Morgan Stanley/Smith Barney From A Client's POV
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[quote=Spaceman Spiff]Just FYI, a quick search on Anywho.com show an R Green who resides on Fairway Oaks Court in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Robyn - You'll have to excuse our manners around here. We've been burned one too many times by folks who sound like you that aren't who they say they are. Gets us all wound up and defensive. It was me that mentioned baseball. We have a minor league team in the area too and all of the STL area FAs do an event there every summer. Costs me $8 a ticket. Clients get seats, special ball cap (with our corporate name stiched onto the back), and $4 bucks per ticket to spend in at the stadium that night. Very low key, but a lot of fun. You and I sound like we play a similar game of golf. Although you get to play a lot more than I do. Winters in STL don't lend themselves to spending time on the course. Good luck with getting whatever answer you were originally looking for. [/quote] I'm not that R. Green (I'm Greene) - although I live in that community. Those houses on Fairway Oaks Court are a lot bigger than mine! I can understand being wound up and defensive. This has been a very trying time for anyone involved in the financial markets. Minor league baseball *is* a lot of fun. Unfortunately - if guys on your team are doing great - they tend to get called up to the majors in the middle of the season. I did actually wind up getting some good information - some in public - some in private - not only about MS/SB - but other firms as well. Will give me something to think about in the next month or so. Thanks to the people who gave me the information. RobynOh, well that changes everything. Anywho didn't find you, so obviously you are a fake.
Robyn:
Any woman who enjoys minor league baseball cannot be that bad. From a broker who 8 year old siamese cat is named Albert Pujols. IndyEDJ[quote=footsoldier]Spiff-
Offer Robyn touchdown bonds and American Funds...Ooh don't forget to provide advisory as an option. Robyn- Since you have no problem telling us where you live and who you are, please send Spiff a copy of all your statements and assets with account numbers and don't forget a picture of your drivers license, SSN and birthdate. He'll take care of the rest...and by the way you would probably be his biggest client...until you fired him, filed a grievance for unsuitable investments, and taken EDJ to court (your playground until you found this forum). Maybe there is a forum for brain surgeons.[/quote] Hey, what's with the personal attacks!? You can attack EDJ all you want, but attacking me is just rude. You have no idea who my clients are and what kind of money they have. You also have no idea what I sell. I thought you were better than that. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and figure you were just having a rough day and decided to take it out on me.[quote=footsoldier] Spiff-
Offer Robyn touchdown bonds and American Funds…Ooh don’t forget to provide advisory as an option.
DIV][/quote]
Touchdown bonds? I’m coming up on a decade with EDJ and TD bonds were gone well before I got here. Heck, it’s getting harder and harder to find Field Goal bonds or even PAT CD’s let alone a touchdown bond.
[quote=Incredible Hulk] [quote=footsoldier] Spiff-
Offer Robyn touchdown bonds and American Funds...Ooh don't forget to provide advisory as an option.
DIV][/quote]
Touchdown bonds? I'm coming up on a decade with EDJ and TD bonds were gone well before I got here. Heck, it's getting harder and harder to find Field Goal bonds or even PAT CD's let alone a touchdown bond.[/quote] Amen to that.
Hey, what’s with the personal attacks!? You can attack EDJ all you want, but attacking me is just rude. You have no idea who my clients are and what kind of money they have. You also have no idea what I sell. I thought you were better than that. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and figure you were just having a rough day and decided to take it out on me.
Spiff- Sorry about the tone...it was intended for your prospect, Robyn. I can come across grouchy...have you tried the new annuity order entry system yet at LPL? That would make anyone day rough. But at least it was for an order...finally. I'll take 11K gross a day. It's been awhile. No personal attack intended. I am gonna find me a little Bulleit and take off the rest of the afternoon. Great whisky...I’ll take a shot of that…the last 3 weeks have been a blur…good for the bank acct but makes me very grouchy. I wait until compliance sends me a notification that I need to put my annuity orders in the system. Takes usually 6weeks for them to catch up with me…
Hey Robin, I googled your name and found a satelite picture of your house…not bad. Question…any gators coming up the canal??
OK - I had to look up “touchdown bonds” - figured out what FG bonds are - but what is a PAT CD?
BTW - there are lots of FG bonds around. Just take a look at investinginbonds.com. Where you can get same day slightly time delayed prices these days (as well as the nature of the trade - client buy/client sell/broker to broker/etc.). And it is curious that some clients buying round lots of 100 bonds (or more) sometimes pay a fair amount more than the client who is buying 5 bonds (on the same day). Note that this is in the muni market (I haven't shopped in the individual bond corporate market for a long time - although similar price data on corporates is available). I haven't seen a list of stock commissions at a full service firm in years. What - for example - would a commission be on a $25,000 stock trade (say 500 shares of a $50 stock). For a plain client who has maybe $500k and doesn't trade actively. I'm curious how the stock commission compares with bond markups. Whether the percentages are comparable. BTW - I think a "wrap fee" which covers commissions can be a reasonable option for a client who trades pretty actively and wants to work with a full service FA/portfolio manager. Ditto in the bond area - even if the portfolio isn't traded actively (most bond portfolios aren't traded actively). Although 2-3%/year is much too much for bonds (I only know a few bond portfolio managers - they charge about 50 bp for their smaller portfolios - and less for their larger portfolios). My husband really doesn't know much about investing - and - if something happens to me - I have recommended that he use a fixed income manager (and pay management fees) for at least part of his portfolio. Robynbspears:
A few gators (lots of other wildlife too). Funny story about a gator. We had a new neighbor move in - from a condo in Chicago. A couple of days later - she calls us - hysterical. There's a gator in her pool - a pretty big one - and she wants us to come over and help her get the gator out of the pool. Guess there are some things you don't know if you've lived your whole life in a Chicago condo . We like our house. Built it 12 years ago as a "retirement house" - for us and the way we live. We designed it so we could "age in place" for as long as possible. First house we ever had. Before then - we lived in not so big high-rise condos in Miami - Miami had and still does have a lot more crime than we have up here - houses tend to get burglarized. It's really nice being able to play music as loud as we want - having lots of closet space - cooking outside on a grill - etc. Not so nice worrying about whether a tree will fall on our roof during a hurricane. OTOH - with the state of the windstorm insurance market in Florida these days (absolute mess) - I'm glad I only have to worry about our one house - and not 500 neighbors in a condo. P.S. The best part is having a real laundry room - not a washer/dryer combo in a closet off the dining room. RobynHey Robin, I googled your name and found a satelite picture of your house…not bad. Question…any gators coming up the canal??
Stock trade commission would be in the 1-2% range, closer to 1% with a good client discount.
So, what DO you do with a gator in the pool - is removal a do it yourself project? I had to help a hummingbird out of my garage (held it in my hand), but, I mean, aren't those little gators kind of toothy?
[quote=Mishigun]
So, what DO you do with a gator in the pool - is removal a do it yourself project? I had to help a hummingbird out of my garage (held it in my hand), but, I mean, aren't those little gators kind of toothy?
[/quote] It's about as much a DIY project as removing your own appendix . You call the "critter gitter". And I'm sure they hope the thing is gone by the time they get to your house - although gators tend to be stationary for long periods of time (in the sun when they want to warm up - in the water when they want to cool down). BTW - good work with the hummingbird (ours made their first appearance about 3-4 weeks ago). We are always relocating animals that wind up "dislocated" (even spiders and lizards we find in the house). RobynSpiff-
No disrepect...Robyn is checking you out. Finding out about TD bonds (go long) is the start of a great/terrible relationship. Where is the Bulleit?[quote=Borker Boy]A PAT CD is a CD with a 1% commission. PAT stands for point-after try.[/quote]
“PAT” is a “Point After Touchdown”. Nice try, though.
bspears:
Well that makes the bond commissions/markups look ok. I buy mostly longer term bonds - and hold until call or maturity (or a credit problem freaks me out). FWIW - I never minded paying a point or so - but forget about 3 points. Note that I am finding my own bonds on BondDesk - and asking a particular broker whether he can get them for me - and at what price. Two 2 minute phone calls. Selling is a different issue. I only sell due to credit quality concerns. I sold Nationsbank bonds earlier this year (bonds I had bought a really long time ago) and think I got screwed to the tune of about 3+ points. But I sold near par - and after troughing in the high 60's - the bonds are trading at 80 give or take. I've always known that many bonds are more or less a "roach motel" - so it's important to be comfortable with credit quality. Still - it was impossible to predict 10+ years ago what the situation with Nationsbank/BAC would be today. I can buy directly from BondDesk through E*Trade/Fidelity/Zionsdirect - at lower markups (although E*Trade sometimes throws in some curve balls - have to keep your eye on its prices) - but if I am full or near full in those firms in terms of SIPC coverage - I go to another (usually "full service" firm - and some of those are sometimes "full" in terms of SIPC coverage too). I would rather pay a little more than have all my eggs in a couple of baskets. I know some of you here think that's paranoid - but we use the income from those bonds to pay our bills. Frozen account (for whatever reason) = no money to pay bills. Some planners are now recommending keeping 3-5 years in living expenses in cash to avoid that problem - that's idiotic IMO (I am used to keeping about 6 months in cash - if that). I'd rather spread the money around - and not make 0% on a bunch of it (O% is about what cash is yielding today except in some high yield savings accounts - and "high yield" is 2% give or take). RobynStock trade commission would be in the 1-2% range, closer to 1% with a good client discount.