Foliofn

[WTMHouston]

Cross posted from another Board....

<<Could you help me out here and provide me with an example or examples of who would benefit from these window trades?>>

Absolutely and I'll use me and some of my investment money as an example. Some of my investment money is allocated as a fixed amount of money every month to a variety of direct stock purchases and mutual funds. Most of the DIPs and DRIPs have fixed fee schedules, although some are fee free, which make minimum monthly purchases a necessity in order for the fee to not disproportionately eat up the stock purchase. Those purchases get made by the company on its predetermined day and with no control by me over the timing or price. But, because of a desire to spread the money over a variety of stocks, each individual purchase is smaller than would be practical for a regular trade. Each purchase buys anywhere from a fraction of a share to several shares, obviously depending on the stock's price relative to the amount invested. For the most part, this is money that I am happy to let sit for years if not decades (although the decades time frame just barely qualifies as true anymore).

But, the universe of stocks that are available for purchase with this money is far more limited than I would like and I would like to be able to diversify this money further. I would also rather invest it directly in stocks or ETFs than in mutual funds. I would also like the ability to sell without having to go through the hassle and cost required by most DIPs and DRIPs. I would also like the ability to have some timing (even if it is not perfect) available to me with these stocks. I would also like the flexibility to choose from day-to-day, week-to-week or month-to-month to change the allocation between these stocks. Folio-fn will let me do this on the fly rather than having to deal, individually, with a lot of different companies. It saves me time and gives me greater flexibility.

If all there was to the Folio-fn program was the window trades, then it would not be worth anything near what they charge for it -- at least at the $399 annual level. But, at least for me, the window trades provide an alternative to fixed monthly deposits to a variety of DIPs, DRIPs, and mutual funds with far greater flexibility and diversification. Plus, by having 10 free regular trades (outside of the window stocks and trading) available a month for no charge and additional trades for $4, I am able to get out of any position at any time if I choose to do so -- even if the stock was bought through a window trade. Thus, if the proverbial bottom fell out (like ABRX, which I fortunately did not own), I can trade every share I own (at least the full shares) through a regular trade and not have to wait for the next window trading opportunity. The same is true on the buying end: if I see a drop as an immediate buying opportunity, I can buy it through a regular trade even if all of my other trades in it were window trades.

I agree that Folio-fn's window trades are not appropriate for someone actively or day trading stocks because they do not provide the flexibility needed to buy and sell immediately. But, I do not day trade (at least not 98% of the time since I learned years ago that I generally suck at day trading). I also agree that Folio-fn's window trading program is not appropriate for someone wanting to trade stocks that fall outside of their group of window stocks (which would include most penny stocks) -- unless the person is making at least 10 trades a month each and every month (which still works out to about $3.33 a trade in commissions).

For my trading money (and it is limited position trading), the available regular trades (10 a month, 120 a year) are more than sufficient to satisfy my needs, and even on the few occasions a year when they may not be, the $4 trade price is still a good deal.

At least for me, this is not just about saving commission money (although it will save me some). It is about diversification and greater flexibility than I now have with some of my investment money.

Finally, I can make no comment, yet, about the quality of their fills on regular trades since I have not experienced it. They could suck or they could be as good as most if not all others. I will agree that there is little more frustrating that wanting a fill NOW (within seconds) and not having it happen as a price moves against you. Been there, done that.

I am in the process of opening an account and moving funds into it. If the fills on regular trades are terrible, I will happily say so. For this reason, as well, I am not yet closing my other brokerage account where the commissions are higher, but the fills are very good.