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Conference nyoss1::market_investing

Title:Market Investing
Moderator:2155::michaud
Created:Thu Jan 23 1992
Last Modified:Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1060
Total number of notes:10477

437.0. "Commonwealth Financial Group (unleaded gas)" by COMET::RINESMITH (Tradition = Water in God's clay!) Fri Apr 02 1993 15:05

    Has anyone heard of or done any business with a companey call:
    COMMONWEALTH FINANCIAL GROUP INC.  They are located in Ft. Lauderdale
    and deal in commodities.  Right now they are recommending call options
    on unleaded gas for july.  Is this a good company and how risky is
    this type of an investment?
    
    Roger
    
    
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437.1just an opinionMCIS2::BONVALLATFri Apr 02 1993 15:3019
I've never heard of Commonwealth Financial Group, but there aren't
many things riskier than futures.  Buying the futures options are less 
risky (because loss is limited) but unless you are a financial expert or 
are real comfortable with this guy then I'd stay away.

It reminds me of the day a commodities broker called me out of the blue
during the autumn and wanted me to buy oil futures "because the demand
for heating oil always goes up in the winter, right!?"
I kept the idiot on the phone for as long as possible just so he wouldn't
be using that time to call someone else - and so his company would lose
as much money as possible paying for the phone call.  It sounds cruel,
but I'd heard enough from this guy to know he and his firm shouldn't
have been licensed.

One more thing...if Commonwealth Financial REALLY knew where unleaded gas
was going, they wouldn't need to be calling you for commissions.  You can
make/lose money really fast in commodities.  (I prefer stocks/bonds myself -
it's not as much a zero-sum game and the risk is reasonable (and I know
a lot about them)).
437.2Should probably take a byeVMSDEV::HALLYBFish have no concept of fire.Fri Apr 02 1993 16:3024
>    and deal in commodities.  Right now they are recommending call options
>    on unleaded gas for july.  Is this a good company and how risky is
>    this type of an investment?
    
    Ask them what the commission is.  Anybody can get $35 commissions
    on futures options via various discount brokerages.  If they won't
    tell you flat out what the commission is, hang up.  If it's over $35,
    ask 'em what services they provide that makes it worth the extra money.
    
    Ask if they are -CLEARING- members of the NY Mercantile Exchange.
    Betcha they aren't.  Only the strongest firms are clearing members,
    heck they're probably not even members.  The smaller they are, the more
    likely you'll find your funds tied up in litigation before being
    returned to you.
    
    Is it risky?  No, the worst you can do is lose all the money you've sent.
    
    Is it a good deal?  Opinions vary, which is why we have markets, but
    I think we'll see the petro complex work down from mid-April thru June.
    Everybody in OPEC wants to pump more oil.  The designated wild-cards,
    Iran and Iraq, can cause trouble anytime though.  The market knows this,
    so options tend to be more expensive than justified by price alone.
    
      John