EJ Changes Below Expectation Rules
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LOL...LMFAO...Now my day is complete...I knew good ole Noggin wouldn't disappoint! Find a way to put a negative spin on a company trying to save it's employees who are struggling due to this once in a lifetime (hopefully) huge economic/market decline. Why would anyone want to work for that type of company...i'll tell you why....because they actually care about their employees unlike mother merrill & others who are axeing (sp) people left and right and couldn't care less if you walked out the door and drove off a cliff. Now...personally, I am not on or near "goals"....but when I saw this memo, I thought ...wow...what a company I work for...and believe me ...I have worked for many large companies in the corporate world and seen my share of "F you" leadership. And for the record, I too am in a region that is not near 75% below expectations, however, there are more than usual due to the environment..the brokers that were going to fail will still likely fail...but this move was just another reason why we are rated best place to work for in the brokerage business. [/quote][quote=noggin] [quote=breaking news]Edward Jones announced today that they are suspending the “goals” program this month and lowering the % required in future months based on firm profitability. This comes in response to so many FAs being below firm expectations. I know in our region over 75% of the FA’s selling 2-10 yrs are below and many were on the brink of going on goals. This should save a lot of jobs and retain a lot of AUM that would have left with some of these FAs. I think it was a good move. [/quote]
Why would you want to be employed at a company that would have to rush in at the 23rd hour to potentially save your job??
As always, Hey Kool Aid you misunderstand the point. The point is that as an employee the employer can always change the rules. This time it worked in the struggling broker's behalf. I have several friends at Jones and all I can think is how sorry I feel for my friends being bled dry......38% net before all their expenses are counted, about 25-28% after......It actually would have been kinder for Jones to have cut out those brokers that are more than 3 years out and still doing less than 15K a month......If they truly cared about their employees they wouldn't freeze pay increases for the BOA's and certainly would pay for the GP's wife's to accompany on regional meetings. Come on now guys, the GP's are suffering.......
BTW, what did LP average last year??
The Jones model is an interesting one. But you need some perspective. If you live in an over-saturated market (i.e. STL), then you perception is that there is a jones office on every corner. But let's look at the numbers...10,000 offices, 50 states, that's 200 offices per state on average (obviously the averages aren't accurate in this case). I live in a REALLY small state. Like, REALLY small. And we have about 60+ offices. OK, I would say we could easily add another 100 offices and not even have one in every town. There is one FA every 5 or 6 towns. Some cities have 4 or 5, and they are BARELY reaching 2% market penetration. Our market is WAY underserved, and there is TONS of money around us. I am CERTAIN that I am not the only region in the country like this. Half the country looks like us. Keep in mind, in most non-urban, non-coast(expensive) locations, a $50mm office would be very profitable and the FA would make a decent living. I know FA's doing that in towns of 2500 people. So, perception and frame of reference counts a lot when looking at our firm's model. I think they are over-saturated in some markets, but have TONS of room to grow across the U.S. The other thing to remember that benefits our model is that we can stick profitable offices where wirehouse firms could not or would not choose to operate. When you have two people operating out of a 1000 SQ.FT. office paying $800/mo. in rent and paying one BOA $10/hr. in the middle of nowhere, it's not tough to be profitable. No, the same cannot be said in New York/southern CT, California, etc. but that is a small piece of the pie for us. There are over 1200 FA's in Missouri and Illinois alone. There are less than 700 in all of New England, New York, PA, MD, DC, and Delaware combined. And I can GUARANTEE there is more wealth there. We just have to get there.[/quote] I agree.. I happened to be in that over saturated area.... They had plans for a broker for every 5K people(not households) and that was just over doing it in my area.. What ends up happening is the Jones people fight amongst themselves and neither broker gets off the ground, or one broker does really well, while another office just turns over...[quote=jkl1v1n6]Somewhere before on this board I posted a conversation I had with a GP in St. Louis, I think he was in charge of new broker training or something and I asked him when they thought they would reach market saturation and he said they didn’t believe they ever would. Somebody Spiff or B24 or maybe somebody else defended that position on the post, what they say still doesn’t resonate with me. I think the industry is over-saturated and this is good for the industry as it’s thinning the heard.
[quote=Squash1]THe problem with your put the shoe on the other foot is… most of us aren’t dumb enough to buy a house we couldn’t afford…
I don't want to bail out people who should have never bought homes in the first place...(And yes they knew they couldn't afford it when they signed.).. My neighbor(not mine but in general) is killing my house price because his house is being sold short which in turn drives down the prices in the entire neighborhood.. So screw my neighbor...He got himself into it, he should have to walk the plank for it... What ever happened to responsibility.. I screwed up, I must fix it... Now it is, I screwed up, everybody help poor me..[/quote] We're not bailing out the guy who bought a house he couldn't afford -- we're bailing out the banks who bundled that subprime mortgage with a bunch of others and turned it into a AAA-rated investment via the magic of a formula that magically eliminated risk, sold them to each other, wrapped, sliced and diced it and then borrowed against it, so that when the value of the house went down 10 percent they owed somebody else 10 times that amount.2008 = 16.1% return It was the lowest LP return in 19 years. The lowest since 1979 previous to that was 15.0% in 1988. I am guessing 2009 will be much lower. At least there is a 7.5% floor. Period Actual Return
BTW, what did LP average last year??
(With Unusual Items)* Actual Return
(Without Unusual Items) 1979 21.1% 21.1% 1980 37.3% 37.3% 1981 45.7% 45.7% 1982 57.3% 57.3% 1983 37.4% 37.4% 1984 23.5% 23.5% 1985 38.7% 38.7% 1986 56.3% 56.3% 1987 30.5% 30.5% 1988 15.0% 15.0% 1989 15.7% 15.7% 1990 17.1% 17.1% 1991 26.4% 26.4% 1992 31.6% 31.6% 1993 27.0% 27.0% 1994 20.3% 20.3% 1995 19.6% 19.6% 1996 24.6% 24.6% 1997 25.1% 25.1% 1998 33.3% 33.3% 1999 24.9% 24.9% 2000 25.4% 25.4% 2001 17.2% 17.2% 2002 16.2% 15.8% 2003 18.3% 18.3% 2004 20.1% 20.1% 2005 23.2% 20.1% 2006 22.9% 23.7%
2007
24.1%
24.1%
2008
16.1% 16.1%The Jones model is an interesting one. But you need some perspective. If you live in an over-saturated market (i.e. STL), then you perception is that there is a jones office on every corner. But let's look at the numbers...10,000 offices, 50 states, that's 200 offices per state on average (obviously the averages aren't accurate in this case). I live in a REALLY small state. Like, REALLY small. And we have about 60+ offices. OK, I would say we could easily add another 100 offices and not even have one in every town. There is one FA every 5 or 6 towns. Some cities have 4 or 5, and they are BARELY reaching 2% market penetration. Our market is WAY underserved, and there is TONS of money around us. I am CERTAIN that I am not the only region in the country like this. Half the country looks like us. Keep in mind, in most non-urban, non-coast(expensive) locations, a $50mm office would be very profitable and the FA would make a decent living. I know FA's doing that in towns of 2500 people. So, perception and frame of reference counts a lot when looking at our firm's model. I think they are over-saturated in some markets, but have TONS of room to grow across the U.S. The other thing to remember that benefits our model is that we can stick profitable offices where wirehouse firms could not or would not choose to operate. When you have two people operating out of a 1000 SQ.FT. office paying $800/mo. in rent and paying one BOA $10/hr. in the middle of nowhere, it's not tough to be profitable. No, the same cannot be said in New York/southern CT, California, etc. but that is a small piece of the pie for us. There are over 1200 FA's in Missouri and Illinois alone. There are less than 700 in all of New England, New York, PA, MD, DC, and Delaware combined. And I can GUARANTEE there is more wealth there. We just have to get there.[/quote] I agree.. I happened to be in that over saturated area.... They had plans for a broker for every 5K people(not households) and that was just over doing it in my area.. What ends up happening is the Jones people fight amongst themselves and neither broker gets off the ground, or one broker does really well, while another office just turns over...[/quote] B24, I agree that maybe across the U.S. there might be room to grow out in the many hamlets. And being with Jones I have experienced first hand the 50mm office guy who is making a killing especially in comparison to his neighbors. My experience comes from a market that has 30 reps in a city of 200m-250m. Now to look at that the home office sees tremendous opportunity. We've only got 2% market share there, let's add more offices. But I do not think it is correct to say that the market is underserved. Not when you throw in all the old A.G. Edwards, Smith Barney, Merril No More, bank, insurance agencies, and countless other firms. The home office may feel that it is underserved by Jones with only 2% penetration but not by the industry as a whole. Here's the way I see it. We've all seen an office that has had 5, 6, maybe 7 brokers go through it. Is it really true that all those guys/gals just didn't do the work. Or maybe could there be other factors involved. Things like area of town with a low median household income or maybe their prospecting area is too small because all the Jones reps got together with a map of the town and drew a radius around each office that delineated where they could and could not door knock. Maybe the market took a sh*t and nobody wanted to invest It amazes me the amount of money that people can have. But to say that they are underserved isn't always true.[quote=B24][quote=jkl1v1n6]Somewhere before on this board I posted a conversation I had with a GP in St. Louis, I think he was in charge of new broker training or something and I asked him when they thought they would reach market saturation and he said they didn’t believe they ever would. Somebody Spiff or B24 or maybe somebody else defended that position on the post, what they say still doesn’t resonate with me. I think the industry is over-saturated and this is good for the industry as it’s thinning the heard.
Bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch....you're sooooooo perfect and have never made a mistake that somebody else bailed you out on. I call bullsh!t on that one! Everybody's so quick to judge. What gives you the right??? And don't tell me, "Well, I'm not the one that blah blah blah...." Maybe not...but you're dad or your girlfriend or your brother or sister did. And then I, my best friend, my father-in-law, and my colleague all lost our jobs in the carnage that ensued. Yes...I became one of the doom and gloom statistics on CNBC. At least I don't sound like an angry teenager like you selfish, inconsiderate, know-it-all, Rick Santelli wannabes. Grow up...do something positive for your community...and, no, Rotary club (et. al.) doesn't count cuz you know and I know you only joined for the contacts. Man...I hope you don't have kids...the heap-of-dung attitude you'd teach them.
Lemme ask you a question. What are YOU doing to help the economy? What are YOU doing to help the MILLIONS of distressed AMERICANS that are on their frickin' knees PRAYING that they don't end up destitute and financially ruined for life?
I'm not so deluded that I don't see that people shoud reap what they sow...but we're past all that now. We've gone beyond the point where allowing nature to take it's course is the best avenue for all of us. If we weren't, then our government wouldn't have spent $1.5T to intervene. Intervention was and is necessary...that means help the people/companies that put us ALL in this predicament. That means correcting the mistakes of others in order to help ourselves. Otherwise...lest we all take your stance on things...the state of affairs we're enduring today will feel like the "good 'ole days". Don't confuse capitalism with patriotism...they're not the same. I love capitalism...but I love my country more...and that means making sacrifices...ask anyone that's served their country. I've never had the honor due to health reasons, but I grew up on military bases around the world, so I know first hand the level of sacrifice one makes in the name of their country. And it's a lot more profound and a lot bigger than simply paying more taxes. Make your sacrifices, take it on the chin, so that down the road you and your children can have the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful aspects of capitalism without the greed and self-absorption that got us where we are today. The same self-absorption that you are supporting and portraying in your posts. "I, I, I, I, I...me, me, me, me, me...it's all about me!" Ridiculous. I'll say it again...it's this same attitude that makes people say, "We should let these people rot for the decisions they made....I don't want to bail out these people...I don't want my tax dollars to bail out these banks...I, I, I, I, I.", that got us here in the first place. A lot of those same people happened to be in the market for a new house in the early to mid 2000's and all they thought was, "Me, me, me , me, me. I want more house. I want more equity. I, I, I, I." The fact that you didn't partake in this fiasco could simply be a matter of circumstance...maybe, maybe not. But a lot of people....good, hard-working Americans just like you did get caught up in the "housing boom" and did make the fatal errors that destroyed our financial system. I'm sure if they knew then what they know now...they might've reconsidered that particular house. Woulda coulda shoulda doesn't help anyone. What're you gonna do NOW to help your fellow countrymen? Screw Self-Centered Santelli.Um…Fud…Not saying I disagree with you…but…do you know what industry you’re talking to? We are all self-centered a**holes or we wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing!
I personally think all parties involved have ownership in this. Some more than others. The banks the most. They knew what they were doing they just thought it wouldn't implode on them.[quote=buyandhold][quote=Squash1]THe problem with your put the shoe on the other foot is… most of us aren’t dumb enough to buy a house we couldn’t afford…
I don't want to bail out people who should have never bought homes in the first place...(And yes they knew they couldn't afford it when they signed.).. My neighbor(not mine but in general) is killing my house price because his house is being sold short which in turn drives down the prices in the entire neighborhood.. So screw my neighbor...He got himself into it, he should have to walk the plank for it... What ever happened to responsibility.. I screwed up, I must fix it... Now it is, I screwed up, everybody help poor me..[/quote] We're not bailing out the guy who bought a house he couldn't afford -- we're bailing out the banks who bundled that subprime mortgage with a bunch of others and turned it into a AAA-rated investment via the magic of a formula that magically eliminated risk, sold them to each other, wrapped, sliced and diced it and then borrowed against it, so that when the value of the house went down 10 percent they owed somebody else 10 times that amount. [/quote] Actually...I'm pretty sure we're bailing out both. The guy who bought the house he couldn't afford using some fancy 80/20 variable no-money-down ARM that is now getting "modified" and the bank that ultimately bought the mortgage and repackaged it into a variety of funky "AAA" securities. 10X??? I've heard that the Lehman's and the AIG's were leveraged 35 to 1 or more against these freaking things!Squash:
yep jk: You're absolutely right. All parties do have some ownership in this. The banks do have the most (IMO as well). Just the same, letting the major banks fail will not do anyone any good. It'll tighten up credit even more so than it is causing housing prices to go even further into the sh!tter. It'll seal the fate of the Big 3 putting hundreds of thousands more out of work causing even more unemployment insurance (read taxes) and more foreclosures and more bankruptcies. The construction, steel, textile, auto parts, and hardware industries (as well as several others, I'm sure) will decline as a result, causing even more layoffs, more foreclosures, and more bankruptcies. The CPI will fall even more causing the dollar to go through the roof which in turn will cause stocks to plummet even further. Everybody reading this is at least half educated and can see the domino effect. In my view, this bail-out, as much as I hate it, is absolutely necessary for the greater good. And, no, I'm the new guy, so I'm not fully aware of the level of self-centeredness prevalent in this industry (just what I see in the movies!), although I'm beginning to see what you mean. I hope it's not quite as bad as you're making out, but I'll find out in due time.I had an Uncle that was in Vietnam and when asked about what it was like he said “Did you see the movie Platoon?, Just like that!”
[quote=jkl1v1n6]I had an Uncle that was in Vietnam and when asked about what it was like he said “Did you see the movie Platoon?, Just like that!”
[/quote] LOL...fair enough! I guess I'll go rent Wall Street and Boiler Room again and watch them over and over with my eyelids forced open ( a la A Clockwork Orange) until I change the way I look at things.The Jones model is an interesting one. But you need some perspective. If you live in an over-saturated market (i.e. STL), then you perception is that there is a jones office on every corner. But let's look at the numbers...10,000 offices, 50 states, that's 200 offices per state on average (obviously the averages aren't accurate in this case). I live in a REALLY small state. Like, REALLY small. And we have about 60+ offices. OK, I would say we could easily add another 100 offices and not even have one in every town. There is one FA every 5 or 6 towns. Some cities have 4 or 5, and they are BARELY reaching 2% market penetration. Our market is WAY underserved, and there is TONS of money around us. I am CERTAIN that I am not the only region in the country like this. Half the country looks like us. Keep in mind, in most non-urban, non-coast(expensive) locations, a $50mm office would be very profitable and the FA would make a decent living. I know FA's doing that in towns of 2500 people. So, perception and frame of reference counts a lot when looking at our firm's model. I think they are over-saturated in some markets, but have TONS of room to grow across the U.S. The other thing to remember that benefits our model is that we can stick profitable offices where wirehouse firms could not or would not choose to operate. When you have two people operating out of a 1000 SQ.FT. office paying $800/mo. in rent and paying one BOA $10/hr. in the middle of nowhere, it's not tough to be profitable. No, the same cannot be said in New York/southern CT, California, etc. but that is a small piece of the pie for us. There are over 1200 FA's in Missouri and Illinois alone. There are less than 700 in all of New England, New York, PA, MD, DC, and Delaware combined. And I can GUARANTEE there is more wealth there. We just have to get there.[/quote] I agree.. I happened to be in that over saturated area.... They had plans for a broker for every 5K people(not households) and that was just over doing it in my area.. What ends up happening is the Jones people fight amongst themselves and neither broker gets off the ground, or one broker does really well, while another office just turns over...[/quote] B24, I agree that maybe across the U.S. there might be room to grow out in the many hamlets. And being with Jones I have experienced first hand the 50mm office guy who is making a killing especially in comparison to his neighbors. My experience comes from a market that has 30 reps in a city of 200m-250m. Now to look at that the home office sees tremendous opportunity. We've only got 2% market share there, let's add more offices. But I do not think it is correct to say that the market is underserved. Not when you throw in all the old A.G. Edwards, Smith Barney, Merril No More, bank, insurance agencies, and countless other firms. The home office may feel that it is underserved by Jones with only 2% penetration but not by the industry as a whole. Here's the way I see it. We've all seen an office that has had 5, 6, maybe 7 brokers go through it. Is it really true that all those guys/gals just didn't do the work. Or maybe could there be other factors involved. Things like area of town with a low median household income or maybe their prospecting area is too small because all the Jones reps got together with a map of the town and drew a radius around each office that delineated where they could and could not door knock. Maybe the market took a sh*t and nobody wanted to invest It amazes me the amount of money that people can have. But to say that they are underserved isn't always true. [/quote] J, I don't disagree. There are markets that are already well-served. But in my experience, if you are in an area of wealth, there will ALWAYS be opportunity. After all, the best opportunities out there are with people that are already clients of other brokerages. Hate to say it, but other than 401K rollovers, there's not a lot of people out there (in normal times) just sitting on 500K cash in their bank account, waiting for an advisor to call them. Most of the people with money already have advisors. So the idea is that we poach from other firms. We are just all afraid of a little competition. It's hard to expect a firm to find an area where there is (a) money, and (b) no financial advisors. Do you think Manhattan or LA is well-served? Do you think Florida is well-served? Do you think financial firms stop adding people because there's already enough advisors? At Jones it SEEMS more dramatic because we have one-man offices. Seriously, there are wirehouse offices with hundreds of brokers in major metros. It may be HARDER WORK to do it in well-served areas, but that does not mean the opportunity is not there.[quote=Squash1][quote=B24][quote=jkl1v1n6]Somewhere before on this board I posted a conversation I had with a GP in St. Louis, I think he was in charge of new broker training or something and I asked him when they thought they would reach market saturation and he said they didn’t believe they ever would. Somebody Spiff or B24 or maybe somebody else defended that position on the post, what they say still doesn’t resonate with me. I think the industry is over-saturated and this is good for the industry as it’s thinning the heard.
B24,
I agree with you most of what you said. I think the industry as a whole might be over-saturated, that may seem crazy, but look at the wash out rate in our industry. How do you survive in this business? By bringing in clients and assets, maybe we just have too many advisors all going after the same monies.I look at it like the Real Estate industry. In my little Suburbia, we must have like 300 real estate agents at like 10 different brokers. It’s ridiculous. I have a good friend that works at one of the major firms (like 25 agents in his office). He said 2 people account for 90% of the revenues in his office. The rest of the agents are just “trying it out” or have sold a house for their neighbor or cousin. Problem is, you can’t tell the difference betwen the good/experienced agents and the rest.
Same thing in this business. There are a lot of crappy advisors out there, and many of them have hung on because of inherited/orphaned assets, unscroupulous sales practices, whatever. And some have no real interest in their clients. And again, the problem is that many people have no idea what the difference is between a good advisor and a bad advisor, without a referral. After all, how WOULD you know the difference? So yes, I think there are too many assets spread too thin among too many channels. You can now get your advice/investments from wirehouses, indies, RIA's, regionals, banks, insurance agents, CPA's, online websites, your 401K providor.....The assets are just spread everywhere. 30 years ago (and less), your option was a wirehouse "stockbroker". Virtually no other channel existed for investments beyond CD's.How do you find a good advisor? Ask whatsherface from On the Money or Clark Howard…they know everything! I’ll sum it up for you…needs to be a fee based CFP…that’s all anyone needs…everybody else is a crook!
Doesn't it take a min of 3 years experience to qualify for a CFP? Kind of a chicken and egg thing...LOL...LMFAO...Now my day is complete...I knew good ole Noggin wouldn't disappoint! Find a way to put a negative spin on a company trying to save it's employees who are struggling due to this once in a lifetime (hopefully) huge economic/market decline. Why would anyone want to work for that type of company...i'll tell you why....because they actually care about their employees unlike mother merrill & others who are axeing (sp) people left and right and couldn't care less if you walked out the door and drove off a cliff. Now...personally, I am not on or near "goals"....but when I saw this memo, I thought ...wow...what a company I work for...and believe me ...I have worked for many large companies in the corporate world and seen my share of "F you" leadership. And for the record, I too am in a region that is not near 75% below expectations, however, there are more than usual due to the environment..the brokers that were going to fail will still likely fail...but this move was just another reason why we are rated best place to work for in the brokerage business.[quote=Hey Kool-Aid][quote=noggin] [quote=breaking news]Edward Jones announced today that they are suspending the “goals” program this month and lowering the % required in future months based on firm profitability. This comes in response to so many FAs being below firm expectations. I know in our region over 75% of the FA’s selling 2-10 yrs are below and many were on the brink of going on goals. This should save a lot of jobs and retain a lot of AUM that would have left with some of these FAs. I think it was a good move. [/quote]
Why would you want to be employed at a company that would have to rush in at the 23rd hour to potentially save your job??
[/quote]
As always, Hey Kool Aid you misunderstand the point. The point is that as an employee the employer can always change the rules. This time it worked in the struggling broker's behalf. I have several friends at Jones and all I can think is how sorry I feel for my friends being bled dry......38% net before all their expenses are counted, about 25-28% after......It actually would have been kinder for Jones to have cut out those brokers that are more than 3 years out and still doing less than 15K a month......If they truly cared about their employees they wouldn't freeze pay increases for the BOA's and certainly would pay for the GP's wife's to accompany on regional meetings. Come on now guys, the GP's are suffering.......
BTW, what did LP average last year??
[/quote]
Noggin: I didn't misunderstand anything. Every one of your posts that has anything to do with EDJ (and even some that don't) has the same bitter message. If we were slashing jobs left and right you would question how an FA can work for a firm that just cuts the legs out from under its Brokers just because of a bad economy! Those Brokers that are doing less than 15k/month after 3-5 years will eventually either figure out the work that needs to be done, or fall by the wayside anyway. I'm not naive and do understand that this was not a selfless act on the part of management, however, i'm alot happier that I work for someone where I feel my job is safe...particularly if I do the work! I know several FAs at other firms that were above expectations and still lost their jobs just because they have not yet reached an AUM level that their BD thinks is enough to be worth keeping them.
I don't know the LP average last year...I assume since the 0 bracket was hit in the last trimester, it was low. But, I am not yet an LP so I don't really follow it at this point, I just concentrate on new business...and it seems to be working.
Kool-Aide, see my post on previous page. LP was 16.1% in 2008. I would expect it to be around 9% in 2009. Jsut based on what I am seeing going on. If it’s over 10% I will be shocked. As a point of reference, 15% is the lowest return in the past 30 years for LP, so we got real close to that last year.
HKA, you misunderstand quite a bit actually.
You see, some of us have been haunting these boards for 10 or 15 years. I must confess that I’m one of them. You’re not the first young’un passing through singing Jones praises, and you won’t be the last. Now it’s good that you’re proud of you firm…we should all be proud of our company or we should find another more suited to us. Here’s the first of your major misunderstandings…many of us are proud of our firms and think they’re the best, the difference being that we don’t spout endless, inane drivel about how our firm is the ONLY good one and the rest are dirt. (As an aside, do they teach you that nonsense in training? )
As to Noggin, he’s way ahead of you…He was a Jones broker, and apparently a good and successful one. He was proud of his firm of course, but he asked questions in a civilized manner and ultimately decided that the grass really IS greener on the other side of the fence.
Lokk, I don’t even have a dog in this fight, but I would urge you to turn down the polemic and show some respect to others…it’s the only way that you’ll earn a modicum of respect for yourself. Of course you can do whatever you like, but be warned; if you choose to try to play hardball, wear you helmet. You’ll need it around here.
Wow...lots to get to...but lets start slow...B24..thanks...i saw your stats after I posted my message...looks good though considering the time. Ice - I am not mixing him up with bspears...I don't even respond to him because he is just doing it to get to Jones folks...Noggin just seems bitter to me...and i've seen tons of his posts and there always is a message of anti jones talk just for the sake of it. Now...Kvetch...first off son...I have been in the financial world for 20 years, so the young'un comment is a joke. Second, if you look at every post I have ever written you will see that I have NEVER said that EDJ is the best firm out there....I have said, that while it may have its flaws, it is the best for me at this time...and I think I will stay here long term...Noggin is far from way ahead of me...I will guess that he is actually way behind me as far as experience and education in the financial arena...Regarding respect...if you take a moment, and look at the comments made by the haters out there...and look objectively...you will see that they need to show some respect and not just put down a firm because they feel jilted and are looking to bash for bashing's sake. Do you really think the comment of "how can anyone work for a firm that.....blah blah blah..".is asking questions in a "civilized manner"...and showing respect? I have been on this thread for a while now...not as long as you but ..so what????....So you see, young man, if you mind your business, or at least check your facts before you respond to a message that wasn't meant for you...maybe you can get it right and not just be a basher like the bspears of the world!HKA, you misunderstand quite a bit actually.
You see, some of us have been haunting these boards for 10 or 15 years. I must confess that I’m one of them. You’re not the first young’un passing through singing Jones praises, and you won’t be the last. Now it’s good that you’re proud of you firm…we should all be proud of our company or we should find another more suited to us. Here’s the first of your major misunderstandings…many of us are proud of our firms and think they’re the best, the difference being that we don’t spout endless, inane drivel about how our firm is the ONLY good one and the rest are dirt. (As an aside, do they teach you that nonsense in training? )
As to Noggin, he’s way ahead of you…He was a Jones broker, and apparently a good and successful one. He was proud of his firm of course, but he asked questions in a civilized manner and ultimately decided that the grass really IS greener on the other side of the fence.
Lokk, I don’t even have a dog in this fight, but I would urge you to turn down the polemic and show some respect to others…it’s the only way that you’ll earn a modicum of respect for yourself. Of course you can do whatever you like, but be warned; if you choose to try to play hardball, wear you helmet. You’ll need it around here.