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Non-Tech : Datek Brokerage $9.95 a trade -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Stern who wrote (7645)	4/1/1998 9:03:00 AM
From: DCRich	Respond to of 16892

Peter Stern: Let me compliment DATEK firsthand for the fast trades that I have been able to make. Secondly, I am so happy that you will have a means of allowing info regarding trades to be imported into Quicken comming soon of course :) Look forward to these things and thanks for a great service. Regards, Richard

To: Peter Stern who wrote (7645)	4/1/1998 9:09:00 AM
From: eWhartHog	Respond to of 16892

I'm pleased to see that you have eliminated the interest charge on short sales and returned to standard industry practice in this matter. Why is this not immediately effective? Or is this an "April Fool" too?

To: Peter Stern who wrote (7645)	4/1/1998 9:11:00 AM
From: Gorak Shep	Respond to of 16892

Peter, 1) There will be no margin charges and interest credits on the proceeds from short sales starting on 1 May 1998. I'm sorry but I still don't understand this. As I understood Jon Normile's message, there is no margin or interest on the proceeds from short sales but rather there is an amount earmarked as collateral equal to the proceeds from the short sale which is subtracted from Real Cash Balance which affects margin or credit - and which few if any other brokerages do. Is this the amount you meant? Otherwise, it would seem your change is no change at all. Or am I simply confused? And if so, please enlighten. 2) Stay tuned for open Alpha testing on level I streaming service. Level II to follow shortly Will you publish an API for the streaming quotes so that we can develop our own software to do things like intraday graphs based on this streaming info? That would be outstanding.

To: Peter Stern who wrote (7645)	4/1/1998 9:21:00 AM
From: pae	Respond to of 16892

Compliment: I appreciate Datek's responsiveness on the short interest and other issues. Although from a fairness point of view Datek would have a portfolio of short positions protected by potential liquidation of shorters portfolio by margin rules and sweetened by a 4 to 7% yield on funds from shorting. Sounds like risk all the way to the bank. And yes, my trades still go through Datek. P.S. In my experience, New Yorkers are tougher than nails. Did we (as Datek customers) draw the most sensitive crowd of New Yorkers in recorded history or are the Datek crew rofl about us naive midwesterners (and mid-worlders) being concerning about hurt feelings? BTW, I personally try to follow the rule: politeness doesn't cost more. Cheers!

To: Peter Stern who wrote (7645)	4/1/1998 9:28:00 AM
From: SJ - Stephen	Respond to of 16892

Peter, Looking forward to LII and download,... <<2) Stay tuned for open Alpha testing on level I streaming service. Level II to follow shortly. 3) the ability to download your Datek online account into Quicken or Money is coming soon.>> Sincerely, SJ

To: Peter Stern who wrote (7645)	4/1/1998 9:36:00 AM
From: Bushy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

Peter Great move! "No interest charged on short sales on May 1". You are the first I have heard of to do this. I hope that move will bring you more business. I know I will trade more. I have been with Datek since February 96 and have watched you grow. Sometimes its been frustrating, but give Datek time and you've fixed the problems. Good Luck Bushy

To: Peter Stern who wrote (7645)	4/1/1998 9:53:00 AM
From: bluejeans	Respond to of 16892

good news on 1 & 3 . pricing on level 2?

To: Peter Stern who wrote (7645)	4/1/1998 10:46:00 AM
From: Lee^	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

Peter, I would agree that in general order execution is very fast, but as a momentum player I am disappointed. Nine times in the last two days I have tried to buy into Nasdaq stocks that have had good news releases and are being hit by steady buys. I have had the message "Live Order - Day" for limit orders to buy at the ask sit there for over two minutes without the order showing on the Gritch Island applet. The split second that the price upticks so that my limit order is not at the ask, the order shows on ISLD. Friends with Level II quotes verify the same problem. Your phone support people suggested buying stocks that are not moving so fast! One said to phone in my orders if they aren't filled within 30 seconds. Yeah right, ten minutes later when they answer the phone is way to late obviously. Please note that I am not just venting my frustration here, I am asking for suggestions. Do some servers have a better link with ISLD? I have been using the express server exclusively. Will adding a second express server address this problem? I can usually connect with the express server in good fashion, which is a welcome improvement. Also I should mention that I participate in a "trading room" online, and so I know that this is not a limited experience. I am in contact with many datek users who experience the same thing. Thanks for all your work so far Peter. Lee

To: Peter Stern who wrote (7645)	4/1/1998 11:19:00 AM
From: The Vet	Respond to of 16892

Great News Peter! I hope that the fact that despite it is 1st April that we still get the same news tomorrow. I am still curious as to the cause of the delay in the handling of marketable orders going to Island which Lee referred to in post #7654. I have also had this problem and have posted here about it but without any response. I just would like to know that you are aware of the delay in processing marketable orders between Datek and Island. I get far quicker executions when my order is not marketable when placed and then becomes marketable later. Island seems to be very efficient in this case and even for partial executions I usually see the balance posted back within seconds. The worse case is where the trade is marketable but only a few shares are traded. Often I end up with 100 shares of a 5000 share order and then after 5 or 6 minutes the balance is put up on Island after the market has moved away. I am sure that you have a different way of handing these NASDAQ orders that are marketable when placed which causes them to go into a black hole for the interim. Could you please explain. Thanks, The Vet... PS. I really like trading through Island as it levels the playing field between the MM's and the small trader, in apart from this query I am very satisfied with the order handling and execution in all other respects.

To: Peter Stern who wrote (7645)	4/1/1998 11:57:00 AM
From: gbh	Respond to of 16892

Peter, also want to compliment you and Datek on the service lately, although I haven't too many problems in the past either. Can't wait for streaming quotes. Currently paying over $30/month for that service.

To: Peter Stern who wrote (7645)	4/2/1998 5:04:00 PM
From: Morpher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

Second of all, don't blame me that the Wall Street Journal considers a Dilbert Ticker news. Your own newsletter also considers it pretty big news... Morpher, sorry you don't agree, but then again, you still trust your trades to Datek. So I am not sure how much weight your complaints carry. Because I trade with you my complaints don't mean anything? That's some interesting logic. Whose complaints are important then? As I said before I generally like Datek. I even recommended you to people and defended some things about you on several threads here. It doesn't mean that I like every single thing about Datek or that I have zero problems with you. My last post was a joke, don't take it personally. It was interesting to see censorship in action when it was taken off, though...