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Pastimes : CNBC -- critique. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim S who wrote (2834)	6/8/1999 2:17:00 PM
From: Kathryn Anshutz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17683

Hi Jim - I just took a quick look at the NY Times article and have a possible alternative take on the 'between the lines' part. When a Jane Q Public like me is lurching around asking 'ECN, Level II, Waterfall Wha'?, the cat is already out of the bag. I think that the full service brokers have lost so much business that they are playing catch-up. Merrill's new system is their way of competing by offering a better system to their customers. Whether or not it really does present and improvement remains to be seen. The public voted with their feet by moving to the once ridiculed discount brokers and they'll do it again. Bells and whistles aside, we all know where to find our bottom line. There was a Merrill-Lynch spokesman on CNBC last week touting the new system. He mentioned some kind of incentive to keep his customers (both of them) loyal. I like to think that the flood gates are open. ka