goodbye etrade!

I have experienced eTrade meltdowns over the last few weeks and I was also tired of their high brokerage fees ($32.95 for a basic trade) so I have decided to move to CommSec ($19.95 brokerage... there's a GFC and every little bit counts!).

Well, its official now. My new CommSec account has been set up and I have now been locked out of eTrade. It appears that your portfolio only gets moved after all trades have been settled. If you are a regular trader and constantly have unsettled trades then it seems difficult to understand how one would get a window to be able to move your portfolio. Haven't quite got my head around that yet.

Anyway, my last trade settled on Friday and it looks like my portfolio should magically appear in CommSec in the next day or so. I must admit to some trepidation if it takes a day or more and the market tanks in that time... Fingers crossed.

As it happens I am on the phone to eTrade - I have been on hold for about 30 minutes. I just wanted to share my joy with them and officially say goodbye.

10 mins later...

OK, I have just spoken to them and what happens is you account gets closed if your HIN number gets transferred to another broker. Lucky I had an exactly zero balance in my account! Apparently you can have more than HIN number - one with each broker - but I am not keen to go down that path.

One big difference I have noticed with CommSec is that (apparently) I can trade with zero balance and transfer money into the account prior to T+3 settlement. I found the fact that I couldn't do this with eTrade hindered my agility in the market and I had to plan ahead if I wanted to do a trade rather than see a good deal and go for it. It made me more pre-meditated and probably didn't affect my buying negatively but its good to know that if I see a bargain I can put an immdeiate order in. The other problem with eTrade is that if I had one or more speculative orders in then in some cases all my funds were locked up and I couldn't execute any other buys. It was very frustrating. I'm hopeful CommSec will be a little better in this regard.

So, anyway, I just wanted to say... GOODBYE ETRADE!!!