Let's be frank, if you do business with a brokerage firm, chances are your assets are being used as a negotiating tool to be bought by another firm. So, "Are You Being Bought & Sold?".

Wall Street is not a moral place, and no one will care more about you than yourself. Brokerage firms have proven over and over again they cannot be trusted, and some no longer deserve your business. Your broker may be a fine, upstanding person, but if the firm they work for was mentioned in the global securities fraud settlement, I would not allow the firm to have another dime of my fee痴 and commissions.

I am of the opinion that any firm participating in investment banking activities should not be allowed to deal with the small investor. Below is a list of the firms involved in the securities fraud settlement: CS First Boston, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Smith Barney, UBS (Paine Webber), Bear Stearns, JP Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers, Piper Jaffrey, Thomas Weisal Partners.

Many of these firms lost client accounts to smaller, regional firms as clients and brokers tried to escape from the conflicts of interests associated with larger brokerage firms. Guess what ? They are buying you back. You can't get away from these people.

SOME RECENT BUYOUTS

In my years as a broker, I watched many brokers play hopscotch as they jumped from one firm to the next. After I jumped ship at AG Edwards, I went to JC Bradford, a small regional firm based out of Nashville.

Two years after my move, rumors began to circulate that the company was going to be bought by Paine Webber. The day before the merger, the CEO of the company held a morning squawk box meeting with every branch in the company. The CEO emphatically stated the firm was committed to remaining independent. The following day, the firm was sold to Paine Webber. The CEO was obviously a liar.

A few months later, Paine Webber was sold to UBS. I read a story in a brokerage the industry trade publication Registered Rep that the brokers liked the merger, and the majority were staying with the new firm. That's not what I saw. Brokers were leaving in droves.

If brokers are jumping ship after a merger with a big New York firm, what does that tell you.

Legg Mason-Smith Barney Merger:

One of the guys I knew at AG Edwards, jumped ship to become the branch at Legg Mason. Prior to coming to Edwards, this guy worked for Shearson Lehman which became Smith Barney. He tried to convince me join him at Legg, and said that the family that owned Legg was committed to remaining independent. I had already heard that story before.

Since then, Legg Mason has sold out to Smith Barney, and this guy who was once with Smith Barney, is now back at Smith Barney. A few weeks ago, this guy left Legg to go to Wachovia.

Wheat First, then First Union, then Wachovia, then Prudential

Believe it or not, all of these firms are now one. Remember, when brokerage firms merge, they are not buying brokers, they are buying the brokers accounts. The bottom-line, they are buying you.

BE YOUR OWN BROKER, OR DEAL WITH AN INDEPENDENT ADVISOR

Like the TD Waterhouse ad says, "You can do this". Waterhouse is a great firm. Personally, I have my accounts at Fidelity. If Fidelity decides to sell to a big Wall Street firm, I will move my accounts.

Here are some reasons you should consider becoming your own broker, or use an independent advisor who clears through a discount firm:

1) Eliminate conflicts of interest.

2) You will save thousands in fee痴 and transaction costs. Unless you want to pay somebody hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars to say, 登h don稚 worry, everything痴 going to be ok�, I would seriously consider investing on my own. If a person constantly needs to have their hand held, more than likely they have no business being in the stock market.

3) Investments don稚 need a 24 hour baby sitter. I致e heard the argument that an investor wants someone who痴 going to watch their investments for them. Why? The investments are not going anywhere. If you池e an active trader, I can see why you would want a market baby sitter. But if your not, don稚 waste your money.

4) You can subscribe to 3-5 newsletters that will give you all the information you'll ever need. Discount brokers have high quality planning tools that will help you determine your risk tolerance, and guide you toward a sensible asset allocation model.

5) Peace of mind, and it痴 fun and easy. You are really going to enjoy the learning process and find it rewarding as well.