Today I finally completed my account transfer to the Think or Swim brokerage. It was an easy process, but I always got side-tracked. Normally I use my laptop, but I needed to print out forms and things like that (this hassle looks more like laziness, and that might be the case...).
Anyways, the good news is that I'm done. Now I just have to wait a little while before my account transfers over. This brokerage is tailored more towards options, but it does have stock trading capabilities (with low commission rates). So far, I really like the demo software. My biggest complaint about Scottrade was that the site and software always looked like it came from the 1980's. They have since redesigned the site and that looks fairly nice. I really like the look of the Think or Swim software.
The one thing I really like: customer service. I emailed them a question and received an answer very fast. Since I work at a hedge fund, my company needs to get copies of my monthly/quarterly statements for compliance reasons. I emailed them about this and the Managing Director for Compliance emailed me back promptly. Plus I like how they follow-up. I faxed over my paperwork and received an email letting me know that they received the fax and will start the account transfer. Then, I also received a phone call confirming the same thing.
It's the little things that count, and they are doing a great job so far.
I received an email from them that I wanted to post about. They are teaming up with Option Planet and offering free option courses. The link is here, but I think it's mainly for major U.S. cities. If you are interested in options, it might be worth the look (I don't think they will try to sell you anything). I'm planning to go to two so far, another one conflicts with my work schedule. They have an 8 hour class that deals with advanced options and it's free, that's definitely worth my time! They also have a Think or Swim software demonstration that I might attend, but I'm not so sure yet.
At work today, I learned I might be getting a Bloomberg station. I'm signed up to attend two workshops next week (one dealing with fundamental analysis and the other with technical analysis), so hopefully they do decide to get me a Bloomberg.
