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Strategies & Market Trends : MDA - Market Direction Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Trading Machine who wrote (35024)	12/10/1999 6:38:00 PM
From: Lee Lichterman III	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99985

OT Seems broker problems are getting worse instead of better everywhere. If you like this sort of thing, try getting real time quotes on options from Waterhouse, "Not gonna happen". Try Doing an option spread, strangle or straddle at DLJ. "Not gonna happen". They will open their eyes once the ECNs get going full speed and everyone leaves. Of course us option guys don't have an alternate system.... yet. Someone will get one going sooner or later. Good Luck, Lee

To: Trading Machine who wrote (35024)	12/10/1999 10:14:00 PM
From: John Madarasz	Respond to of 99985

Too little too late? ... Message 12139204 NYSE, Nasdaq to tighten rules for day traders REUTERS NEW YORK, Dec 10 — The New York Stock Exchange and its rival the Nasdaq market on Friday said they would seek to raise margin requirements for day traders in order to curb market speculation. The NYSE and Nasdaq seek to define day traders as investors who move in and out of a single stock more than four times within five days in one specific margin account. THE NATION'S TWO LARGEST stock markets, in a rare joint announcement, recommended placing day traders in a distinct category of investors, with day traders facing tighter margin requirements than longer-term investors. The high-risk day traders would face stricter rules about the amount of money they could borrow to buy stocks. Margin level requirements, which cap the amount of money investors can borrow to invest, aim to guard investors from becoming steeped in debt and threatening the stability of brokerage firms that lend them money. “This is a protection for the brokerage firm, which of course would be an indirect way to protect the investors,” said Elise Walter, chief operating officer of NASDR, the National Association of Securities Dealers' regulatory arm. “There has been sort of a mismatch in the traditional ways margin rules work, and the way they apply to this relatively new scheme of trading,” Walter said. Day traders focus on short-term gains, buying and selling highly volatile stocks at the risk of massive losses. They are not typically members of the NYSE, although they often rely on NYSE-member firms to clear their trades. A higher percentage of NASD members do in-day trading. The NYSE and Nasdaq are seeking to define day traders as investors who move in and out of a single stock more than four times within five days in one specific margin account. FROM $2,000 TO $25,000 RESERVES The decision on the part of the NYSE and Nasdaq to target margin requirements of day traders follows a recent decision by the Federal Reserve to leave national minimum margin requirements unchanged. The Fed, the government agency responsible for setting initial margin requirements, allows investors to borrow up to 50 percent of a stock purchase. For example, an investor who wants to purchase $100 worth of stock can borrow up to $50 for that deal. Specifically, the NYSE and NASD proposal would force day traders to maintain a minimum of $25,000 at all times in their margin accounts, versus only $2,000 for other margin account holders. Currently, day traders only have to keep a minimum $2,000 in their accounts. Day traders would also only be able to invest up to four times the amount of equity they hold in an account at any time during the trading day. If a day trader violates that limit, his borrowing privileges would be cut to only double the value of the equity in his account. Also if day traders fail to make good on a margin call, they would only be able to invest with their own cash for a period of time. The NASD and the NYSE said they would file their proposals with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency that has to approve market rule changes. The SEC typically puts out a proposal for comment before making a final decision. The process can take several months.