August 2, 2007
Dear Sir or Madam,
I urge you to investigate the circumstances surrounding this proposal, which protects exchange members at the expense of the individual investor. For two years we have seen the steady increase in the fee charged for cancels as well as more stringent rules defining a grouped fill. These rules are nothing more than an attempt to make active options trading impossible unless one becomes a member the exchange. In the past, the ISE has claimed that these fees are in place to compensate for the bandwidth required to process a large amount of orders and cancels over a short span of time however, granting exchange members exemption from this policy exhibits, through the exchanges practice, their true intention of monopolizing plausible active options trading and creating artificial barriers for entry in the options market place. It is no longer practical for an individual investor or trader to trade a high volume/high volatility option, such as Apple, through a retail account, which are already burdened with large transaction ad broker fees. Why shouldnt a retail investor have the same rights to pursue favorable prices in a dynamic market? These fees amount to little more than an antitrust violation and must be disallowed by the SEC. Also, please take notice that myself and several other active traders will be seeking counsel regarding this matter. Thank you.