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only broker I know of is fidelity, but they even sent back some pennies i had back to zecco..and im betting they wont accept any penny tranfers sooner than later..yes zecco is a joke but along with them and Penson, they will probably be out of business eventually..u see where PNSN is lol...freakin joke they destroyed the penny market

just my personal opinion

So what's a good broker to easily transfer an account to that allows easy penny trading?

Zecco recently changed their penny stock policy, which makes them not attractive at all any longer. They're a joke.

yea, the whole thing reeks, i complained to the SEC, i wanna know what the SEC is gonna do...? probably nuthin..its pathetic.I pulled my $ out long ago..i lost thousands but i had the reserves and other good brokers to make it back. to get thru it..painful though..i used to love zecco to thats the funny part lol..anyone that still uses them or tradeking..or penson as the sole clearing firm is just nuts..I noticed choicetrade finally changes the clearing they use. probably after half their customers bailed bc of penson..total complete morons imo
just my personal opinion

Zecco did a bate and switch with zero trades. Sucked every penny trader in on the great deal then penson started the slaughter. Penson probably new it was all coming a year ahead and had ben shorting pennies knowing they would never cover. Zecco is also scamming on the margin accounts. Zecco sold shares of mine at 9:30 this morning. Stock was up 7% in premarket killing the margin call. Now they won't adjust my stock balance till tomorrow. DGAZ will probably gap again tomorrow causing me to lose 15 % or more before i can repurchase.

Lets All Sue Zecco !!

ZECCO is the Worst Want a Be Broker on earth.

Pulled all my money out of Zecco a long time ago and will just let that account rot with nothing in it. I agree, Zecco is a complete scam.

zecco is garbage.
All brokers out there get the shares after the splits or changes on time, it takes zecco a month after everybody got their shares, they always blame the TA, :) maybe a racist TA that selectively release shares to them lol.
Zecco is a scam period, cheap ends up costing much more, and these guys can run the bait and switch just like the big boys do, so forget about laws or suing

Confusing issues?

On the contrary, all you have done is conflate scam with poor customer service.

When I say scam, I'm implying what ever definition fits. Of course I can not control how someone with such a narrow viewpoint as yourself, wants to define it.

Zecco is a no frills broker for self directed traders, that's true. A no frills broker for self directed traders is all I'd personally ever be interested in using. And although they started out being very friendly towards penny traders, they have since become a nightmare for them. I'll have to agree, that now makes them a shitty broker, lol. As for me personally, I'd never have any interest in, or even remotely entertain the thought of, using a full service broker.

You seem to be confusing what a broker is able to legally get away with (thus far) with common sense, moral and ethical behavior. Not sure why you find it so agreeable that Zecco charges it's clients $700 for some trades, when other brokers for self directed traders charge less then $10 for the very same trade. It's likely there are those out there that approved of Bernie Madoff's operation as well. A dozen or so feeder funds come to mind! Was their participation ethical? Legal?

But let's set aside the Legal Aspect of this issue for a later time, since that is going to require some very in depth analysis. Let's look at the ethical issue. How about a quick look at Zecco's corporate ethical responsibility.

What is Ethical Behavior?

Uh buddy, when you use the word scam in the financial world and regulatory world - like you are - you are clearly imply legal fraud. IT doesn't matter what the common definition is - it matters what the legal definition is.

The simple fact is you chose a cut-rate broker. The burden is always on the traders to know the regulatory fulls. If you had chosen an actual full-feature broker, your broker likely would have done a better job communicating the regulatory changes to you - although it is not their responsibility. FINRA and the SEC clearly state the trader needs to stay abreast of changes. That's what you get for choosing a shitty broker - you shifted the burden of staying informed to yourself in lieu of low fees.

The only thing i see is you whining because you chose a broker that provides low customer service satification, instead of full-feature firm which could have helped you stay informed of the changes occurring in the market.

Those definitions of "SCAM" are from known and respected dictionaries, lol. Perhaps you've heard of Merriam-Webster and the like?! They are not something I made up.

SCAM

to swindle (someone) by means of a trick.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/scam



a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scam



deprive of by deceit

Verb scam - deprive of by deceit

Noun scam - a fraudulent business scheme

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/scam


fraud

noun

deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit ....

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fraud

Scam is defined as perpetrating fraud - that's the legal definition of it when you are dealing with financial transactions. And, what you are alluding to here. To suggest that the definition means something else is to be less than honest in what you are alleging. If I call any other company a scam and seriously attempted to spread propaganda - like you are - I would be in serious trouble in the real world. But, seeing how this is InvestorsHub - where whiners seem to thrive and never have to back up what they say, anything seems to go.

Best I can tell, no fraud was perpetrated here - rather the regulatory landscape was changed and there were some losers that got hurt by that. Zecco failed to communicate those changes properly and failed its customers in that way - to claim that anything else happened (for instance fraud) is nothing more than arrogance and ignorance on your part.

SCAM

to swindle (someone) by means of a trick.

a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation

deprive of by deceit


Most scams are likely illegal, but not all of them are.

Being a financial scam requires there to be an illegal act committed. So, yet again, all you are doing is whining because you failed to make yourself aware of the changes going on in the industry regulation. Boo-hoo for you.

Zecco is one big SCAM. Destroying their very own clients wealth!

On the contrary, the terms always exist to pass through the charges that the clearing house passes on. And, my understanding is the charges that the clearing house has put into place don't always apply to the buying of the stock, but rather to the selling.

Yet again, if you are really being scammed, report it.

If a scam is being perpetrated, report it. Still waiting for your to actually take action instead of whining. It's like you're whining about being robbed without reporting it to the cops.

Grasp what picture? It's simply a scam perpetrated by Zecco and Penson. I'm not denying there are other brokers in collusion with Penson on this scam. But this is a board about Zecco's participation in these Scams, so that is where my focus lies.

Once again, one major point is there are many good, client friendly brokers like ETrade that are allowing trades for their normal fee of under $10 on the very stocks Zecco is SCAMMING hundred's of dollars off of their clients. There is NO excuse for Zecco to do this!

Those terms didn't even exist when many bought their stock through Zecco. And even to this very day, in many cases they will still gladly allow you to buy stock fully stating it is a dtc eligible stock only to suddenly claim after you have bought a stock that it is now deemed (by them) to be non-dtc eligible, and that stock "qualifies" for their extortion, aka scam fee, of $700. Once again, other brokers will gladly allow you to buy AND SELL that very same stock for their standard commission fee of less then $10 each way.

I'm making people aware of the SCAMMING broker Zecco. My goal is to get everyone that uses Zecco to pull their money out and switch to a client friendly broker ASAP before they get taken. And for those who may be choosing a broker, to be aware of the traps Zecco has laid out to extort or scam money away from their clients. Again, this is done through no fault of their clients. Who knows what scheme Zecco will come up with next to extort, scam, pilfer, or otherwise rape their very own clients of their hard earned money!

Your support of the Zecco SCAM is disgusting. They have other options available to them, but they have choosen not to work around that matter, but instead use it as an excuse to extort the hard earned money from their very own clients. Many other brokers are NOT participating in that SCAM, but the Zecco/Penson collusion team is. I would hope no one else is simple enough to buy into the claim that it's "not our fault" we're just "passing on the costs". Scammers ALWAYS point the finger of blame at someone else! That is a scammers first rule of operation.

There is no collusion - it's spelled out in Zecco's policy (along with at least 5 other Penson brokers) that they will pass along these clearing house fees as of the latest update they made. As I said: the only thing Zecco is guilty of is not clearly communicating that fact (which means poor customer service). But they aren't breaking any laws and it isn't a scam. It just means you failed to do your DD and traded unregistered securities - which both the SEC and FINRA advise against - and failed to read the Zecco policy agreement you signed when you created your account.

As to the "ordinary broker" (there is no such thing in today's world) that charges you anywhere from $9.95 to $20.00 per trade: that's why they aren't discount brokerage houses. You decided to go with a discount brokerage house: Zecco. Most discount brokerage houses use Penson; and, most people that trade risky pennies tend to use discount brokerage houses.

And, Mango, just face it: you're whining. If you weren't whining, than you would be doing the same thing I am: advising people to file complaints. But, since you have nothing and you are complaining about a "scam" that really isn't a scam, you are just going to continue to whine and not take action. You don't need to discuss anything with us - we can follow your progress by checking public records to see if you file a FINRA complaint. The simple fact is you haven't on this matter, nor has anyone else.

So it's time for you to give up this charade: you've been [legally] duped by a company that provides poor customer service and there is not a darn thing you can do about it because you signed an agreement that allows them to. Your bank (think the newfound checking fees many banks are putting in place) or cell phone provider (think AT&T) could have done the same thing to you and you wouldn't be calling it scam.

Exactly, I think that proves my point: Penson is the problem here. But, because they continually - and willfully - kept violating the law, the SEC, DTCC, and FINRA worked together to apply pressure to them informally rather than having to go through the rulemaking process. That's why we have the fees in place that we have today.

You're getting so close to grasping the entire picture, don't fall asleep on me now.

So was Bernie Madoff

Not too many people would feel the cost of a trade is justified at $700 through Zecco. That is clearly a SCAM, as any ordinary broker will do that very same trade for around $10

It is hard to imagine someone agrees with that kind of gouging unless they are also a participant in the swindling.

There is NO excuse for the Zecco/Penson collusion in crime that is unjustly ripping off hard working men and women of their money.

You can bait me all you want, but any complaints, legal action, or other action I may have taken/or will take, is not going to be something I discuss with you, lol.

They've been sanctioned by the SEC and FINRA for their role in the unregistered securities market - since you seem to be so good at DD, I'll let you look it up.

But, I will post some links:

Here is a story about Penson being sued for allowing companies that used forged authorizations to trade (i.e. unregistered securities): http://www.forkeylaw.com/Securities-Commodities-and-Precious-Metals-Terms/Securities-Commodities-Precious-Metals-Matters.shtml

As far as the SEC meeting about the microcap fraud I was talking about:

Here was the agenda for the meeting: http://www.sec.gov/spotlight/microcap/microcaproundtable101711-agenda.htm

Here is the U.S. Federal Register entry talking about how they will have a meeting to look at the clearance of microcap securities (which is what DTCC and Penson are involved in): https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2011/10/13/2011-26440/public-roundtable-on-execution-clearance-and-settlement-of-microcap-securities

Here is a story summarizing some of the outcomes, including the unregistered securities issue: http://www.mintz.com/newsletter/2011/Advisories/1449-1011-NAT-SEC/web.htm

It's been a while, but I can probably dig up the minutes from the meeting too.

Hopefully that proves that those points I showed you about the meeting occurring are true. The SEC, FINRA, and DTCC used this meetings as a way to threaten Penson and other clearing houses with formal regulatory policy (hence why they are taking comments) and why Penson acted.

As I said before, if you have really been a party to theft, then file the complaint:

Here is the FINRA complaint form right here: http://www.finra.org/Investors/ProtectYourself/p118628

Fill it out. I'll bet you $2,000 that your complaint will be tossed out. Of course, you won't file the complaint, but I figured It would put it out there.

I stand by my statement: Zecco's only failure is the failure to communicate. If you don't want to do business what a company that doesn't like to communicate then move to a different company or call it what it is: poor customer service. But don't call it a scam, because it isn't.

Again, passing the blame is not an acceptable excuse for me and most others. There is NO excuse for partaking in such thievery! There are many more brokers that are not gouging their clients with unprecedented fees that are nearly 100 times the going rate for a trade. Zecco is clearly a scamming broker that laughs at the fees it is slamming on their very own clients.

and you have a link substantiating this? Please show us.

I have never denied that Penson was involved in this SCAM. Of course they are. But they have willing and able partners helping them to facilitate their scam. And Zecco is one very eager accomplice!

As far as the trader/investor goes, their contact is with their broker, not the clearing house. The Penson clearing house could not perpetuate this scam without willing broker-partners. All of those brokers that pass the blame onto Penson could off said no, and found a new clearing house, or became self clearing! Look at Etrade for an example of a very client friendly broker that has done that.

Of course, if you cannot attack the message, attack the messenger. Still waiting for you to file your complaint - but of course, you avoided that too.

Like I said, I have complained, and I have been banned by Zecco. I can provide you links upon links of my communications that I posted with Zecco back in Oct and November when these changes were rolled out; of course, if you were actually paying attention back then you would have some them - but I suspect you weren't. Instead, I'm going to post something I haven't yet: my communications with one of their VPs. Your blame is misplaced - it really should lie with Penson and the DTCC if you thing these policies are misguided. But, as I have said, if you think Zecco is the scam, file the FINRA complaint - I've even provide you the link and walk you through it if you agree to my $2,000 bet...because I'll really show you what a sucker you are when your complaint gets thrown out.

Here is my first e-mail (I had previously Facebook messaged the CEO without response):