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Non-Tech : 1000% returns are cool !!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KevinMark who wrote (456)	6/6/2000 11:18:00 AM
From: If only I'd held	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3326

Hey Kevin...where have you been?? Glad you dropped in on us. I was just looking at the SALN charts and it is trading at historical lows. It made a new one this morning, but I am gonna give it some time. Seems like about as good a time to try it as any.

To: KevinMark who wrote (456)	6/6/2000 5:31:00 PM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3326

(REUTERS) Knight to profit from Herzog's sale to Merrill By Mary Kelleher NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) - Knight Trading Group <NITE.O>, the Nasdaq stock market's biggest share dealer, could become a takeover target after top brokerage firm Merrill Lynch and Co. Inc. <MER.N> snapped up a rival market middleman. Merrill's move to buy competing Nasdaq market maker Herzog Heine Geduld for $913.8 million in stock may prompt other Wall Street firms to look for acquisitions that would allow them to also tap Nasdaq's surging trading volumes, analysts said. Market makers buy and sell stocks from investors, and profit from the difference between offer and asking prices. In addition to possible takeover offers, Knight also could win business as Merrill buys Herzog. Web brokers like ETrade Group Inc. <EGRP.O> , unwilling to give business to a competitor like Merrill, may divert more orders to Knight for execution, analysts said. "If Merrill acquires Herzog, we believe Merrill's competitors could quickly develop league table envy and feel compelled to make a move," Gregory Smith, an analyst at Chase H&Q said in a research note. "This could create a bidding war for Knight." Analysts expect Knight to benefit from Merrill's purchase of Herzog despite market concerns that Knight might lose business from Merrill when it buys Herzog. Knight's stock fell on Monday on such fears, then fell another 11/16 to close at 30-1/4 on Tuesday. Knight was not immediately available to comment. "We believe the merger actually could create an opportunity for Knight to gain trading volume from the online and discount brokers who compete directly with Merrill," Scott Appleby, an analyst at Robertson Stephens, said. Brokerage firms with a big corporate customer base but few retail customers might want to buy Knight, to attract new customers and better help companies preparing to issue new shares reach more customers. "An instutional marriage with a retail market maker like Knight/Trimark would make a lot of sense," Gary Craft, an analyst at Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, said. "It would offer the institutional brokerage much more competitive positioning with corporate issuers." Knight processes stock trades for many online brokers who deal with retail customers, like E-Trade and TD Waterhouse Group Inc. <TWE.N>. These brokers have stakes in Knight. The Nasdaq market also is a lucrative place to be right now, as a historic bull market in technology stocks and a boom in online stock trading have sent volumes soaring. Knight itself is a very profitable operation. Its first-quarter profits more than tripled to a record $135.6 million, because of robust share volumes from online investors. The company executed more than 81 billion shares last year. Herzog is smaller, and accounts for about 8 percent of Nasdaq's daily trading volume. With Herzog, Merrill will boost the number of Nasdaq and Bulliten Board stocks it makes a market in to 8,000 from 650. Together, they would handle about 170 million shares a day. While Knight might lose order flow from Merrill, online brokers accustomed to executing orders in a liquid, neutral marketplace could be reluctant to do business with Merrill and might give their business to Knight, analysts said. Knight also could gain share as Merrill integrates Herzog, they added. "If you think of the E-Trade advertisements, they blast the traditional broker-dealers," Craft said. "So do you think E-Trade is going to direct business at Merrill Lynch?" Merrill now only accounts for about 1 percent or less of Knight's order flow, analysts estimated. Merrill said it would continue to send some stock trades to Knight under an agreement signed last year, but would have its own traders carry out many others. ((Financial services desk 212-859-1644)) REUTERS end of story *