Aether(AETH)and ASDS...nice recap from the RB thread......
By: bnaolbn
Reply To: None
Saturday, 13 Nov 1999 at 3:58 AM EST
Post # of 321
~~~Oldie but goodie!
When leading online brokerage Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCH) earlier this week announced its
intention to allow a few select customers to trade through wireless devices this year at the same
time that it announced a new development partnership with Aether Technologies, it became the
latest brokerage firm to publicly cast a vote in favor of the wireless technology integration firm.
Though three-year-old Aether has other clients and business lines, Schwab adds to Aether's roster
of top financial clients, including the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER),
Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC), Discover Brokerage Direct, and the Reuters Group (Nasdaq:
RTRSY). It isn't clear what Aether is developing for CBOT, Merrill, and Bear Stearns, but Aether
built Reuters's wireless information device MarketClip and provides the technology that enables
Discover Brokerage Direct's customers to trade wirelessly through their Palm Pilots (with
Windows CE in the future).
Aether's area of expertise is the creation of middleware software that translates the various
wireless protocols into formats supported by a variety of devices such as Palm Pilots, RIM 950
pagers, Windows CE devices, and, in the future, smart phones. By relying on Aether, the
brokerage firms are able to offer clients a wide variety of devices on which they can view market
information and trade.
The addition of Schwab to its client list comes at an opportune time, since Aether just filed
documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public. The company plans to
raise $75 million with the help of underwriters Merrill Lynch, BancBoston Robertson Stephens,
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (NYSE: DLJ), and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray.
Based in Owings Mill, Maryland, Aether Technologies is backed by 3Com's (Nasdaq: COMS)
3Com Ventures arm, Reuters, Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown, and Telecom Ventures. Although the
investments of the other companies aren't public, 3Com's stake in the firm amounts to $6 million.
Its involvement in the body makes sense, since the brokerage plans on making its services
available extensively through several types of wireless devices by the end of the year. And to
broaden its offering, Schwab intends to provide its customers with a variety of ways of accessing
their accounts and Schwab's services over a variety of different networks. This makes Schwab's
plan appear much deeper than arch-rival Fidelity Investments's, which for now is accessible only
through BellSouth's (NYSE: BLS) network.
Fidelity's brokerage customers can access their accounts through pagers and the Palm VII. To
date, out of its 10.5 million mutual fund and brokerage clients, only 4,500 users have signed up for
wireless services, according to a Fidelity spokesman. He added that Fidelity is currently exploring
the use of additional wireless devices.
Meanwhile, customers of Discover Brokerage Direct can already access their accounts, view
information, and trade through Palm IIIs equipped with a Minstrel III modem. The service went live
two weeks ago.
John MacIlwaine, Discover Brokerage Direct's chief technology officer and an executive vice
president of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (NYSE: MWD), admits that for now, the uptake on
wireless technology may be slow. "It's probably going to be a slow market to begin with, but we
want to be there first," he says.
Aether's closest competition in the online brokerage market appears to be a New York City-based
firm called W-Trade. While that firm appears to have more online brokerage clients than Aether,
these brokerage firms are also smaller and less prominent.
By: BIGHOPE.COM
Reply To: 206 by limabeans
Saturday, 13 Nov 1999 at 9:29 AM EST
Post # of 217
ASDS easy teens THIS WEEK. CMRC is the comparison here. Go to Hoovers.com & see this:
ASD Systems is a goods go-between. The firm acts as a middleman between companies and
their customers, offering services such as order processing, fulfillment networks, call center
networks, replenishment, e-commerce integration, and supply chain integration. The company
focuses on providing services to Internet retailers. ASD Systems' clients include Sears, Roebuck
(its largest client), Toys "R" Us, HoneyBaked Ham of Georgia, King World Direct, and EDS (for
Sony's Metreon.com). The firm's name comes from its earlier days as the catalog company
Athletic Supply of Dallas (later sold to Genesis Direct). Chairman Norman Charney owns 34%;
affiliates of The Staubach Company, nearly 14%. |
