Etrade Brokers

chester ritchie asked:


Independent retailers have traditionally been technology laggards. This slow adoption of new technology has provided hidden benefits though. Economies of scale are achieved at larger retail stores and the new technologies become available to independent retailers at much lower costs. Today, independent retailers have access to point-of-sale systems with features comparable to large competitors. The costs of these systems are often hundreds of times less than the investment made by the large retail chains.

Measured by dollars, the technology investment made by an independent retailer is considerably less than their larger counterparts. But if you measure the investment against annual revenues (i.e. percent of revenue), the comparison becomes similar. Once understood, independent retailers should approach their technology investment like the large retail chains. Unlike other purchases a retailer will make, the technology decision is one the retailer will live with for many years. The amount of time required to implement a system and become productive in its use will be the largest costs associated with any system. Economists refer to these types of costs as “sunk costs”. Sunk costs are those costs that are incurred and cannot be recovered to any significant degree.

If a retailer avoids the ten most common mistakes when selecting a point-of-sale system, they can avoid duplicating their efforts and control these costs. Avoiding these ten mistakes will help insure that the right system is selected the first time.

1. Not Understanding Your Needs

If a retailer isn’t automated or is operating an out-of-date system, they may have developed inefficient procedures. Every process in the business (e.g. purchasing, receiving, transfers, etc.) should be noted and worked through in the point-of-sale software during the demonstration phase. The provider of the software can then demonstrate the automation of each process within the proposed solution. The provider should also have extensive industry knowledge and be able to make recommendations on how related retailers have automated similar processes.

2. Not Obtaining Product References

Do not move forward with a purchase until you have obtained a minimum of three references and contacted those references. Requesting local references also gives you the ability to visit the retail store and see the point-of-sale product in action. When talking with references also make sure that they are using the version of the software you are evaluating. Ask them if they like the product, how the implementation went, and how they rate the on-going support. These references can also be used to create your own support group if you move forward with the purchase.

3. Neglecting Due Diligence

What do you know about the company providing your new point-of-sale system? There are many companies that will sell you a system but very few that are exclusively in the point-of-sale business. Companies that are “in” the business have been dedicated to the market for decades and have vast amounts of knowledge and expertise. Once you make a decision on a system purchase, you are married to the company providing you with the system. Do your due diligence homework and find out the following:

- How long has the company been in business?

You want to insure that the company will be around as long as you have their system. Most businesses fail within the first five years.

- How large is the company measured by employee count and revenue?

A financially strong company will have sufficient revenue and resources to support you for the life of the system. Larger companies with more employees often offer superior support services, training, installation, and faster feature development.

- How strong is the company and is it publicly traded?

Public companies offer the safety of full disclosure and access to the capital markets. Audited financial statements will provide you with information regarding the company’s strength. Records for public companies can be obtained through any financial website such as Yahoo Finance, eTrade, Fidelity and so on.

Software development and support is labor and capital intensive. By choosing a strong company, you are insuring that the software you choose will be updated with new features for many years.

4. Insufficient Training

Maybe it is human nature, but all retailers try to save money in this area. But, just like a college degree, you will earn many times more than the training costs with better use of the system. Many retailers have purchased great point-of-sale systems only to use them as glorified cash registers because of a lack of training. Your training plan should resemble the following:

- Pre-installation – 1 day of classroom training as an overview of the system

- Installation – 1-5 days depending upon the size of the store and number of employees. This training normally takes place at the store location. Point-of-sale training for employees normally only requires an hour or two. Back office management functions such as purchasing, receiving, barcodes, inventory management, reporting, ecommerce, etc. will take up the remaining time. Make sure you don’t overwhelm yourself at this point with too much information. Learn what you need to run your business day to day. More training should be available in the future.

- 1 Month Post-Installation – The retailer has had some time with the system and will need to generate month end reports. This is also a good time to train on questions that have come up since the initial training. Post-Installation training is often accomplished through a phone call and remote access to the retailers system.

- 3-6 Month Post-Installation – The retailer knows their way around the software, has established procedures, and the retail store is fully automated. At this time the retailer may want to learn the advanced features of the software to give them a strategic advantage. This could include advanced reporting, open-to-buy planning, eCommerce integration, customer marketing and so on.

5. Buying on Price

We are bombarded everyday with offers for low priced hardware and software. Advertisements from major computer manufacturers display unbelievable prices. Resist the temptation of trying to save yourself a few dollars with cheap hardware. It will end up costing you more when it doesn’t work. The low priced computers and printers advertised are cheap for a reason. They are consumer level products that aren’t manufactured to take the daily twelve hour beating most retail environments will impose on them. You can verify this by checking the duty cycles on consumer level hardware versus business class machines.

Low priced hardware is difficult for anyone to support because the internal components of the computer changes on a frequent basis. What is inside a cheap computer is based upon the lowest bidder at the time of bid. As an example, you may order a model M30 computer today and your point-of-sale software and peripherals run fine on it. You then order ten of the model M30 and find that the software only runs on some of them. The others have different components inside that conflict with the software. You’ve just saved yourself a few dollars on hardware but now get to pay an unlimited hourly rate for the point-of-sale company to figure out the problem.

Point-of-sale companies know what they know, but they don’t know what they don’t know. With cheap hardware, they can never possibly know so you will only cost yourself more money in the long run by not following their recommendation.

6. Purchasing One Size Fits All System

There is not a single point-of-sale system that is a perfect fit for every type of retailer. The retail industry has several different vertical markets that all have unique needs. As an example, pharmacies require a pos system that integrates with their prescription dispensing software and support IRS IIAS legislation for FSA (flexible spending account) credit cards. A bike shop requires serial number tracking and work order management for mechanics. A clothing store needs size and color matrixes to support the large number of SKUs for a single pair of jeans. The list goes on and on.

Find a point-of-sale system specific to your market. The unique features they offer will automate the distinct needs of your market. The industry specific automation will provide you with a better ROI (return on investment) compared with choosing generic point-of-sale software.

7. Customizing For Planned Obsolescence

Point-of-sale systems for independent retailers have been around for almost three decades now. The feature lists are extensive because millions of retailers have helped software developers create features specific to the industry. 95% or more of the features you will require will be offered in a single package. If not, avoid the temptation to customize the software. Customizing any software freezes you into the version you purchase and precludes you from moving forward with future releases. There are still many stores today that operate DOS based point-of-sale systems because of this oversight. Don’t be one of them.

8. Following The Garbage In, Garbage Out Cliché

A great point-of-sale system can be turned into a mediocre system if data input and standards aren’t maintained. Today’s software has the capability to turn raw data into meaningful information. The best example of this is the department/class/subclass structure. Every retail store has departments, larger ones also have related classes, and even larger ones have related subclasses. Categorizing your inventory this way allows you to quickly spot sales and inventory trends on the reports produced by the system.

Use the 10/10 rule. You should have no more than 10 departments and each of those departments should have no more than 10 classes. If you think about it, even the largest department stores merchandise within the rule.

9. Neglecting Disaster Recovery

The most neglected rule of all. But when it happens, people tend to become diligent about it. With the technology today, there is no reason to ignore this any longer. Backing up a system no longer requires slow tape drives, archaic software, and confusing rotation procedures. Today, backups can be performed with the use of portable hard drives or internet based online backup services.

Most retailers think of disaster recovery only in the case of a computer crash. But over the years I’ve seen retailers rely on them for fires, floods, and computer theft. As long as you have a good backup and insurance policy, a disaster does not have to be catastrophic.

10. Choosing The Wrong Partner

The point-of-sale space has always been very competitive but only a few key players have sustained in the marketplace. Every year many companies enter the market and leave just as quickly. Retailers are then stuck without support and eventually have to choose a new system from a reputable company. To guard yourself against this, make sure to partner with a strong company dedicated to the retail industry. You can accomplish this by asking a few of the following questions:

- Is point-of-sale the company’s primary business?

When software companies choose to expand their target market, they will often times view the retail space very favorably due to the large number of retailers. Many times they underestimate the complexity of the market and the vertical requirements of each retail segment. This will cause them to enter the market with an offering and leave once they suffer unsustainable losses. Accounting software companies have been notorious for this behavior throughout the years. To protect yourself, make sure the focus of the company is primarily point-of-sale systems.

- Is the provider THE company or just a reseller of a product?

Several of the prominent point-of-sale companies use a direct sales channel. Smaller point-of-sale companies use a reseller or distributor model to sell their systems. The difference is staggering. The direct channel establishes a relationship between the retailer and the software vendor. Better support, quality, and expertise are the result. Resellers of a product cannot begin to match support or quality a direct relationship provides. It is far too common for retailers to be left without support once a reseller moves on to other products.

- What type on on-going support do they provide?

Support departments for point-of-sale systems are very different than consumer software products. Point-of-sale applications are mission critical. If a POS system is down, it literally costs the retailer money. Insist that the point-of-sale provider you select offers a “real time” support model. Real time support insures that a technician will pick up the phone and assist you when you call. Older support models implement a “call back” method that requires you to leave a message of the problem and a technician calls you back at an undetermined length of time. The difference between the two support models can literally cost a retailer thousands of dollars in lost sales.

- Do they offer onsite technical assistance?

Your job is retail, not technology. You should be able to rely upon your point-of-sale provider to supply you with onsite technicians. These technicians can install a new system correctly and troubleshoot any technical problems you may experience.

- Do they offer training classes?

Training, training, training, we all know we get better with more of it. You can insure you get the most out of your investment with on-going training. The provider you select should offer classes to help you gain efficiencies as your expertise on the point-of-sale system grows.

- Do they have user groups and regular meetings?

User group meetings are one of the best places to learn new ideas, see the newest features in the software, and network with your peers. Many times a peer will have a solution or offer a new way to accomplish a task using the software.

An independent retailer can insure their success by avoiding these ten common mistakes. Although this article is written with a point-of-sale purchase in mind, the same checklist can be applied to many other business purchases. Often times, the strength and ethics of the company providing the product is just as important as the product itself.



John

John Parker asked:


A-1 financial is a pioneer in customized online brokerage and wealth management systems development. By understanding your financial business requirements, we provide web-based software solutions that are tailor-made for your own processes. We help you identify solutions best suited to your business by estimating the cost involved for implementation.

With an integrated wealth management platform, A-1 Financial automates key front office functions and the customers of our client can consolidate their data in the current systems of record, while aggregating data from other financial systems. This capability allows the provider to gain a much wider financial picture of his customers, which in turn assists in catering to fulfill all their financial needs.

The team of experienced and skillful employees and consultants at A-1 Financial is equipped with new generation technologies, making us the top preference for customers as a successful software outsourcing company on an international scale. After the project priorities are established by the client, our managers take care of the execution of the project and a dedicated team of professionals develop cost effective deliverables for the client.

With a vision of customer satisfaction, A-1 Financial delivers application development services for client projects catering to customized high quality services. Project management, training and consulting services are some of our project services and are delivered by financial software services professionals.

Also, there is no better source for commercial banks, asset management firms, insurance firms, brokerage firms, and investment banks worldwide when it comes to strategy and financial consulting services. With our tool called Easylanguage Programming you can now turn trading ideas to common English commands, including trading terms and phrases making it simple and easy to learn.

Our Wealth Management solution, gives a platform for consumers and advisers to collaborate and share information through multiple systems of interaction. You can improve your client relationship by using A-1 Financial brokerage and execution systems. It includes software that enables banks and brokerages to provide Internet trading and account services for their customers.

The quality solutions at A-1 Financial are backed by impeccable customer service and security measures. Allow us to help you succeed in your critically important trading, banking and other financial transactions.



Carl

Steven Jacobs asked:


Much of the commodities market has been converted to the virtual world, which means that now, even the casual consumer can turn his hours into gold by logging on and investing. Mothers, daughters, sons and fathers - everyone has become the part time or even full time investor and it is time that you get on the bandwagon and start to invest online. The best? Well in many people’s opinion, especially in these troubled times, we have to turn to that which stills make our world go round, which is the Forex market - trading in currencies from all over the world. Market reports have outlined that the investment volumes that have followed the Forex market has doubled of late, with more cash injections being introduced and more brokerage accounts open.

The daily turnover rate has shot past the $4 trillion dollar a day mark and we are still counting. It sounds attractive because it is and before you make the jump to trading online, you should at least know the nature of the Forex market and the commodity that you are trading in. Trading in money means that you are trading in an environment that is quite predictable. Analysts have place it down to the herd or hive mentality when individuals get together. When one person reacts to a situation, it may be different from time to time, but when you group them together to form into a mob, then you get general patterns of prediction. This is what drives the Forex market and this is what makes it a very popular way to make some money. In these terms, investors always look to predict the market one or two steps in front and to do so you need to understand the market psychology which is driven by mob rationale. As countries and entire continents react to a disaster or economic recession, their responses fall into compartments of reactions that investors use to say which currency will fall and which currency will rise.

That’s is how money is made in Forex on a daily basis and you can be a part of this too. Also, the Forex market is also entirely liquid, which means it does not suffer from time delays like other commodities market, which means decisions you make get relayed to the broker and relayed to the market in real time. Opportunities can be pounced on and fatal oncoming bad traffic can be avoided with quick reaction time to your phones. Its all down to studying the price charts and sticking your guns to certain currency pairs. Trading online was turned from casual trading to a very serious ballgame that many people are taking part in.

You can be a part of this too and all you need is an internet account. Look up for some online brokerage companies and open an account. Within moments you will be set up with a systems software and a direct link to the Forex market. Make the right decisions and you could be rolling in the money.



Leonard

John Porter asked:


The issue of security has always been much debated when it comes to online trading. Till recently many would dread to even buy a ticket to a film through the internet, let alone trade on the markets using the facilities that internet offers. And to an extent such reservations were justified.

The internet is a place where everyone is connected to everyone, one way or another. And if someone is really smart enough he can exploit the weaknesses of various sites and cause a lot of damage to the members of that site. Of course he can also hack into others’ computers. And these things have happened earlier.

But today, the internet is a much secure place than what it was, say five years back. The security has been beefed up and it is much more robust and less susceptible to attacks from hackers and spammers. Of course the internet companies have pumped in truckloads of dollars into their research and development to attain such security. And now the results are there to see.

But as online trading get increasingly easy many investors drop their guard. That is criminal. You just cannot take it easy on the net. There are a few simple things you should practice while investing on the net. Always have all you transactions confirmed by your online brokerage firm. Never trade from unprotected computers. So you shouldn’t be trading from office or library or a cyber cafe.

Regularly update the security features of the software of your computer. The most important software that you need to update are your internet browser, the firewall and the anti-virus software. Only open emails form a secure source. Never click on mails that you are doubtful about.

Never provide your account information to anyone. Even if the mail reads that it is from your brokerage firm, don’t part with your log-in details. If in doubt call their customer support. They already have your details and they will never ask you for the same over email. Change your password regularly. And try to use all sorts of character to make is secure. Log-off the website after you are through with your transaction.

These are some of the basic rules that you need to stick to so that all your internet trades and transactions are safe and secure. This requires little effort, especially if you think about the losses you might endure otherwise.

While concerns about online security will always be there, rest assured that the brokerages themselves have a very, very high stake in making you feel comfortable about the level of security being used. All online brokerages have a portion of their website devoted to explaining the measures they employ to protect your transactions. While it may be true in this world that nothing is perfectly safe, online trading is certainly as close as off line trading in providing safety in your financial transactions.

If you are making securities transactions that take place over the Internet, make sure that your brokerage is using high-end encryption. Encryption is the process developed by super-genius computer nerds — but, you know, the good kind — to scramble data so that only the intended receiver can use it.

The higher the number of bits in an algorithm, the more sophisticated the encryption. (Repeat this last sentence three times, memorize it, and use it liberally in cocktail party conversations, particularly a conversation you wish to end.) A 128-bit algorithm is the encryption level used by most online brokerages.



Terry

Tuks Engineer asked:


The world has changed incredibly over the past couple of decades - and there is no greater indication of that than in the world of stock trading and investing.

In times gone-by, the majority of investors would pick their stocks via a traditional stockbroker at a brokerage firm. The transaction would involve paper based stock certificates being issued to the stock buyer. The types of investments available to the “average investor” were also highly limited.

Today, the same “average investor” can trade anything from single stocks to currencies, commodities and indices - all with the simple click of a mouse - and without ever leaving the home.

But with choice comes confusion - deciding on what stockbroker fits your needs like a glove can be a daunting process. This guide has been designed to give you an understanding of the different types of stockbroker services that exist, and help you decide which one is right for you.

Here are just a few of the many issues that you will need to consider when deciding on your preferred stockbroker:

- Do you feel comfortable executing your trades online, with one click ease, or do you prefer doing your business with an actual person, on the phone or even in person? The availability of technology has meant that firms are able to process large volumes of trades cheaply, so if you don’t need a person to talk with to make your trades then there are a large number of “no frills” online brokerage services that will allow you to do business for a few dollars per trade.

- How many transactions you make will go a large way towards deciding which brokerage service is the right one for you. Some firms will offer price breaks for frequent traders - so if you’re a day trader then you can find a service that’s far better equipped for your needs than if you were an infrequent investor.

- Do you require a basic “execution only” service or do you require some advice when making your trades? Clearly, an execution only service is going to be cheaper.

The Different Types Of Stockbroker Services Available

There are three basic types of stock-broking services available to the public:

1. Advisory Service - Any firm that offers advice to the public as part of an advisory stock-broking service must be registered and authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA is a government body that is set-up to ensure that financial companies comply with the many regulations that ensure a fair and fraud-free environment.

A company that offers an advisory service must ensure that any staff members that offer financial advice are adequately qualified to do so. A list of companies that are FSA approved can be found on the FSA website (http://www.fsa.gov.org).

Obviously, most stockbrokers will charge a fee for their advisory services. Typically, the stockbroker will discuss your investment aims and objectives and then recommend a range of investments that they feel would best suit your needs. You can, of course, accept or reject their proposals. Advisory services tend to be done via the broker in person - either at their office, your home or over the telephone.

2. Discretionary Service - With a discretionary service, the stock-broking company will take a sum of money that you provide and invest this on your behalf. It’s significantly different to an advisory service because the stockbroker does not have to tell the investor about every trade that is made on their behalf - the stockbroker has a lot of “discretion” on how to invest the clients’ money.

3. Execution Only - As the name suggests, execution only trades are when the broker is simply instructed to buy or sell a particular investment. The broker has no say about the trade (even if they thought the stock was going to drop by 90% tomorrow they are not obliged to say anything). This is the type of service that has recently been made available to the masses via online brokerage houses that typically offer trades for $10 or so each.

You’ll be spending a lot of time and money with your broker - so it’s worth taking the time to understand which broker is right for you.



ARASH

Tuks Engineer asked:


We live in a new digital era and an increasing proportion of the worlds stock trading is being done online. Sophisticated technology means that someone in London can buy a NYSE stock within a minute with a few simple clicks of the mouse.

While there are some situations that may make having an offline broker advantageous, here are the primary benefits that come with having an online stock broking account:

It’s Far Cheaper To Trade Stocks Online - When a customer has a phone line and executes a trade via a live broker, it costs the company a lot of money to pay the brokers wages and have a physical location for that broker to operate from. When the same trade is done online, it’s an automated process handled by a system. This is far cheaper for the company allowing it to reduce the price it charges for execution only trade.

Faster Execution - With an online stock brokerage account, execution is immediate. There is no need to call a broker and wait while the trade is executed. In addition, online broking accounts enable the user to access their account status immediately via internet connection. In the offline world, a customer would have to wait for monthly statements or phone the stock broking company to know the exact status of their accounts.

Availability Of Tools To Help The Investor - Today, a lot of online broker houses provide key information, statistics and investment tools that can help keep the trader informed and help them to analyse stocks. Such services are rare with offline only options.

What Factors Should You Look For When Deciding On An Online Stock Broker

As you can imagine, there are a huge number of online stockbrokers trying to compete for your account. This high competition means that if you look around you’re likely to find an online stockbroker service that has low fees, good reliability and a fair amount of “bells and whistles”.

In this section we’ll look at some of the different factors you should analyse before giving any online stockbroker service the nod:

Low Commissions Aren’t Always Low - Look at the commission charges and structure of the different online broker companies. Some companies may display very low charges on their ads only for you to discover that the special unbelievable rate applies to certain sized trades, or kick in only after a number of trades have been executed. Also be on the lookout for admin or handling charges that are tagged onto some online broking accounts.

What Is The Minimum Amount Needed To Deposit? If you’re a smaller, casual investor then an account that needs $10,000 deposited before you can open an account would not be suitable, even if the fees associated with each trade are quite low.

Do You Need Margin? If So What Is The Rate? A margin account allows you to borrow money to trade with. Different online accounts have different rates for trading on margin so if you’re going to do this make sure you pick an account that’s best suited for this.

The Bells & Whistles - By this we refer to the type and depth of research available to account holders, whether there is any “back up” for problems that may be experienced, the track record of the company (if new it may experience the occasional glitch) and the level of detail available on the trading account. Some online brokerage firms also provide broker research on various companies, charting, relevant news-feeds and other valuable information that can help your trading and research.

Additional Phone Service? Some online broker companies also make trading via phone, or at least some form of telephone support available. Always a benefit.

Reliability Of Service & How Well The Trades Are Executed - You may find an online broker service that has incredibly low fees…but which has frequent bouts of downtime where trades cannot be executed. This can be a frustrating and expensive experience, so ensure that your potential online broker service has a good level of reliability. What have others said about its service? Are there any reviews for it online?

Ultimately, the category of investor or trader you fall under will decide what type of broker and service you opt for. It’s best to analyse these circumstances before you commit to any online or offline broker or you may find your trading needs are not being met.



Renee

Stephen L. Nelson, CPA asked:


Individuals and small businesses sometimes balk about using personal finance and small business accounting programs like Microsoft Money for online banking or online investing. However, the sign-up process is usually very straightforward. And–and here’s the good news–the signup process is usually the only task that requires any true effort on your part.

Signing Up for Online Banking

To sign up for online banking, you need to talk to your bank. Specifically, you need to get the bank’s online banking application form, complete the form, and turn it in.

After you have turned in the form, your bank will send you a letter that explains how to connect to the service—this is really very easy—and give you a personal identification number, or PIN, that you’ll need to supply to Money so it can communicate with the bank’s online banking system over the Internet.

NOTE Your PIN may come in a second letter for security reasons.

Typically, once you’ve signed up for online banking, you use the service to pay bills, transfer money, and get up-to-date account information from your bank.

But let me make a quick observation. Although online banking can be a very helpful tool, the feature isn’t so powerful that it warrants switching from one bank to another. Switching banks is a headache.

You definitely don’t want to move from a well-run, convenient bank to a poorly run or inconvenient bank. What’s more, while online banking might save you time, it isn’t quite the silver bullet some of its proponents would have you believe.

Signing Up for Online Investing

Online investing services work roughly the same way as online banking services. To use online investing, you need to sign up for the service with your online broker. This probably means you complete an application, and then receive and follow instructions on how to set up Money for use of the service.

One clarification: You don’t actually buy and sell securities from within Money. Money’s support of online investing works like this: You buy and sell securities in the usual manner—probably using your web browser and an online broker’s web site. Money helps with your investment record keeping for this activity. What you may be able to do, what you should hope you will be able to do, is have the online brokerage web site automatically send investment transaction information to Money. By doing this, you won’t have to enter transactions in the Money investment registers. The online broker’s web site will do it for you. This is a great time saver—especially if you are an active trader.



Louis