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Honus, Covered calls are an excellent way to make a fortune. Like anything else, the stock picking needs to be done well - fundamentals. You also need to do some things that most here will advise strongly against, like averaging down by selling the puts underneath. The mentality is the...

I'm a bit surprised by the sudden rise. I have been heavily into options for almost 10 years and I too have seen many people blow up. Most don't use the contracts properly and succumb to fear and greed without properly assessing the risk/reward in my opinion. Many also seem to fail to realize...

I would suggest checking with your state office that handles such licensing. Each is a bit different. In Virginia, the owner - or Investment Advisor - need not be securities licensed, however they must file an ADV and a great deal of paperwork, disclosure info etc... The folks who will be...

If you are serious about moving that kind of volume, I would hope you are not taking broker suggestions from us!

I'd pay a little bit, under $20 maybe. I'd save that in typical dealings with IB support. I would also be willing to pay for Def's membership.

I don't know about the HG. Each time I start thinking I have found something, the market corrects me. I have employed a number of strategies over the years that have proved successful. It seems to me that 4 or 5 key trading methods are all that I've required. The hard part is knowing which...

Thanks for the comments. I appreciate your balanced and thoughtful discussion. I would not have become upset earlier in the thread had some folks taken to bashing their points across as opposed to attempting to balance their rhetoric. I had made this decision some time ago and have to...

Birddog, As I think I have said on this very thread before, I have accurately estimated - based my advisers advice and a few guys who have successfully done this - my costs and overhead going forward. There will be no need to advertise as I am not looking to have 8 figures - "advertising"...

I can log in now...running an older version.

Are you guys entering market orders on the option chains being discussed here? I ask because I have been using BEST with limit orders for a while and not had a problem similar to what you're discussing. I have a secondary quote service that provides all the regional exchanges. I will then...

I have run through all the fees with my attorneys, CPAs, bankers and others. They all have experience with both small and large hedge funds in multiple states. The fees are nowhere near those stated by others on this discussion. I will not continue to stoop to thier level by countering every...

Tech support has gotten markedly worse. I call almost daily to report problems that are ongoing (hung option orders - no choice but to call) and I'm seeing much longer wait times. It seems they have a large number of new accounts to svc and are getting overwhelmed. Overall I would still...

Gene, The costs aren't nearly as high as you state. I could paint an even more dire and accurate (read truthful) picture of the beginning adventures of a typical prop trader, but that's not why I started this thread...and I don't need to go there.

IB should start to lose some customers soon. I just spent 28 minutes in the hold queue to report the same problem for the 9th time. Each time I have a specific order and each time they have to call the exchange. I am considering making this one of the duties of one of my staff...to call IB...

I have a router up front. I don't believe I need a firewall because I don't think anyone can "see" my IP, only my router's IP. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. My ISP allows (Cox - by refusing to police) the storing of fellow customers files on my hard drive. I was getting over 100...

I use Brown as well. Excellent firm, awesome customer svc and a real standup operation overall in my experience. I am doing much more trading with IB because of the lower commissions but Brown is one firm I would highly recommend. The interface is arcane. They are working on a new website...

Thanks for the info. My lawyer and accountant both sign my documents and we have agreements that they (and their firms) stand behind their actions. I agree much of this area is murky and I rely on their expertise to keep me moving in the right direction. Just as they wouldn't question my...

I've read the same thing...no confirmation for the initial election.

The reason I have to keep calling about the same problem is because it's still a problem. These are system problems that must be resolved. As I've written many times here, I have orders (calls) frozen and do not wish to have them execute. I know IB help cannot resolve this but my only hope...

Since EXPE beat ests by a wide margin after the prior close, the MM had no idea how far it was going to run at the open. Adding to AA's comment about the risk associated with the position, this would cause a significantly higher price to occur. Personally whenever options are trading with that...