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Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cheryl Galt who wrote (29119)	8/6/1999 1:05:00 PM
From: aknahow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

Do you get their e-mail? Think you do. At times they explain why messages appear to be contrary to performance of a stock. One mentioned a big sharp sell off and yet there was a large super buy message. Explanation is that the buyer wanted all the sellers to know where they could dump stock at a specified price. Let me admit that I do not have I-Watch figured out but I continue to think it adds value. I moved in part from a discount broker Brown & Co to a full service broker. Placed a market order for LGND some days ago. While on the line it was filled but in such small bits and pieces that I got tired of it and just said let me know when it is all filled. The broker is someone I worked with when I was with a large fixed income buyer. My point is that filling an order for an inactive stock would take even more time if it were not for Autex letting brokers know who has an interest in buying/selling.

To: Cheryl Galt who wrote (29119)	8/6/1999 1:33:00 PM
From: Robert Cohen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

Hope this helps. The Super Messages are only PRE-trade data - thus, the below conclusion that "the triangles did not cross the price lines - that means, they never actually bought." is incorrect. It is not possible to tell whether or not a Super Message translated into a block transaction based on I-Watch charts since there is no post-trade data included. The only post-trade data on I-Watch is the Reported Trade Pie Chart. The data on Thomson I-Watch is only part of the trading picture and should be used in the broader context of the trading session. The interpretation of the data is unique for each stock/sector. Logically, a bid represents an offer to buy stock so it should put upward pressure on the price while a sell offer theoretically, will put downward pressure the stock. The side of the market that the super message is on, marks the side on which the trade is being initiated. When a broker offers to buy 100K, he/she is actively looking to attract the attention of someone willing to sell. Typically, the aggressor of a deal ends of paying the premium so if the broker really wants to buy that 100,000 shares, he/she will need to strike a deal with the seller which will most likely result in some type of upward pressure on the stock. A good way to think about the I-Watch data is as a basic measure of supply (red triangles) and demand (blue triangles). As the price goes up, the number of people willing to sell goes up as well - supply (red triangles) increases. Thus, as a stock's price increases the number of people willing to sell into the rise increases, also. In the scenario when the stock is moving higher and there will often be more red triangles than blue - the bidders do not stand to gain much by advertising that they want to buy stock - after all, who doesn't? The sellers, however, can attract a lot of attention by offering stock. Also, you'll notice that while, the amount of stock for sale will sometimes prove insufficient to counter the buying - it often works to create a cap on the stock's trading price. I hope this helps clear things up a bit. Please let us know if you have any further questions/comments. Rebecca Lennon Senior Analyst Thomson I-Watch

To: Cheryl Galt who wrote (29119)	8/6/1999 1:49:00 PM
From: Webhead	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

" Window shopping" is probably as accurate as any other explanation! Since there is no price data, it is possible that these interest messages are below current prices and should only be inferred as support, though since we dont know the $ this data might not be terribly usefull. Certainly, trading has been lethargic today. The interest messages coupled with decent volume and price trending do seen usefull in providing a measure of increasing demand. When the volume is this low and price drops and bounces around, I have no idea what to expect. I just posted the original observation because it is unusual to see such a large interest message for lgnd and in case the flood gates were opening. Instead, I think we have a LARGE bottom fisher... All IMHO, Ed