this is why DOT COMS fail....

[MetaformX]

sometimes the simplest things tell a story better then anything, in this case, the utter lack of common sence. Sure, its little, but it speaks volume. This is a post by a person who use to be a e-trade customer:


"I have an E-Trade account.. after I made a bunch of money.. then lost most of it in the dotcom bubble.. I got wise & withdrew all of my $$ from my E-Trade account.. but didn't want to close it.. so I left 9 cents in the account.

That was about a year & a half ago.. & every quarter, they keep sending my statment to me (note: postage is 37 cents + processing, paper, hiring Julio to lick the envelope, etc, etc)


My question.. Are they that desperate to cling to customers to keep my sorry-ass account there.. ??"



Now, I also use to have a etrade account....there has been $5 in it for the last 3 years. And, I get not one, but 2 statements every quarter from e-trade, despite not having logged into my account or made any transactions in the last 3 years.

[EscortBiz]

stupid corporate fucks i hate all of em they never make real money (very few do) its all stupid valuations and paper and bullshit

if a regular business like a pizza store would pull the shit they do he would be in fuckin jail

I dont know why the average joe invests in stock in most cases he won't see nothing back.

A year ago I told my friend not to invest 55K in savings he has in the market instead I told him to buy a brick and water established business.

He purchased a stupid pizza store in long island but every week he takes hiome cash profit over $2000 (might not be alot but its there for him week after week)

fuck the stock market

[corvo]

pretty much.
the market is run on perceptions, NOT on the ability of the companies.

[SubStandard]

I had an account with some mutual fund that I thought was closed, but I had 4 dollars in it apparently. I found out they had been debiting my checking account 10 bones a year to maintain my 4 dollar account. Then I spent 45 minutes on the phone closing the account. The guy asked me if I wanted my 4 dollars wired to my bank for an 8 dollar charge. Hmmm.

Never one to not talk shit, I must say that your advise to invest his money and buy a small biz was statistically pretty bad advise. I assume you had the inside track on some business venture or he had some "play" money, because odds are you'll lose your ass on a pizza joint long before the slow-death of the current stock market kills you.

[pipp]

I don't know about how stock trade companys deal in the us. But in Norway comanys that provide stock accounts online etc. Are requierd by law to send out statements at least once a month.

[Milton]

Ebay and Aol they are the gorrilas !!

[SpeakEasy]

[CC]

That's too funny--I've had about 20 cents in an old e-trade account for like four years now too...every time I get a statement for it, I just have to shake my head. So stupid.

Cassie

[Houdini]

Originally posted by CC
That's too funny--I've had about 20 cents in an old e-trade account for like four years now too...every time I get a statement for it, I just have to shake my head. So stupid.

Cassie

You should log on to your account and check to see how much they've charged you. Since just about everyone stopped trading they now hit you with an inactivity fee - $25.00 a quarter. That's even if you have $0.20 cents in there. All the brokers are doing it now to make up for lost revenue.

[MetaformX]

Originally posted by Houdini


You should log on to your account and check to see how much they've charged you. Since just about everyone stopped trading they now hit you with an inactivity fee - $25.00 a quarter. That's even if you have $0.20 cents in there. All the brokers are doing it now to make up for lost revenue.

I believe they only charge you the inactivity fee if the amount in your account is equivlant or more then the inactivity fee.
They won't charge you for money you don't have in the account.

[woj]

I think all financial companies are required to send a monthly statements, either electronically if customers permission is given or via conventional mail.

I still get statements from a checking account that I haven't used in the past year or 2. I had to leave 1 cent in the account because they used to charge early account closing fee (you can't close your account within 6 months of opening it without paying a panelty) They probably can't steal my penny either, so they are forced to send me a monthly statement... heh heh...

[FlyingIguana]

Originally posted by corvo
pretty much.
the market is run on perceptions, NOT on the ability of the companies.

its based on fundamentals mainly.

[HQ]

Sounds like Columbia House... I *still* get shit from them and I only used them once, back in High School 10 years ago.

[AcidMax]

Although a little off the subject, my favorite was when I was .25 cents short on a cell phone bill and the cell phone company sent me 2 bills to collect it. Now you would think the .25 cents could have just been deleted to save the cost of paper & processing.

Anyway, I agree it's the small stuff that kills ya.

AJ

[Rochard]

Originally posted by corvo
pretty much.
the market is run on perceptions, NOT on the ability of the companies.

This sounds just about right. These tech companies take in millions of investment money, but most often they never turn a profit. It's more about the perception and not how much profit the company really makes.

I remember living in the Silicon Valley a few years back - Any twenty year old with a bright idea could get millions in investment money. That's how Yahoo got started. You can't give a twenty year kid with zero business talent and expect to get a profit back. The kids from Yahoo, both college students, got millions in investment money and blew it all on fancy sport cars.

Now where are all of these companies? Gone.