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To: Paul Engel who wrote (91242)	10/29/1999 12:45:00 AM
From: Felix Appolonia	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 186894

Paul - Re-<I often wonder why Wall Street big shots always emphasize the SHORT TERM, trade in and out on whims, while all the time trying to con individuals into thinking this is a LONG TERM INVESTMENT BUSINESS and they should turn their hard earned dollars over to these hair-triggered, glorified day-traders.> The market makers are Long today, and Short tomorrow and they make the big money trading their own positions . They don't care about us small investors, as there are too many of us with small positions. The big dollars are made when they know their analyst is going to downgrade the stock which they have already shorted before the downgrade. The market makers know the stock movement before we do, and they have the analysts to move the stock, even when the analysts are wrong. The SEC knows this, but they just don't know how to enforce it. Felix

To: Paul Engel who wrote (91242)	10/29/1999 12:48:00 AM
From: Harry Landsiedel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Paul Engel. Re: "I often wonder why Wall Street big shots always emphasize the SHORT TERM, trade in and out on whims, while all the time trying to con individuals into thinking this is a LONG TERM INVESTMENT BUSINESS." You've hit on a HUGE issue between the professionals. John Bogle, founder of Vanguard has been reeming out the MF industry for years over this precise point. The reality IMHO is that the WS big shots (and 29 year old MF managers) have to "beat" the S&P 500 to make their bonuses. That creates a herd mentality, short-term focus, more volatility, and turns an ideal way to efficiently allocate capital into a gambling casino. Sad but true. As a result, as you have frequently pointed out, it takes a strong stomach to be a LONG-TERM holder of a stock like Intel. HL

To: Paul Engel who wrote (91242)	10/29/1999 12:55:00 AM
From: Jim McMannis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

RE:"I often wonder why Wall Street big shots always emphasize the SHORT TERM, trade in and out on whims,"... It's called "commisions" Paul. Some of these funds have 80-90% turn over rates. The brokerage firms they use to buy and sell are owned by the mutual fund company...thus generating themselves money... Jim

To: Paul Engel who wrote (91242)	10/29/1999 1:11:00 AM
From: Aaron Cooperband	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Paul - Re: "I often wonder why Wall Street big shots always emphasize the SHORT TERM, trade in and out on whims, while all the time trying to con individuals into thinking this is a LONG TERM INVESTMENT BUSINESS " The way you measure performance can have a dramatic impact on the way the portfolio manager runs his/her portfolio. Right now, money managers' performance is measured against an index on a PRE-TAX basis. This allows them to take profits freely while trying to beat their index. The investor pays for this at the end of the year when he/she receives short and long term taxable capital gains distributions from the fund and must pay taxes on them. Although the investor's long term net return is hurt by this, because of the way the accounting works the money managers don't have to count the taxable distributions against their performance. Vanguard may be breaking this unpleasant chain of events by beginning to quote after-tax returns on their funds. This would then be compared to the after-tax return of an appropriate index to see how well the portfolio manager is doing. If this catches on, look for fund managers' short term trading to fall dramatically. Aaron