You know what really sucks about that, don't you? The government, not the brokerage, is the one getting half the profit for the work YOU did. Because both you AND the brokerage have to pay taxes.

Now THAT'S funny.  You really believe that the brokerages OR the vendors are paying 50% in taxes on their income?  Bwahaahahahahahahahahahaha! You might want to do some research into how much in taxes corporate America pays.

Like this quote "The company's pre-tax earnings from U.S. operations were $5.1 billion but it got a stunning $3.2 billion tax refund, according to the report."

And, this one..."which earned $198 million in pre-tax profits from U.S. operations and got a $249 million refund"

Trust me, I'm well aware of how much people pay in taxes. I was commenting on Vilters' example. Which, of course, is why I quoted it.