Firstrade is the first mainstream discount broker to cut stock and options commissions to zero. Who is next to go to zero? https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...ocks-etfs-options-mutual-funds-300701357.html
Even though they are NOW offering commission-free trading, I wonder how long it will actually stay that way. In other words, is this a short-term hook to get people to open new accounts with the bigger strategy to re-introduce more fees later on down the line. I know they make money on margin interest and a couple of other ways, but it still baffles me how a company can afford to truly offer free trading on an ongoing basis and still be able to net a profit somehow. But I'm not an expert in the brokerage business so perhaps there's still a bunch of ways to make money from account holders that I'm not aware of.
Ditto. If the broker is not making money from commissions, he has to make it somewhere else to stay in business. Best know what that is if you're a customer or potential one. Typical/possible income resouces for the broker... commish, fees, spread, "float" on your money, selling your personal data to advertisers. Best know what that is if you're a customer or potential one. Whatever, you should know what it is and agree to it. Also... with "no commission" a lure for the unsuspecting... you should know who the FCM is for custody of your funds.
Or a third possibility: A Chinese-owned security firm from People's Republic of China wanting to break into the US brokerage business and getting all the personal data for free. A little bit of research: Firstrade Securities Inc., used to be called First Flushing Securities was owned by a Chinese John Liu from the 80's has recently signed an agreement with Taifook Securities in Hong Kong to provide cross-border securities brokerage service. Guess who owns Taifook Securities? One of the largest securities firm from China founded 30 years ago called Haitong Securities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitong_Securities. I guess this is how Chinese products/services breaks into the Western market: Take over a US company and then offer everything costing super low with state-of-the-art technology. Western consumers who are not aware just go right swoop in. I don't know if this is warranted but taking over of US financial securities firm that deals with sensitive and private information of clients should be disallowed or at least scrutinized more no matter how big or small the US firm is.
What are you afraid the evil little Chinamen are going to do with your "sensitive and private information", exactly?
First of all, I don't think the Chinese government is necessarily evil. Second, I don't know what they are going to do with my sensitive and private information, that's why I am afraid. And I am afraid for not just the Chinese government but any foreign government who can get access to my personal information that's supposed to be protected so easily by taking over a company. You should be too. And btw the proper term for Chinese is NOT Chinamen. It's "Chinese".
Actually, I'll go on record claiming that I do think that the Chinese government may be evil...or at least they do some bad things. Where do I begin? Censorship, social credit scores, supporting evil dictatorships, IP infringement / theft (government supports it), pollution...yes other countries pollute too, but the Chinese govt could do something about the air quality in industrialized parts of China, but they don't care about the average person's health and want to prioritize growth at any price, massive surveillance networks, govt. sponsored hacking, UN reports that China is holding somewhere around 1 million Muslims in secret internment camps, militarizing artificial islands and South China seas, pentagon report that China is "likely training for strikes” against US and allies...think about what that means...basically the rest of the world. Oh and today, you can still find a large photo of Mao in Tiananmen Square. Mao led the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution which was responsible for the deaths of more than 45 million people (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong). Then let's not forget the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 where there's no way you will be able to read this webpage in China without using a VPN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989). Yeah, pretty sure that the Chinese government is evil. Although I like the Chinese people and think that they deserve a higher quality of life. I want the Chinese people to succeed, but hope that the govt changes.