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Pastimes : ETRADE Sucks! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (874)	12/3/1997 2:46:00 PM
From: Ken M	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3262

IMO Joke of the Day Reuters, Wednesday, December 03, 1997 at 14:36 NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - ETrade Group Inc's share price fell sharply Wednesday after the company said its new-customer growth rate slowed in November, analysts said. The on-line discount brokerage was off 2-8/16 at 21 in very active Nasdaq trading. ETrade Chief Executive Christos Cotsakos on Tuesday told a technology conference sponsored by Deutche Morgan Grenfell that its month-to-month growth in new customers was 7 percent in October and 5 percent in November, Raymond James analyst Phil Leigh said. Cotsakos also said the average number of trades per account declined to 1.5 in November from 2.8 in October, Leigh said. Cotsakos was traveling and could not be reached for comment. An ETrade spokeswoman said she could not provide the precise numbers Cotsakos had used, but she said his remarks were "similar" to what Leigh described. BancAmerica Robertson Stephens analyst Keith Benjamin said he understood from ETrade that the November new-customer growth rate was closer to 6 percent, which still would be down from October. "It looked like account growth slowed slightly," Benjamin said. Last month several ETrade rivals announced discount rates for electronic trade. "People are inferring that (Cotsakos' comment) reflects the effects of intensified competition," Leigh said. ETrade's stock price has been cut "basically in half over the past few months," Benjamin said. The stock's 52-week high is 47-14/16. Leigh, who rates ETrade a buy, said concerns were overblown and that ETrade's long-term prospects remain strong. Benjamin, who also rates the company a buy, said ETrade remains in a strong position even with increased competition. "It's not a zero-sum game with competition," he said. "ETrade is still the leader."