I couldn't agree more. On Thursday I ranted and raved to my broker in exactly the same vein. We also discussed Puts and Calls. I could originally saw these as a form of "regulated" trades but as the years have gone by they have become complicated as hell in order to beat the system what with selling or buying a put or a call and then other twisted formulas. Trust me, someone is going to come up with yet another scheme that will blow up in years to come.