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To: LPS5 who wrote (8502)	11/1/2000 12:40:35 PM
From: TFF	Respond to of 12617

Datek in Talks to Sell Majority Stake to Private Investors Iselin, New Jersey, Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Datek Online Holdings Corp., which owns the sixth-largest Internet brokerage, is in talks to sell a majority stake to private investors for about $700 million, one of the investors said. A group led by Boston-based investment firms TA Associates and Bain Capital Inc. is near an agreement to acquire almost all of the stakes held by Jeffrey Citron, Datek's founder and former chief executive, and Sheldon Maschler, a former trader, for $500 million. ``We're going to buy them out and put a little bit of money into the company at the same time,'' said Kevin Landry, TA Associates chief executive and managing director. ``I certainly think we'll get a handshake on a deal this week.'' The sale would help Datek distance itself from regulatory probes tied to its years of catering to day traders. Citron left the company in October 1999, after regulatory questions hampered his firm's ability to raise funds from investors. ``Datek wants to clear up this issue and get rid of these shareholders,'' Landry said. ``Datek doesn't need to go out and raise money.'' Ownership of the company by its former chief executive has closed some doors on Datek and its Island ECN Inc. unit, a trade- order matching system that lets investors trade with one another directly and anonymously. ``Datek has attracted a lot of strategic interest from people who would like to do business with it, but because of its unclear past, it's been difficult,'' Landry said. ``There were some who would say Island is owned by Datek, so we wouldn't want to trade there.'' Going Public Island and Datek are likely to go public in separate stock offerings, though Landry said it was hard to forecast when those sales will happen. Independence will help Island, which relies on Datek for a large portion of its business, attract more trades, in Landry's view. ``If the New York Stock Exchange was owned by Morgan Stanley, would Goldman Sachs want to trade there?'' he asked. TA Associates will probably invest about $140 million in Datek, adding to earlier investments of $60 million and $15 million in Datek and Island, respectively, according to Landry. Lisa Jane O'Neil, a spokeswoman for Bain Capital, declined to comment. Other investors are expected to be part of the group, though Landry said he wouldn't identify them. Michael Dunn, a Datek spokesman, also declined to comment on the talks, which were reported earlier by the New York Times.

To: LPS5 who wrote (8502)	11/3/2000 1:41:26 PM
From: TFF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12617

Supersoes Nov/20 launch date comin up.I Wonder if will get off the ground this time? Message 14188108

To: LPS5 who wrote (8502)	11/12/2000 11:35:24 PM
From: Wayners	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12617

Speaking of futures trading, here's an interesting excert from the Washington Post regarding the 1987 crash and market action on the 20th of October. Then, at about 1 p.m., the Major Market index futures market staged its largest rally in history. Several major Wall Street firms bought a mere $60 million in future contracts on stocks, and the action sent a shock of brief optimism through the market. Because the buyer of futures contracts had initially only to put up a small portion of the money, the cost of these transactions was only a fraction of that $60 million. But the positive movement apparently triggered a significant number of buy orders in the underlying stocks. Some big institutions or wealthy investors had perhaps decided to gamble in order to stabilize or even save the market. Soon the Dow itself rallied, ending the day up 102 points, a record gain. Many Involved Howard Baker had lived through one of the tensest days of his life. He sensed but did not know – not a soul ever told him – that some big companies and investors had gone into the market to buy stocks and drive the prices up. By law and tradition, the White House, Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the free markets, the New York Stock Exchange, and the Fed all had a role in solving the problem. There was no single stock market czar, a person or institution fully in charge. Baker was pretty sure it was one of those moments when fractured responsibility made it as dangerous as it ever got. But the greatest achievement, Baker believed, was Greenspan's one-line press release. The Congress could have met in extraordinary session and passed legislation without hearings to reassure the markets, but that would have had little impact. The president could have suspended trading or acted somehow, but that too would have done little. There was only one part of the government that could have turned it around, and that was the Fed offering unlimited credit. In the end, money talked – or, at least, the Fed's openly stated willingness to provide it. Treasury Secretary Jim Baker had flown back to the United States on the Concorde. He too thought the one-sentence statement was brilliant. They were lucky to have Greenspan at the Fed. Baker wasn't sure that Paul Volcker, Greenspan's predecessor, would have been so quick to act. Corrigan never figured the whole thing out, and part of him didn't want to know. If it was a major miracle rescue of American capitalism, several people or firms might have operated in concert to manipulate the market. That was technically a scheme, and possibly illegal. And if someone in the government or the Fed had given tacit approval, encouragement or even just a wink, that would make it worse. Corrigan decided that he didn't want to pursue the matter. washingtonpost.com