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Non-Tech : Knight/Trimark Group, Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gbh who wrote (4217)	9/21/1999 9:53:00 PM
From: Jeff Jordan	Respond to of 10027

Gary, I'm still using the old SI w/browsemaster? 127.0.0.1:3456/SI/~wsapi/investor/Subject-30338 try this one from new SI: Subject 30338

To: gbh who wrote (4217)	9/21/1999 10:44:00 PM
From: Gary Korn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10027

9/21/99 Dow Jones News Serv. 17:04:00 See BOLD Dow Jones News Service Copyright (c) 1999, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Tuesday, September 21, 1999 Ameritrade After-Hours Svc Is Novel Approach To New Mkt By Gaston F. Ceron NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD) took a while to put together its strategy to exploit the growing after-hours trading market. But the wait may have been worth it. Ameritrade's plan, which comes after several other online brokerage firms have already implemented or announced plans to offer trading after the 4 p.m. EDT closing bell, offers an interesting twist. Ameritrade will let investors buy and sell stocks after hours not through one, two or three, but through four trading systems. These are Island ECN, MarketXT Inc., the Chicago Stock Exchange and market-maker Knight/Trimark Group Inc. (NITE). Offering extended-hours trading may help Ameritrade's standing among customers, especially because the firm was sometimes seen as lagging in its breadth of products, says William Wong, an analyst at Josephthal & Co. "It will make them more competitive," he says. "The reason we waited (to offer after-hours trading) was because we wanted to see how all the players developed," says Kurt Halvorson, president of Ameritrade's clearing business. "We wanted to see how the market took to it." Ameritrade will begin offering the service on or about Oct. 1, though Halvorson says the company could act a little earlier. He says Ameritrade may take a step-by-step approach to rolling it out so as to not confuse investors. Part of the need to be careful is that the systems' hours vary. Island offers trading from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. EDT, while MarketXT runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Chicago Stock Exchange has said it plans to extend its hours later this fall. And the Knight/Trimark deal will give Ameritrade an extended-hours routing facility to multiple trading systems. To date, what several other online brokerages firms have done is offer after- hours trading through one trading system - as Datek Online Brokerage Services has done with Island, E*Trade Group Inc. (EGRP) has done with Reuters Group PLC's (RTRSY) Instinet unit and as Dreyfus Brokerage Services and Discover Brokerage have each done with MarketXT. Dreyfus is a unit of Mellon Bank Corp. (MEL) and Discover is owned by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. (MWD). But by teaming up with more than one provider, Halvorson says Ameritrade could offer its clients better liquidity than can be found elsewhere, which could be a good selling point in a market where liquidity is a primary concern. With Knight/Trimark's help, Halvorson says Ameritrade will also offer a "consolidated quote montage," allowing its clients to see the best stock price available. Part of that advantage, however, would be moot if the private trading systems go ahead with plans to consolidate stock quotes and if other online brokers follow suit and offer after-hours trading through more than one system. But it's unclear exactly how the trading networks will link to one another. At least for now, says analyst Wong, "there's a lot of uncertainty." Halvorson thinks extended hours trading will eventually catch on. But he recognizes that investors are still getting used to it and that the after-hours market has yet to mature. "Let's face it," he says. "It's kind of like the Wild West. It's a new frontier and it's in its infancy." -By Gaston F. Ceron; 201-938-5234; gaston.ceron@dowjones.com (END) DOW JONES NEWS 09-21-99 05:04 PM