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Ultraman,

Once again, you are the man (I'm still happy about the HELOC bonanza)! I didn't think about the creative account options.

I've been holding off on the Ameritrade/Starwood deal because I'm not sure where to put the money at Ameritrade. I called them about putting the money in a money market and they gave me a very complicated answer about a 3rd party vendor whose webpage seemed even more complex. I couldn't find the answer to the simple question of what interest rate they would offer on a money market for $25,000.00. For ease of tax reporting, I prefer not to transfer my stocks and mutual funds to Ameritrade and that leaves me with cash or cash equivalent (I don't plan on doing any trading at Ameritrade).

That leaves me with an assumed interest rate dilemma. I can earn 3% on a 1 year CD. For ease of math, if you put $25,000.00 in the bank for 1 year at 3% you end up with $750. If Ameritrade isn't competitive, let's say they give you 1.5%, then you are missing $375 by leaving your money at Ameritrade. I wouldn't pay $375 for 20,000 starpoints (although I do value them very highly and this is somewhat of a close call). I realize that the holding period is now 9 months so the final figure is less than $375. But, I still wonder how you are pulling this off. Are you getting a decent interest rate at Ameritrade or are you using them for trading or do you value the starpoints at higher than the value of the lost interest--assuming there is lost interest.

I figure you have this completely wired. Can you tell me how you are doing it? Thanks

SDFLYER