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To: kendall harmon who wrote (54153)	8/1/1999 5:16:00 PM
From: Tradelite	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 120523

What editors at IBD say re: daytrade regulation ______________________ E D I T O R I A L S Another Senseless Act Of Regulation . . . Date: 8/2/99 Details about the brutal killing spree in Atlanta Thursday are still coming in. But one thing is crystal clear. The do-gooders in government are ready to pounce with more regulation that'll have nothing to do with the murders. Mark Barton's rampage through two stock brokerage offices is sure to intensify calls for more regulation and tough enforcement. Not of the criminal code that takes murderers off the street. But rather of day trading in the stock market. Reports indicate that Barton, a chemical salesman turned day trader, had taken a beating in the past week in the market. And Thursday's plunge was especially steep. That may be why he shot up the brokerage offices. Naturally all the do-gooders will put those two things together and come up with five. The argument goes like this: Day trading is risky, people can lose a lot of money, when some people lose money they shoot up offices, therefore the government has to step in. But where was the government when Barton's first wife and mother-in-law were killed six years ago in Alabama? Why did the Alabama police, who considered him a suspect, fail to arrest him? Police in Georgia, where Barton lived, told the Alabama force they had enough evidence to justify an arrest. Why did the Alabama police go so far as to tell Georgia police to back off? These questions will no doubt surface. But there's also no doubt that those questions - and answers - will drown in the howling for more gun control laws and yes, more regulation of trading in the big, bad stock market. The position of the gun control crowd is a given. Guns are bad, and killing sprees wouldn't happen if guns were banned. The data don't support such an argument, but it will still be made - a la Littleton, Colo. - in the wake of Barton's murders. That debate will continue to rage. But now Barton's spree will be used to justify all sorts of intrusions into the investment arena. We can see it now. Day traders will have to get a license, maybe pass a psychological evaluation before getting one. Day traders will have to prove to the government they have the financial means to invest daily. Who knows? Maybe the do-gooders will push for a ''cooling off'' period between trades - rendering moot the notion of day trading. Or even a 30-day waiting period between getting a license and executing the first trade. Maybe day trading should just be banned altogether. And if these kinds of rules are good for day traders, why not for every investor? After all, there's risk in long- term investments, and you can lose money in those, too. If that's logical, then why not regulate who can buy a house and when? Housing values have been known to fall, and we wouldn't want a disgruntled homeowner taking it out on his neighbors with a gun. Go down the list of possible investments and apply the same thinking. Art doesn't always appreciate in value; neither do coins. And how about gold? It's dropped 75% in value over the last two decades. Can't take the chance that impoverished gold bugs could shoot up a trading pit. Better regulate them to reduce that risk. You get the idea. The point in the Atlanta shootings is that Barton committed an ugly act of violence. And it doesn't appear that it was the first one. Better enforcement of the criminal code in Alabama might have prevented his rampage. But there's no question in this case: Barton is responsible, not day trading, not the stock market, not the possibility of risk. But don't tell that to the do-gooders. Their minds are already made up. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (C) Copyright 1999 Investors Business Daily, Inc.

To: kendall harmon who wrote (54153)	8/1/1999 7:55:00 PM
From: Lee Walsh	Respond to of 120523

There is no way the SEC is going to regulate the amount of time that a person can hold a stock. They can't say that you have to hold it for a day, a week, a month...that is downright Un-american, IMO. The brokers won't put up with it either....who do you think are making all the cash on the commissions that daytraders generate??? Brokers and brokerage firms. All this talk about "daytraders" are all crazy is just from people that don't know much about trading period. If the market tanks everyone loses money that is long....people make money that are short...including daytraders. Personally, I have lost much more money by being a long term investor than I ever have by trading.... Tell the investors of WMI-waste management (A NYSE stock that dropped from 55 on July 6th, to 35 on July 7th to 25 now on an earnings warning....And that's a trash company...not a "high flying" internet stock. Tell investors of SNRS...who's stock dropped from $15 to about $4 overnight, when their equipment was not approved by the FDA.... Trading--investing---LIVING is risky....people know they might lose their money when they put it in the market....and if they don't know that, well, they shouldn't be trading or investing...period. Very few daytraders were hurt in SNRS or WMI, but "investors" were. Lee

To: kendall harmon who wrote (54153)	8/1/1999 9:29:00 PM
From: red_dog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 120523

I have to comment on a point or two. Those losers that he ( Jerry Knight) is talking about. Where are these people and the numbers, I always hear about it but never see any numbers. Maybe someone could point me in the right direction. I can just see all of you or us I should say ,calling people such as Jerry Knight at the end of the day, month ,year and telling him to put me on the Losers list. Jerry Knight: Trades don't get executed at the prices people want. Trades don't get done at all. If we have another big one-day crash, another Black Monday, I would not want to count on using an online brokerage to sell my stocks He looks old enough by his picture, but he must not remember "87". I was on the phone on Monday and didn't get an order to sell until tues. I agree that it will take time to get the order in but I can tell you it will be awhile with any means you try to use.Why is everybody so afraid of the internet, are we getting to much information and putting the forecaster's out of work. Or maybe Daytraders are taking all of the business away from Las Vegas, and the hundred or so Riverboats. I just had to add my 2 cents as SF would say. Next weeks headline (If you would have held GNET presplit at 7 in 2010 your just 3 notches below Warren Buffet on the Big List.) Thats for Susan & Heather. Rg.