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Technology Stocks : Red Hat Software Inc. (Nasdq-RHAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LarryR who wrote (177)	7/29/1999 9:31:00 PM
From: Jerry Whlan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1794

ETrade did nothing wrong, the problem is that RedHat invited a bunch of investing novices to participate in their IPO. These novices, many who have never traded before in their lives, honestly filled out the eligibility requirements form. Being absolute novices, they did not pass the eligibility requirements. Being absolute novices they ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, made a bunch of noise and gave ETrade (and to a lesser extent, RedHat) a bad name. All for doing exactly what they are supposed to do. In an attempt to cut the bad publicity, E*Trade made a statement that all but told these people to try again, and this time to lie on the eligibility form. Kind of silly all around. Personally, I think those who don't know enough to pass the eligibility requirements on the first try ought not to be investing in a high-risk IPO anyway.