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To: gue who wrote (1974)	6/27/1999 11:17:00 AM
From: astyanax	Respond to of 4337

SOFTBANK [off-topic?]. Quick summary: Nikkei prohibits odd lots (a Softbank exec told me this directly) but Frankfurt Exchange allows odd lots but you have to route through a German market makers - and they apparently reject odd lots. No relief coming for retail investors until the ADR in the 12-18 month pipeline and Softbank exec told me a 10:1 split (or 20:1) is not feasible. The ONLY broker (I found out this after 13 broker rejections) that can trade odd lots (by virtue of being a market-maker) is Merrill Lynch. I assume you can contact your local bricks & mortar branch to buy. Be careful, some brokers say different things (even @ the same company) when you ask if odd lots are available. I hate that. Anyway, here's was my final solution: called my new Merrill Lynch broker MacArther Plumart ("Mack") at 404-231-2552 (800-937-0453) and bought 12 shares at (@ $202) for $2424.00 plus $79.86 commission for a total of $2503.86. That's just my transaction, but YMMV. This is starting to get off-topic so a lot of SOFTBANK questions can be answered at the SI SOFTBANK thread, FYI. I can't imagine how Steve Harmon has the time to be such a prodigious writer and analyst and still respond to this board! So thanks to Steve for his positive comments on SOFTBANK. SOFTBANK Odd Lot Desperation Site (to be updated Monday) netconductor.com PS - Check out STEVE HARMON's radio interview on Net investing + his pic (now we know what he looks like) at pc-radio.com The guy who runs that site is also a InternetNews.com writer. >>gue wrote: <BTW, not sure many know that Americans can invest in Softbank via Merrill Lynch's market in the shares here in the US. There is no US ADR exchange liting> Brian, Could you elaborate on this? I have also been interested in investing in Softbank but assumed that I would have to do it through a foreign exchange. How can I go about buying some shares? Thanks, gue