Waterhouse + WebBroker = Joke
Q: I Just moved to Waterhouse from Datek (Moved since Datek does not offer stop-orders on anything but NASDAQ stocks); what a joke! Execution is slow, notification is even slower; it took me over two hours to get two out of my last three confirmations. Of course, this isn't their fault; just ask them. They blame high volume and their buyer in NY. Another interesting little tidbit that you remain unaware of (Until your account is set up, that is) is that you can't even trade some stocks via the web since these stocks are considered too high volume for their system; stocks such as Ubid, Ebay, Amazon, and the such. I am very disappointed in this company; I am looking for fast execution\notification at reasonable rates. Any suggestions?
A:
I trade for my clients though waterhouse. No problems in over a year. If you
have them, just call. You get the same price. Also, most of the large
brokerages have dropped trading of the internet companies. Scwab has as well
as others. Also its not high volume they're concerned about but high
violability.
I am glad you have had no p
I also had experienced this. However, I am daytrading stocks; evidently, you
engage in a different type of trading since you probably invest long-term for
your clients. This will work fine for someone using Waterhouses' system,
since you are in for the long haul and not just shaving a few days' profit, and
probably don't need trade confirmation in 1-2 minutes. In my case however,
when a stock moves quickly I have to get on board quickly as well, and be
notified if I CAN'T get on board so that I can search for greener pastures.
Regarding the lack of trading by many firms of some of the hotter internet
stocks, I am aware that many of them do not offer such a service, but it would
have been nice, since I opened my Waterhouse account in person at their
offices, if the account officer could have said "By the way, you may want to
know before you open your account that we don't trade these certain stocks due
to their volatility". That would have seemed a much more above-board way to
handle the situation as opposed to my finding out later on the 'net.
It wasn't the most important thing to me at the time that I opened the account,
since I tend to shy away from internet stocks. It would have been nice to have
had the information made more readily available. Don't you think that it would
enhance the reputation of the company and it's relationship with its' clients
to be forthcoming with such information? Since I am trusting this company to
trade my securities, I view this as a fiduciary relationship, like a doctor or
a lawyer, wherein the company has the responsibility to inform me of
circumstances which I may overlook but which they have deemed important enough
to enact special measures.
What's going to happen to all the on-line accounts that have AMZN, EBAY, etc.,
who wish to sell their shares of the company? How will they be able to do it.
For clarity's sake it should be pointed out that I believe you statement about
"large brokerages" was referring to discount on-line brokers. I'm not aware of
any full-service (real service?) stock brokers who have restricted trading in
these stocks.