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Technology Stocks : Softbank Group Corp -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: swisstrader who wrote (1938)	9/27/1999 7:41:00 PM
From: Labrador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6020

Hope so; it's about time.

To: swisstrader who wrote (1938)	9/27/1999 9:05:00 PM
From: mact	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 6020

the financial revolution in japan ready to heat up...just like the first wave of changes involved the brokerage industry in the US, Japan is ready to follow suit...anybody know if etadejapan will be public soon?....wouldnt mind buying in early if its possible. TOKYO (AP) - Freedom is about to hit Japan's securities market. In the latest step in a sweeping financial reform program, Japan is abolishing fixed commissions on stock trades as of Oct. 1. Entrepreneurs are ready to jump in with low fees and online brokering, but analysts wonder how enthusiastic investors will be. The potential payoff is huge. Japan continues have one of the highest savings rates in the world, with assets held by individual investors estimated at $11.2 trillion. But with many Japanese still hesitant to put money in stocks, more than half of that amount is deposited with banks and in postal savings accounts. At present, just 10 percent of Japanese individual savings are in stocks or mutual funds compared to 60 percent in the United States. Japan took the first step in its ambitious financial reforms last year by lifting regulations in currency exchange. Abolishing fixed commissions is another major step, and by 2001 banks, insurance companies, and brokerages will be allowed to enter one another's businesses. In the latest step, brokerages will be allowed to set their own commission fees for trades below 50 million yen ($467,000) as of Oct. 1, which should open the way for discounting of trading fees. Fixed commissions were abolished in the United States in 1975, spurring growth of the discount brokerage industry. More recently, online trading at rock-bottom commisison rates has spurred a major increase in stock investing among average Americans. Some entrepreneurs in Japan see the lifting of fixed commissions as an opportunity to compete against the more established brokerage houses. Online trading specialist Monex Securities Co. is one of them. An alliance between electronics giant Sony Corp. and former Goldman Sachs partner Oki Matsumoto, Monex will be offering the lowest commission fee of all - 1,000 yen (about $10) for any transaction up to 1 million yen ($10,000). That's a 93 percent discount from the current fixed rate of 15,000 yen for all transactions up to 1 million yen. "We've received over 20,000 requests for information since we had our first press conference just under a month ago," said Matsumoto. Still, the company isn't likely to become profitable until the third year. Analysts say even that would be a luckier outcome than most will be able to hope for. "It doesn't matter how cheap the commission fees are," said Hideyasu Ban, a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley. "Unless investors think that buying stocks is a better and safer investment than keeping money in the bank, online brokers are going to have a hard time making money." The biggest challenge won't be a price war among brokerages. Rather, it will be to convince people to get their hard-earned cash out of the bank and into the stock market. Brokerage houses will be beefing up their marketing campaigns to advertise the potential high returns of investing in stocks. Some, like Merrill Lynch, have already hired public relations companies to help them lure in investors. The challenge of getting individuals interested in stocks will be that much more difficult given the recent weakness in the Tokyo market. Last Wednesday, the benchmark Nikkei average tumbled 3.4 percent, its biggest one-day loss since last October. Still, major players are gearing up to take advantage of the new rules. Charles Schwab Corp., the largest U.S. online broker, will join forces with Tokio Marine and Fire Insurance Co. to form a new online securities company, which should be open for business within the next few months. Others alliances already expected include Japan's Softbank and E-Trade, and the Sumitomo Group allying with DLJdirect Inc. Both are anticipated to offer competitive commission fees through online trading. Nomura, Japan's largest broker, started online trading in February 1998. Since then, it has gained over 46,700 clients, and the figure is expected to continue growing. "The big brokers like Nomura, Daiwa, and Nikko won't be entering the price war," said Robert Garone, a financial analyst at Commerzbank in Tokyo. "They're more sensible than to follow price-cutting to the rock-bottom."