If this is a foreign security, contact the Global Investor Services team at 1-800-992-4685. (DO506) "

I still doubt they would allow it, but not sure.

Hopefully, you'll be able to sell them all in Schwab.
Good Luck 👍️

[fishnman]

I'm with TD and suppose to go to Schwab. Heard a lot of things about Schwab that didn't seem good. So I saw good reviews online about Fidelity. So I transfered TD stuff to Fidelity. Got my acct up and running and saw that 3 of my stocks are not there. Called and they said they don't trade or they don't except them. (Cnna, Icoa, Waln) I said where are they....went to my TD acct. CLOSED. I couldn't get in. had to wait like 3 days & called TD and they still had them. The lady toll me to get online go to my acct. I told I tried but it wouldn't let me. Oh they lock up the acct . She said I will unlock it for you. TKU! I asked her if they will transfer to Schwab and she said YES. So I guess going to go with Schwab. Once my Schwab gets established I will transfer my Fidelity acct over. Does anyone know of a better idea?

[fishnman]

I'm with TD and suppose to go to Schwab. Heard a lot of things about Schwab that didn't seem good. So I saw good reviews online about Fidelity. So I transfered TD stuff to Fidelity. Got my acct up and running and saw that 3 of my stocks are not there. Called and they said they don't trade or they don't except them. (Cnna, Icoa, Waln) I said where are they....went to my TD acct. CLOSED. I couldn't get in. had to wait like 3 days & called TD and they still had them. The lady toll me to get online go to my acct. I told I tried but it wouldn't let me. Oh they lock up the acct . She said I will unlock it for you. TKU! I asked her if they will transfer to Schwab and she said YES. So I guess going to go with Schwab. Once my Schwab gets established I will transfer my Fidelity acct over. Does anyone know of a better idea?

[ottoman]

great to hear. I'll have to check out Etrade Pro in case StreetSmartEdge does get phased out eventually. I think I might have had it at one point, but settled in with StreetSmartEdge. Early November I am scheduled for migration from TD Ameritrade to Schwab.

[cintrix]

Hi Shawn! So it ends up that they weren't able to migrate any of my positions that had multiple lots into TOS. They told me that anything I buy after the migration will show lots but anything before will not. They told me to go to the website to see my lots. I told them that this isn't 1999 and I don't want to be trading off a website. That's fine for someone who is long term and buys and sells every now and then. For someone who does multiple trades everyday you can't be trading off a website - you need a trading platform. They informed me that this problem will eventually get fixed where my prior history will show lots, but they could not give me a window of when. So I asked them if they could switch me back to StreetSmart and hopefully by the time they phase out that platform they fix that problem with TOS. They agreed and this morning I got my StreetSmart with all my correct positions back.
I haven't tried to see if TOS still works since they already migrated me that may be a chance.
I am totally with you on TOS. Way too many bells and whistles on that platform that I will never use. I still like Etrade Pro the best in terms of what it has to offer and the appearance. TOS is hard on the eyes and you can't change the font to bold where you can do that on Pro. I just hope Etrade doesn't have any ideas about phasing out Pro with a different platform.

[ottoman]

Also, thanks for the heads up about phasing out StreetSmartEdge. I had wondered about that. It's bad news for me, as I use StreetsmartEdge all day for watchlist / positions streaming quotes, and I like the format. I just don't like the "look" of Think or Swim in comparison. I suppose there is a lot of customizing that I could do, which I haven't looked into.

[ottoman]

Hi. Sorry for the late reply. I'm still not used to this new format, so I don't notice messages in the inbox. I have both the StreetsmartEdge and Think or Swim Desktop (separate installed programs) on my computer.

I can use them both currently, (I've had them for a long time). Yes, the ThinkorSwim has lots of bells and whistles. I really don't do much daytrading/flipping, (and when I do I suck lol), so I don't need any of what ThinkorSwim offers. I will log in to see what stocks are tanking premarket (See photo). In one of the side-window "widgets", Or I can follow what stocks are tanking real-time during regular hours.

I don't trade in TD Ameritrade at all, I have a few accounts with them, but no money to speak of. When I do trade (Schwab, Fidelity and others) I just use their web-based trading.

I think that's really dumb that you can't use both ThinkorSwim and StreetSmartEdge simultaneously, so you can have smooth transition

[cintrix]

Dumb arses at SinkorSwim never informed me that once they give me access to the platform that StreetSmartEdge is no longer available to trade off of! So I have this new platform that I have no clue how it works, the account info hasn't been transferred correctly yet - my lots aren't showing up and they don't have me flagged as a pattern day trader on it yet.
I will have to use the website - which is something I never use and am not too familiar with either!
Help! I'm definitely sinking and not swimming - it's rip current season! lol

Which one do you use? The web based one or the desktop platform. I have the desktop right now. From what I understand that one is more involved. I might try the web based one.
One other point. They told me that they will be phasing out StreetSmart so I guess SinkorSwim will be the only trading platform to use with Schwab!

[cintrix]

I first had to sign up for it and have to wait for them to activate it.

[ottoman]

have you accessed it? what do you think? As a "valued" TD Ameritrade customer, I've had access to it all along, but I don't use it much.

I guess

[cintrix]

We're excited to let you know that as a valued Schwab client, you now have exclusive early access to the award-winning suite of thinkorswim® trading platforms. Read on to learn how to use your access to check out these platforms and get your account(s) set up to trade on them.

[cintrix]

I think it was immediately available if you were an Ameritrade customer. I was a new Schwab customer so I didn't have immediate access. I know nothing about OTC share limitations since I do not trade otc stocks anymore.

[Craig305]

I thought Think or Swim (TOS) was immediately available to the TDA to Schwab transfer customers?
Do you know if you are a Schwab client with access to TOS, if with TOS, you can trade OTC shares higher than the Schwab 999,999 trade limitation?

[cintrix]

It is??? What a bunch of morons! They have hired so many people who have no experience. This guy told me that it is a new rule and that they require 25k in all margin accounts now regardless of whether you day trade or not.

[ottoman]

It's still $2000 for a "regular" margin account. Etrade just has to screw everything up.

https://us.etrade.com/trade/margin-trading

still states $2000 at the bottom of page

[cintrix]

Yeah what the heck with this 25k minimum? Is that an actual new rule or is it a new rule with Etrade. Why should they put a 25k limit on margin if you aren't daytrading? And what kind of bs is it where they pick and choose who they will lift restrictions from?

[ottoman]

Ugh, what a nightmare. I hope it's sorted out for you soon. Yeah, I received a message last week from Etrade about an account restriction for my margin account. I had daytrade status on it, but haven't had over $25k in it for years.....I moved over to Fidelity, Schwab etc.

I called in, and customer service dude seemed to know what he was doing. (lol) Decided to keep it a margin account, but just remove the daytrader status. It took 2 days for the message warnings to go away, so I assume it's ok now

Sometimes I play these crazy fractional share round up stocks. That pay a special dividend (extra shares) as a result of a reverse split. Recently, there was one that did a "reverse split followed immediately by a forward split" and you'll get (for instance) 200 shares afterward when you only bought 1 share initially.

Etrade is the only broker to charge two separate $38 mandatory corporate-action (reorganization) fees for each of the reverse and forward splits. I've tried to call in and have a gratuity removal of fees, since no one else charges it twice. Nope, they might (just maybe) remove one, but I've got multiple accounts with them, multiple $76 fees.

When I had much more money with them, all accounts would have the $38 reorg fees reimbursed, but now, they couldn't care less.

At least TD Ameritrade (which has a $38 reorg fee) will reimburse if you call in. I think it's very unfair that those TD Ameritrade customers (I'm one of them) who have not yet been transitioned over to Schwab, are still stuck with the $38 reorg fee, where Schwab does not have it. Many TD Am customers have already been transitioned over to Schwab, but I have to wait until November.

I was told by a previous customer service rep at TD Am, that it "wouldn't be fair" to charge me for the reorg fee, so I should call in and ask for them to be reimbursed. I have a few times, and had the fees reimbursed.

But, Last time I called in to get my fees reimbursed, I was told it's the last time. I called in and asked specifically for a customer service woman who was very happy to reimburse all fees, last guy was a jerk, and had to check with management and stir up the pot lol.

I may still try again, and ask for someone else.

BTW, I always record all my phone conversations, and save them so I can refer back to the person, place or thing the conversation is about.

[cintrix]

Eturd is the pits of the world. This account that I have had for years fell under 25k over the past few months. I had taken most of the money out of it when I changed over to Schwab. As a result they flagged the account and sent me emails stating that I could no longer day trade in the account or they would restrict it. Fair enough. I made it a point not to daytrade out of this account anymore while it was under 25k and would buy something eod and then get rid of it the next day. Did my day-trading exclusively with Schwab. Worked fine.
Until it didn't!
On 7/29 I went to purchase something and I got the "your account has been restricted to placing closing orders only." Looked at all my trades to make sure I didn't accidentally day trade something which I didn't. Called them up and was informed that there are new rules now that even if you don't day trade and you have a margin account you have to keep it above 25k. Never heard of this new rule.
So I told them to switch the account to a cash account since I wasn't day trading it anymore. They did it and the next day everything was fixed and I was able to purchase new positions again.
Until I wasn't!
Morgan Stanley did their account transition from the old Etrade account numbers this past weekend. Somehow when they transferred this account it stayed a cash account but with a minimum equity call against it as if it were still margin. So they once again put the account back on restriction where I can't purchase even though it is officially a cash account.
Called yesterday and the broker assured me that it had to do with the account transition and they are fixing it and I should be good to go in 30 minutes. Well it didn't happen. Waited until this morning to see if the restriction was lifted and it is still there.
Called them today and they tell me that the rep from yesterday was wrong and it could take a few days because the margin department is so swamped and over loaded with problems they need to fix. I asked for some type of credit for the inconvenience and I was refused.
Only good thing I could report from Eturd was their phone response is getting better - no waiting for an hour anymore.

[cintrix]

Mine has been ok all morning. No problems here.

[ottoman]

Streetsmart Edge is back up and running.

[ottoman]

Current interest rates paid on brokerage cash sweep funds. "Average 7-day yield"

The highest I personally have, and know of, is Vanguard which pays 5.28%
Number 2 is T Rowe price which is 5.07%
Number 3 is Fidelity which is 4.97%
I don't count Schwab, as it's not a "sweep", (proceeds from stock sales do not automatically sweep into the high interest rate fund)

I don't know about Etrade,

Vanguard


T Rowe Price


Fidelity

[ottoman]

Schwab's StreetSmart Edge is DOWN! ARgh! due to a technical issue. Try plugging it back in!!!!

I need to have a backup streaming watchlist at the ready, in case something like this happens. I guess Think or Swim, or maybe even (gasp) Etrade

[Mr. Al]

Thank you. I will do some research on these stocks

[cintrix]

This is my watchlist for AI tickers: AI, AIEQ, AMD, AMZN, ASML, AVGO, BBAI, DT, FVRR, GFAI, GOOGL, IBM, INTC, ISRG, JG, MRVL, MU, NVDA, PATH PLTR, RELX, SOUN, SSTK, TSM, WDAY, WETG, ZM

Here is another one from a site:

https://www.barchart.com/investing-ideas/ai-stocks?orderBy=percentChangeYtd&orderDir=desc

[Mr. Al]

Didn't know that. Thanks. Just wanted a list of AI stocks to do some research.

[cintrix]

Read the iBox - no stock picks on this board. If you would like a list of AI tickers I can post that for you but we do not allow stock picks.

[Mr. Al]

What would be good AI stocks to invest in?

[cintrix]

Yep! Exactly! There are still people who don't use smart phones so I guess they still have to offer an alternative.

[ottoman]

oh ok got it. So it's a physical device they send you in the mail. Ah. So that answers the question about what people do who don't have smart phones.

That reminds me of a credit card sized pin number generator I received from Merrill Lynch years ago (must be 12 years now at least). It was the size of a credit card, and had a little digital display that showed a different pin number every time you pressed a little button. Needed it to confirm buys and sells I think. (its been so long).

Thanks Pat. I hope your stock trading is going well, as well as life in general!!