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Non-Tech : Datek Brokerage $9.95 a trade -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: RockyBalboa who wrote (12814)7/23/1999 9:01:00 AM
From: Raj Ramaswamy  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 16892
 
Is anybody have trouble with Streamer..? I could bring it up alright but not able to ADD any symbols..the color on the left green square logo box is RED....does this mean anything..? Thanks. Raj



To: RockyBalboa who wrote (12814)7/24/1999 12:09:00 PM
From: Sir Francis Drake  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 16892
 
Datek will go on despite the shortfall in investment money:

dailynews.yahoo.com

<<Datek Moving Ahead With Expansion Despite Setbacks


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Datek Online Holdings Inc., the No. 4 U.S. Internet brokerage, said Friday it is moving ahead with expansion plans despite recent setbacks, including an announced investment falling through and a criminal probe into its predecessor company.

The company, which also owns the second-largest electronic stock matching system, Island ECN, Tuesday said Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) co-founder and venture capitalist Paul Allen backed out of a $50 million to $75 million investment, and two other investors reduced their commitments by $30 million to $55 million. In all, Datek got $105 million less than the $300 million it announced in May.

Allen's decision came after Datek Online received two document subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney's office late last week in a probe of Datek's predecessor company, Datek Securities Corp.

''Datek Online has not been informed that we are the target of any investigation, and we're cooperating with the U.S. attorney's office in their investigation of our predecessor firm, Datek Securities Corp,'' Datek Online's chief marketing officer, Robert Bethge, said Friday.

Bethge declined to say what documents the firm had handed over and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office was not immediately available for comment.

Datek still raised $195 million from two other venture capital firms, France's Groupe Arnault and TA Associates. The money should cover Datek Online's plans for advertising its Web brokerage and Island's aim to become a full-fledged stock exchange, Datek officials said.

''Certainly $300 million would have been nicer than $195 million, but we're not cash strapped and the business plan is continuing exactly as planned,'' Bethge said.

Island will receive $30 million of the total, for which Arnault and TA Associates get a combined 15 percent equity stake, said Island President Matthew Andresen. Andresen added another announced investment, $25 million by Internet brokerage TD Waterhouse Group Inc. (NYSE:TWE - news), would close shortly.

''Certainly we are being courted by a lot of parties, there's a big land grab going on there,'' Andresen said. ''We need $30 million for our exchange filing and marketing campaign, but this is a very efficient business and we are in a very good position no matter what.''

If the Waterhouse investment closes, Datek Online will own 72.5 percent of Island, Waterhouse 12.5 percent, and Arnault and TA each 7.5 percent. The investments value Island, which matched buyers and sellers of about 95 million shares a day in the second quarter, at $200 million.

Datek officials declined to say why Paul Allen' investment fund, Vulcan Ventures, decided to pull out of the investment.

''We could not come to terms with them,'' Andresen said. ''There are a lot of issues in any kind of a deal like this.''

The New York Times newspaper this week, citing people close to the situation, said Vulcan backed out partly because of worries about the regulatory and criminal probes. A Vulcan spokeswoman said the firm decided against the investment after evaluating it, and declined to give further details.

Datek Online, which was founded early last year, and its Datek Securities predecessor firm indeed did have a spotty regulatory record. One of Datek Securities's former head traders has paid regulatory fines for illegal trading practices but currently is not associated with the firm, Datek officials said.

In addition, Datek Online recently paid a $50,000 fine to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges that it used customer money to meet the firm's financial obligations. Datek's former chief financial officer also paid a $10,000 fine and no longer is with the firm.>>