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Gold/Mining/Energy : Pacific Rim Mining V.PFG -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rick W. who wrote (8633)	2/10/1998 4:52:00 PM
From: Bill Jackson	Respond to of 14627

Rick, What is needed has already started. I understand that some US internet trading places are in business and are cutting the spread and the fee per trade. The big evil is the spread and that has been fostered by the 1/8 rule. Obviously a decimal 1/100 rule would allow willing buyers/sellers to meet in the middle. Often the market makers get ahuge % spread on a stock, and in addition get "in between" and "trade ahead" of their clients. For example if a stock has a spread of 7 and 5/8 to 8, then the spread is 3/8 and if the dealer(market maker) can fill himself at 7 and 7/8 and sell to you at 8 he then gets 1/8 plus the commission. The is called fron running or getting in between and an electronic exchange would eliminate that. If you strip the brokers of the spread and eliminate the front running they will soon get pauperised and all the front office work will vanish. How much work does an internet trader do for you?, nil, just the trade is all. So you have to do this work or get eaten by the crooks. SOme of the brokers were crooks too, so there is some gain. but the analog is the shift from the mom and pop stores to Walmart. Lower prices, larger amounts a,d the warranty is elsewhere and you also have no -one to sue, as you do all your own rersearch and the broker just follows your written orders.. A full electronic exchange will be here in bits and pieces over the next 3-6 years. The brokers and exchanges will fight it, yelling all about investor safety, however ignore that, the savings on fees will exceed all the crookedness of brokers so we will net a win on the overall. Bill