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Non-Tech : Ashton Technology (ASTN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sir Auric Goldfinger who wrote (1528)	6/7/1999 11:39:00 PM
From: Candle stick	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4443

MST spoke to Fred R. today and posted the following on Yahoo! ASTN thread. I am reposting it here for your info. It is in regards to the start date of VTS in July.... FWIW - I spoke with Fred Rittereiser a few minutes ago. He indicated that, ultimately, it is the PHLX that will set the launch date for VTS, and that, to his knowledge, it has not been officially set yet (not at 7/12, at 7/1, or at 7/6 for that matter, which is the first business day after 7/4). He indicated that ATG will be ready to go with VTS on July 1, but that if the PHLX sets the date at 7/12 (which he insisted is not yet known), ATG will launch VTS on 7/12. He also indicated that he does not expect any delay past 7/1, if there is one, to be lengthy -- just a matter of the PHLX coordinating its own act in the logistics of connecting to and operating its end of the system. And he indicated, FWIW, that there is (or should be) no negative connotation to be derived from a brief delay, since ATG is ready to go now (much less 7/1) and none of this is emanating from the SEC. Frankly, in the greater scheme of things, if having more PHLX brokers connected to the system at the launch date (and I infer that this is what Fred meant by the "logistics of connecting to and operating within the system" -- NOTE: THIS IS MY INFERENCE!!) occurs at the cost of a 5-10 trading day delay, then the "harsh treatment" of ATG's stock price will be particularly short lived. I cannot decide for anybody else what they want to do -- the same people (be they daytraders, market makers, or others) who caused the price of ASTN to spike to 18 on little more than a Reuters story regarding a possible merger between the NYSE and the PHLX (one that I admittedly thought might have something to it -- and still do) were probably bailing over the past week at the lack of news and (today) at the prospect of a brief delay. I say "F**k 'em". I am not a seller at 12 7/8 -- I believe in what ATG is doing, and am satisfied that their "execution" does NOT suck -- but as I said, everybody must make their own decisions and draw their own conclusions. (Sidebar: I did convert my 1900 IRA warrants today back into 1000 shares of common stock when the spread between the stock and the warrants narrowed to just over $4 briefly, so that I am back to 68,000 shares of common and 10,000 warrants, with $3,000 extra in the IRA account, as a result -- BFD, as they say, but truthful disclosure is important to maintain my personal integrity). I suspect we will not know the final VTS launch date until it is set by PHLX, but I personally believe that it is imminent (e.g., in July). As I have taken to saying in recent posts, this is not intended as investment advice, but rather to set the record straight and to provide my own personal analysis (especially since I was the person who previously communicated Fred's statement to me that July 1 was the date). Fred reiterated to me that ATG is fully ready, willing and able to launch VTS on July 1, and he does not rule out the possibility that it still may happen on that day -- but clearly he was saying that the PHLX will set the date, and ATG will support them when they do. MST

To: Sir Auric Goldfinger who wrote (1528)	6/8/1999 7:53:00 AM
From: Keith A Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4443

I'm long Ashton, but the competition is heating up: Firms Plan New Stock Trading System NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co, two of Wall Street's premiere firms, said Monday that with brokerage firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, they would form Primex Trading NA, an alternative stock trading system. The system would offer electronic access to investors interested in trading stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, the newspaper reported. Primex is expected to begin operations a year from now, at roughly the same time stocks begin being priced in decimals rather than fractions, the Journal reported. ''What we are hoping to do is create an electronic extension of a pure auction securities market trading on a physical floor by expanding participation to a broad-based electronic crowd,'' Peter Madoff, a senior managing director at Madoff Investment Securities, said in the Journal article. In an auction market, like the Big Board, all orders for a particular stock are handled by one trader, known as a specialist, who is mandated to execute the trades plus maintain a fair and orderly market in the shares, the newspaper said. A dealer market, like NASDAQ, has multiple traders, known as market makers, executing customer orders in many places, the Journal said. Spokesmen for Primex said it would differ from other alternative systems, known as electronic communications networks, or ECNs, because Primex would be more than just a place for investors to meet to execute trades at prices they have specified, the Journal reported. Rather it will allow investors to receive prices on their trades that are superior to the current best bid or offer made by specialists or market makers, the newspaper said. Primex will do this by guaranteeing that its customers get the best current price for their trades while allowing them to state how much more they would ideally like to receive for the stock they are selling or how much less they'd like to pay if they could, the newspaper said. If another Primex customer were willing to pay more for the trade or sell the stock for less, the client initiating the trade would benefit, the newspaper said. Primex will be accessible to brokerage firms, institutional investors, market makers and exchange specialists. The entry of orders will be anonymous; the cost of participation in the system has not yet been disclosed. Reut05:30 06-08-99