Recent content by helnaggar

Morganist, I was just saying almost the same thing yesterday. Although, Greece is not really part of a federal state because the EU is not a federal state. The problem there is that Greece has an awful lot of autonomy for a country that doesn't have the ability to print its own currency. This...

Do you guys remember the idiotic "luxury tax" they passed in 1991 (I think that was the year). Some Dumbocrat from Maine sponsored it and it levied a tax on yachts, fur coats, and other luxury items. Turns out that if you make something more expensive, demand goes down? Who knew (except...

The poor people will have less food. Who the hell do you think builds houses, pools, and Mercedes? They now won't have a job, fool.

What do you mean "for what"? The Fed and Treasury are getting all the glory. The SEC has to elbow in there and seem important <i>somehow</i>!

Can someone confirm for me that the London Stock Exchange doesn't have a price test for short selling and doesn't require a locate for intra-day shorting? If that's true, I think more volume will shift from the U.S. exchanges if the SEC brings back an even harsher price test than the uptick...

"U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox said on Tuesday the proposal "will focus on market-wide solutions." He said it is not intended to have any impact on the direction of stock prices." Miraculously, Cox always manages to make that claim with a straight face.

The SEC rule did nothing to decrease the number of naked short sales in the 19 stocks over the period of time it was in force. First of all, Cox himself repeatedly stated that the rule was "prophylactic". There was no increase in naked short selling in those shares before the new rule and...

Thanks for all the input. So I am overpaying because I'm at Merrill. It is shocking that ML can get away with rates that much higher than its competition given that its technology and platforms are behind in many ways. The main reason I'm at Merrill is its ability to locate stock (as I...

Hi All, I'm trying to get an idea of what reasonable execution and clearing costs would look like for somebody who trades 500K shares a day. At my old broker, Interactive Brokers, the cost was $3.5 per 1000 shares. My new broker ML is charging me more and somehow I feel like I'm...

Thanks again all. I will be talking to ML about its internal platforms tomorrow but was hoping to benefit from others' experience. Does anybody know if ML Pro has an account minimum before it allows a custy to use a third party platform? Also any ideas on a reasonable range for commission...

Another thing I would appreciate your thoughts on is how ML X-Trade handles pairs trades and does it have the ability to use algos to automate a pairs trade?

I meant to ask how does X-Trade compare to Sterling in terms of speed and order entry.

Thanks for the Sterling information. I do have an account at ML. How does X-Trade compare to ML in terms of speed and ease of order entry? I find Sterling extremely cumbersome and slow when trading 50 10 100 names on any given day. I used to have an account at Interactive Brokers and really...

Thanks for your replies. The only reason I am currently using Sterling is because it was the only option ML offered me. I understand ML has another internal platform (X-Trade) but I think ML might only offer it to larger accounts. Which ML Pro platform are you referring to? I would also...