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[lentinman]

R59: F-Trade

Linus did a good job of answering some of your questions. I will try to help out too.

I have never had a single reason to complain about FTrades ability to get me the best price. Essentially, they ARE Ameritrade. The only difference is that they are 100% computerized - meaning virtually no humans in the mix. Obviously, a human answers the emails, but that is something that can be done whenever. The software is almost identical so there is little in the way of start-up costs that have to be recouped.

There is another angle to FTrade. They probably hope you will get to be an habitual trader because it is free. If so, then on your 20th trade in a month you start paying $3/trade. I have only hit that once - and hated it. But, I'm not normal - duh. So, there could be some habitual traders that have moved over to FT and end up giving them some good revenue. Maybe that is why they only allow a margin account on FT, they want to induce you into lots of trading and borrowing to do it.

The trades are timestamped to the second. You can put in limit orders like anywhere. You can trade in after hours. There really aren't any limitations that I am aware of. You can view your history, account, balances, existing orders - or anything else you want anytime you want. And, they have all the same research tools available - such as analysts ratings, charts, earnings, etc. that you get with A-Trade. Finally, it is extremely dependable. I have been on it for a year or so and I don't remember having a problem getting on and operating on it even one time - although I'm sure there probably were some times. Nothing is perfect.

In any event, I appreciate your concern about free, but I don't think this situation justifies your concern. Whether or not it is a good business idea is only known to Ameritrade. But, I can't see how I won't get ideal service as long as it is available. Nevertheless, everytime I log on, I halfway expect to see a note saying that service will be suspended on such and such a day in the future.

Len