Good afternoon everybody!

I know there have been several discussions about how safe your assets are that are currently being held by various financial institutions. We just posted the following details to scottrade.com regarding your Scottrade held accounts. I wanted to post it here in the community as well.

(I also posted this as a discussion thread in case some of you want to 'discuss' it. )

How Scottrade Protects Your Accounts

We have witnessed a number of unprecedented and startling changes in the financial markets recently, causing many people to more closely examine their assets and the firms where those assets are held. Account protection at Scottrade is our top priority. We value the trust you have placed in Scottrade and are dedicated to providing the best service and trading experience as you navigate through this market.

In light of what is happening at some other financial institutions, how has Scottrade been affected?

Scottrade remains stable and secure. Many of the problems faced by other financial institutions have been the result of heavy mortgage-related losses. Scottrade does not invest in mortgage-backed securities. We handle our customers’ funds with great care, including complying with the SEC’s customer protection rule and depositing customer funds as required by the rule in special reserve bank accounts for the benefit of our customers. In these accounts, we hold a combination of U.S. Treasury securities, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, and cash deposits. The banks at which we hold these accounts are stable and are not among those that have been in the news. We are very comfortable with these banks as stewards of our customers’ funds. We also maintain more net capital – in fact four times as much as of August 2008 – than the SEC’s minimum requirements.

Scottrade remains strong. We continue to open new branch offices across the country and more than 1,000 customers are opening new accounts with us every day. We are confident that we will continue to provide you with our industry-leading services, no matter what comes next in the financial markets.

For more about Scottrade’s financial stability, please visit www.scottradefinancials.com.

How is my account protected?

The financial services industry has multiple layers of protection in place to safeguard customer assets. Details regarding this protection, including information about the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), are available from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) by visiting http://www.finra.org/Investors/ProtectYourself/InvestorAlerts/P116996.

Scottrade is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), and brokerage accounts that Scottrade maintains are protected by SIPC. SIPC protects securities held by investors up to $500,000, including a maximum of $100,000 in cash claims. More information about SIPC protection is available at www.sipc.org.

In addition to SIPC coverage, Scottrade has purchased excess coverage (excess SIPC) from Lloyd’s of London of $24.5 million (including $900,000 in cash claims) to pay amounts in excess of those returned in a SIPC claim, subject to an aggregate Scottrade limit of $100 million. Taking into account SIPC and excess SIPC coverage, the Total Investor Protection is $25 million including up to $1 million in cash.

SIPC coverage is not the same as the insurance on bank accounts provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). In order for cash to be covered by SIPC or excess SIPC, cash held in an account must be for the purpose of, or as a result of, securities transactions. Cash held in a securities account for the purpose of earning interest, which was not the result of a securities transaction, may not be covered by SIPC or excess SIPC.

How is my Information protected by Scottrade?

are committed to protecting your personal information. In the rare event that you encounter fraudulent activity on your Scottrade account, we will reverse eligible online fraudulent transactions in your account at no cost to you as part of our Online Security Guarantee, provided that certain conditions are met. For information about steps Scottrade has taken to ensure your privacy and security, please visit www.scottrade.com/security.

If you have any questions, please call your local branch office at 800-619-7283 or e-mail us at support@scottrade.com.

Hello all.

I am back from my week long road trip around the state of Oregon. I love living in the Mid-West, but it was great to see some new scenery - especially when it is as beautiful as the Oregon Coast & Mountains.

My husband and I spent the week driving down through the Cascade mountain range, dipped down into the gorgeous Redwood Forest (northern CA) and then back up the Oregon coast on the scenic 101 highway. Along the way we saw beautiful lakes, breath taking mountain views, and some cool wildlife. I will try to upload some of my amateur photos this weekend, so you all can see some of it.

I am still trying to go through everything I missed while I was away, and address everyone's pending community issues. If you are waiting on anything from me, please feel free to send me another message. Otherwise, I will continue working through my "to-do" list and inbox in the order they showed up. :-)

Have a great weekend everyone - and as always, don't hesitate to ask if you need ANYTHING.

Nina

We have a lot of new members joining us this week, so I thought I would review some of the basics on maneuvering and learning your way around the Community.

First, if we aren't already connected ("Friends"), please go to my profile page and send me q request.

Now that we're friends - Fill out your profile so we can learn more about you. Your profile allows other members to find you, based on basic information or shared interested.

Now, go where the action is - Groups. Click the Groups link and go to the Browse Groups tab. Those are all the available discussion groups, and the best way to ask, answer, or share your thoughts on anything from charting to the Lakers.

As you're reading through the discussion threads, and sharing your knowledge with other members, don't be shy - request the other members to be your friend. That allows you to know when they post a new thought or answer your posted question.

Blogs - the blogs page is where all members can start posts containing their thoughts on whatever interests them - and other members can add to those thoughts.

Those are the basics - but once you've accomplished all that, there's MORE! You can also share your favorite photos, videos, or files with the other community members.

That's it! See? It wasn't so bad. Once you get familiar with the navigation of the community, it's a breeze!

As always - contact me anytime you need something.

Nina

Blog are a great way to share your thoughts, concerns, or questions with the entire community. If you are interested in discussing a particular topic, I can guarantee there is another community member who is, too. If you have a question - someone out there has an answer, advice, or wants to know the answer too.

Blogs 101:

Create a blog - This is where you will type a description of the items you will be discussing/posting about. For example, you want to start a blog where you ask questions about ETFs and learn from other members. You would type something like: This blog is for discussing and learning about ETFs. I would love to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly details of ETFs...

Post to your blog - Once you have created your blog, now you need to write your first post. Just click the Post link directly under your new blog, then start typing your thoughts, questions and ideas. Now other members can leave you comments and ask you questions about your blog.

Subscribe to blogs - On the left side of the blogs page (where you're reading this now) there is a section called "Subscriptions". I encourage everyone to use this to its fullest. If you are reading someone's blog you will see an option inside the Subscriptions section that says "Subscribe to this blog", just click it! Now, anytime you go to the blogs page this section will display a link to the blog you subscribed to. BONUS TIP - Add the blogger to your friends list so the next time they post to their blog you will get a notice in the What's New section of your home page. (To learn more about how to request a friendship, check out my previous blog post titled: Making Friends )

Still have questions? PLEASE let me know - I'm here to help (and I'm always happy to talk to ANYONE).

Are we friends yet? If not, click on my picture and send me a request. I want to be EVERYONE's friend.

Nina

I have received a few questions on how to request another community member to be your friend - so I thought I would provide the information for all of you (in case you're too shy to ask).

First, if you haven't already accepted my request to be your friend, please do so. Secondly, if you don't have an invitation from me to be your friend PLEASE visit my profile and request to be my friend (I promise I won't decline it!). I'm trying to make my way around to all of you, but there are so many new members that it's getting hard to keep track. :-)

To Request a Friendship: Visit the member's profile page, look for the 'Control Panel" section (just below their photo), and click on the "Request Friendship" link - that's it!

Now go make some friends....

What are Groups?

Groups are a way for community members to discuss specific topics with each other, and with our Product Specialists. Currently, we have three groups set-up:

Active Trader Panel – Is a focus group dedicated to our advanced trading platform, ScottradeELITE. This is where ATP members discuss what they like, don’t like, or would like to see added to ScottradeELITE, and other active trader services from Scottrade.

Community Help & FAQs – This is a group designed to help you navigate and better utilize this online community. You can post questions about the community, or discuss your suggestions on ways we can improve the community.

Online Education - Focus Group – This is a new group set-up for the purpose of learning what topics you want to learn about the most, as well as get your feedback on our Help sections within each of out trading platforms.

Go to the Groups link, then click on “Browse Groups” – this is where you will find a listing of all the available groups. To learn more about the group, just click on the group name or image. If you are interested in participating in the group, simple click on the link: Sign Up For This Group”

Hello everyone!

I've received questions about how to send a private message (email) to another member, so I thought I would share it with everyone!

First - What is a 'Private Email'? This is the community's internal messaging system. When you send a message to another member via the Private Email system, it goes to their community inbox, not their external email address.

From the user's profile page, in the "Control Panel" section, you will see the option to "Send Private Email" - it's that simple!

If someone has sent you a private email, you will see it in your correspondence box on your home page, or if you click on the Inbox link.

Welcome to the Scottrade Online Community!

Some of you are probably already familiar with online communities and social networking, but many of you may be new to it all. Whatever your level of experience is, I am here to help!

This community is for YOU, the Scottrade client. You can use it to communicate, collaborate, and learn from other traders who share your same strategies, goals, or even zip codes.

I will be using this blog to communicate Community features and functionalities, so check back often. Better yet, you can subscribe to this blog so it is only one click away from your home page. To subscribe to any blog, just look for the “Subscriptions” box on the left of the Blogs page. Inside the box will be a green circle next to a link titled: “Subscribe to this Blog”. That’s it!

So.... Is this your first online community? If not, what other communities do you participate in? Are you having any trouble navigating the community? Is there anything I can help you with?

Your Host – Nina

 Take the latest survey: Online Community