Ya Think?
Over the last couple of years far too many brokerage houses
have said one thing, then turned around at crunch time and caused me many
problems. Here is a list of brokerage houses/banks, and the reason for me
leaving;
1) FX
Open – got rid of all U.S.
clients,
2) Saxo
Bank – irregular options pricing and off market fills,
3) All
U.S. based brokerage houses – idiotic CFTC & NFA rules on leverage, and
other things [like Frank-en-Dodd regulations], as well as a tendency to go
bankrupt and screwing customers out of their hard earned money,
4) Hot
Forex – got rid of all U.S.
clients, but also had issues with requotes and stops,
5) Forex
FS – changed rules on PAMM accounts and lowered payout, along with sub standard
customer service.
Well, you can now add to this list Forex-Metal. While I
haven’t closed my account yet, it’s only a matter of time [meaning within the
next couple of weeks]. I simply cannot do business with a brokerage
house that a) lies to me, and b) refuses to contact me in a timely manner when
I have a problem. This latest clusterfark started last Wednesday;
it’s now the following Monday, and still all issues have not been resolved
because they have refused to call me.
Over the last 3 business days [Thursday (not a Holiday
outside the U.S.), Friday,
and today] myself and the staff have literally beat the bushes talking to over
a dozen offshore [meaning outside the U.S.,
and not necessarily a “tax haven”] brokerage houses that accept U.S. clients. I
have found one, I think, that is acceptable to me. We’ll see in the following
days.
I’m also looking into different ways to present trading
signals for traders that doesn’t involve exorbitant fees and large trading spreads.
So, we’ll also see how that turns out in the days ahead.
The biggest problem we are facing is the fact that at least
80% of most brokerage houses outside the U.S.
want
nothing to do with U.S.
clients. They have made a business decision not to mess with
anything that has U.S.
in it. Thank you President Gobbels.
Fortunately, I see light at the end of the tunnel; I think
we will be able to get something started that involves 1) extremely low
spreads, 2) trading signals, 3) verified track record results for the public,
and 4) the flexibility for you to decide which methods you think best for you
and then use them.
It’s not all tied up yet, and I haven’t yet finalized all
parts of the equation, but rest assured we will have the best solution
where most people can easily choose the best option for themselves.
What it finally comes down to, is that I refuse to be lied
to, and I refuse to accept corporate “happy talk” as a solution. When you
consider that their primary job [at any brokerage house] is to keep you trading
no matter what, you then realize they will tell you anything and everything to
keep you there. Once they break the trust you have placed in them, it’s over for me.
So, be of good cheer, as solutions are at hand, and stayed
tuned in the days ahead as we go forward. Trading is hard enough; following the
algorithm is hard; having to deal with brokerage house issues shouldn’t be part
of the process; and when it is, you have to do something about it.
When I look at the algorithm signals from last week, I
should have made a bundle of money; instead I’m down a few bucks, and it makes
my head want to explode because brokerage house issues dominated the week and
prevented me from getting long on a price explosion upwards. Oyyy !!
Since I have spent so much time the last 5 days dealing with
this, I have intentionally delayed answering reader emails. I checked this
morning, and I have about 50 emails to go through; if one of them is yours I
will get to it in the next day or two; just wanted you to know.
Have a great day everyone.
-vegas
