Share Dealing Discussion Area

jd87

Hi all. I'm not a regular here but could use a bit of advice. A while back (can't remember when now exactly) I stupidly thought I could jump on the Northern Rock bandwagon and make a quick buck by buying some of their dirt cheap shares, despite having no previous share dealing experience. As well all now know that was a bad move and it seems I've lost my money. Don't worry it wasn't a large amount...

Anyway, I went through Natwest Stockbrokers with their "Brokerline" account. Maybe I didn't read the terms and conditions correctly, but I didn't think there was any kind of subscription for the service. I thought they made their money through transaction fees. However, many moons down the line and I have received a statement from them demanding £64 in quarterly fees. Is this legit? Did I miss this in the terms and conditions? Can I try and fight it - say the fee wasn't stated clearly enough, etc? Or should I just pay up and put it down to experience?

prudryden

I looked at the Schedule of fees and charges (SOFAC) . There seems to be a £10 + vat quarterly nominee admin fee if your account is less than £2000 or you haven't done at least one trade during the quarter. There is also a Crest Personal Account Admin Fee of £15 + vat per quarter if your account is under £5000 and you haven't traded at least twice during the quarter. I guess that is how they make up for the low commissions.

jd87

They're not being very upfront about the fees though are they. It just seems like this wouldn't be allowed in normal personal banking. Is share dealing a seedier world where they can get away with this kind of thing?

prudryden

To be fair, they have complied with the FSA regulations as their Terms of Business (TOB) and their Schedule of Fees and Charges (SOFAC) are clearly displayed and downloadable on their web site. Having said that, I would agree that it would be better if they would highlight the need to read these schedules in detail.

sabretoothtigger

Banks are always like that, a normal current account could easily charge that much in a week for going just slightly overdrawn. You might want to complain/appeal though



Peston has given the low down on alot stockmarket movements in this last year but here I think he gives some good general tips that could also be applied.
Assessing a company quickly and fairly is a good skill and successfully skimming through reports is a big thing to me, anyway he gives tips of business reporting here which can also be used when reading back a companys prospects imo

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/school_report/8048386.stm

allan2006

I`ve got a stocktrade crest account and i just had a letter today saying they are hiking the annual charge from £10 to £47 inc vat , this seams to me like a huge rise. I only deal 3 or so times a years so this is a huge increase in charge for a low user.

What other options are there available, I cant actually fault there service, you can even deal over the phone, but

is £47Pa inc vat, £14.50min trade or 0.4% good from an online account??

I dont get the difference between crest/nominee, but i like the convieniance of being able to deal online.

Anyone got any feedback/charges on the brocker they use,

tradetime

Try Interactive Investor (commonly referred to here as iii.)

stephen6r4

i have found sum really useful information in a book by The naked trader very helpful a very good web site is ADVFN they offer a months free trial very useful

mzqa395

Stockmarket atmosphere is bad here. No stockbroker branch in major city, no place people gathering inside branch exchange information. Stock market atmosphere is better in USA and far east.

In uk only pub bookmakers around

cashbackproblems

stephen6r4 wrote: »

i have found sum really useful information in a book by The naked trader very helpful a very good web site is ADVFN they offer a months free trial very useful

Iv read it recently and its informative and simple to understand, great for complete beginners, but having had some knowledge of markets and how it worked you think to yourself, how can i apply what hes told me to trading, and you cant, i dont think it helps you to properly understand how to evaluate a company which is key, e.g. understanding financials, nav etc, non of which is mentioned.