FFH delisting from NYSE

[valuecfa]

I've been thinking of switching to IB for a few months now. Maybe this deserves its own thread, but I'm just trying to get a quick idea...What do you guys think about the service, pros/cons. I've played around with their Trader Workstation Demo and it is a little bit cumbersome (like in the way that a Bloomberg Terminal is cumbersome).  It kind of reminds me of an excel format actually, and is not so user-friendly. I'm sure you go used to the functions/layout after playing around with it for a while. So how do you guys think it compares?

 

While it is a cheap monthly fee, it is kind of weird to pay for the Rueters News wire and exchange market quotes, and other data.

[bargainman]

I've been thinking of switching to IB for a few months now. Maybe this deserves its own thread, but I'm just trying to get a quick idea...What do you guys think about the service, pros/cons. I've played around with their Trader Workstation Demo and it is a little bit cumbersome (like in the way that a Bloomberg Terminal is cumbersome).   It kind of reminds me of an excel format actually, and is not so user-friendly. I'm sure you go used to the functions/layout after playing around with it for a while. So how do you guys think it compares?

 

While it is a cheap monthly fee, it is kind of weird to pay for the Rueters News wire and exchange market quotes, and other data.

 

Just FYI, you don't actually have to pay for the quotes.  You can choose not to and just get your quotes elsewhere.  There will be a $10 minimum commission per month still.  IB is a mixed bag.  Customer service is so so.  The minimum monthly commission is a bit annoying, as is the charge for quotes, and the charge for canceling an order.  But you can't beat their costs.  I mean free assignment and exercise are very sweet.

[Myth465]

Wells Fargo is great for a brokerage. Free trades in all your accounts as long as you have 25k in total assets. I have a roth, checking, and taxable there. 100 free trades for 2 accounts. I use think or swim for options trading and foreign stocks and it works out well. most of the time no overhead and on options and foreign stocks extremely low overhead.

[valuecfa]

Wells Fargo is great for a brokerage. Free trades in all your accounts as long as you have 25k in total assets. I have a roth, checking, and taxable there. 100 free trades for 2 accounts. I use think or swim for options trading and foreign stocks and it works out well. most of the time no overhead and on options and foreign stocks extremely low overhead.

 

Correct me if i'm wrong but i think thinkorwim allows foreign exchange (currency) trading, yet does not allow trading of foreign company shares trading on foreign exchanges, like Interactive Brokers does. As for Wells Fargo, I don't want to pay for a financial advisor (like 1% of assets under mgmt) which keeps me out of the major prime brokers (though i wouldn't mind some of their research privileges), and i do want international trading privileges, a good fixed income privelages, as well as forex, futures, derivatives.

[Myth465]

I keep my bread and butter boring stock portfolio at wells. You can do international but, its $75 a trade. All the exotic and FI stuff goes to thinkorswim. This nets me 200 free trades for shares only and cheap trades for all else.

[Rabbitisrich]

I tried the Wells Fargo brokerage, but cancelled the service due to slower fill times. More than once, Fidelity and TD Ameritrade accounts filled an order below my limit price, while WF failed to execute the order at all!

[Myth465]

I have noticed that too and have also noticed that the quotes arent as real time as other brokerages. My wealth though is a rounding error compared to some of you guys so they amounts traded are fairly insignificant. The $10 - $20 in fees hurts more then the spread for me. I do however hope to have the spread become a problem for me one day.

[beerbaron]

I have watched a video interviewing W.R. Berkley and he was explaining that Sarbanes-Oxley kinda pushes insurances companies to release their reserves faster. I was probably quite a nice incentive for FFH to delist, they cannot claim it publicly but it could make them save a lot of $$$ on taxes.

 

 

BeerBaron

[Viking]

Watching the clip, I am reminded that timing is pretty much impossible to predict, whether it be tech in the second half of the 1990's or housing in the US in the second half of the 2000's, or the turn in the current insurance cycle. We may still be years away (or not)!  ;)   

[Smazz]

Holy thread resurrection Batman - Good Stuff.

 

Lets see what transpires tommorrow.