E Trade "Privacy" Agreement = JOKE

When I these policy statements, there are only a very limited number of things a person can opt out of. Most items are mandatory.

I do not think you can opt out of any and all sharing.

All some statements, like E-Trade's, are worse than others.

sch911 wrote:

kab449 wrote:
I have had an account with Ameritrade and its predecessors for many years and have never had any of my personal information compromised.

Perhaps not compromised but sold just like eTrade for sure: Ameritrade Privacy Policy

Where does it say that it is sold?
It says it is shared with their affiliates which are companies under common ownership under the TD Ameritrade name.
I always opt out of any sharing and have never had any problems.

Gdetrailer - Local bank is Chase/J. P. Morgan. J. P. Morgan, by coincidence, also took over my employer's 401-k from Fidelity a few years back. So I have done some business with them, including selling stocks held in a trust, and I have been favorably impressed with them so far.

JRS & B wrote:
Gdetrailer - Oddly enough it was an employee at a local bank where I have a brokerage account that suggested E-Trade if I wanted to buy penny stocks, because their fees were too high for that type of purchase. A 3 cent per share added transaction charge to buy a 30 cent per share stock, and again to sell, means the stock has to go up 20% before I break even. I think I will just pass on the penny stocks rather than deal with E-Trade.

I never said it would be cheap, places like Etrade generate a lot of income from your personal data which subsidizes and reduces the cost of having them trade for you.

I gather that you are using a your local Bank to do your "financial" related stuff?

Extremely bad place to go for financial "help", banks now days are not afraid to charge for things like this, often tacking on hidden fees along the way. Insurance companies are also not good for this either.

Instead you should be looking at real financial businesses like Smith Barney, they still can not come as cheap as the DIY versions they at least can advise along with make the purchases for you.

mich800 - Gotcha - Just one more reason not to take a flyer with penny stocks.

The stock I have in mind has solid technology and an established industrial customer base. They just do not have enough business yet to turn a profit. My intent was to just sit on this stock for as many years as it took for my ship to come in via a merger or acquisition.

I might still buy it, but not with E Trade.

I read the privacy statement for Scott Trade and it as not as ominous as E-Trade. But they wanted 3.5 cents per share transaction charge to deal with penny stocks, which is more than my bank charges.

JRS & B wrote:
mich800 - The math I had in mind is that if I buy 10,000 shares, the purchase price for the stock is only $3,000. But the added transaction fee just to buy is $300. The other fixed cost component is not that high. But I only had one stock in mind, and it isn't worth signing off on my social security number, income, credit rating, employer, etc., etc..

I agree with you. I was just pointing out the bid ask spread is often 10% or higher on a penny stock. So you are already down 10% the second you purchase the stock.

mich800 - The math I had in mind is that if I buy 10,000 shares, the purchase price for the stock is only $3,000. But the added transaction fee just to buy is $300. The other fixed cost component is not that high. But I only had one stock in mind, and it isn't worth signing off on my social security number, income, credit rating, employer, etc., etc..

JRS & B wrote:
Gdetrailer - Oddly enough it was an employee at a local bank where I have a brokerage account that suggested E-Trade if I wanted to buy penny stocks, because their fees were too high for that type of purchase. A 3 cent per share added transaction charge to buy a 30 cent per share stock, and again to sell, means the stock has to go up 20% before I break even. I think I will just pass on the penny stocks rather than deal with E-Trade.

The spread will probably be that high without the transaction costs.

I run Scottrade here, to be honest, I never read the privacy agreement. I know every time I buy gas and pay with a credit card, I am added to someone's list.

Gdetrailer - Oddly enough it was an employee at a local bank where I have a brokerage account that suggested E-Trade if I wanted to buy penny stocks, because their fees were too high for that type of purchase. A 3 cent per share added transaction charge to buy a 30 cent per share stock, and again to sell, means the stock has to go up 20% before I break even. I think I will just pass on the penny stocks rather than deal with E-Trade.