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

To: RealMuLan who wrote (7663)	4/1/1998 12:32:00 PM
From: peter michaelson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

I'm violating American copyright laws, but here goes: (apologies to Dow Jones) April 1, 1998 Datek Online Says It Agreed To Sell Its Day-Trading Unit By DEBORAH LOHSE Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ISELIN, N.J. -- Datek Online Holdings Corp., in a likely prelude to an initial public stock offering, has agreed to sell its "day trading" unit to Heartland Securities Corp., which is owned at least partly by two minority owners of Datek Online Holdings, Erik Maschler and Aaron Elbogen. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close during the second quarter of this year, weren't disclosed. Datek's day-trading unit is part of what used to be called Datek Securities, now called Datek Online Brokerage Services Corp. Day trading entails moving in and out of stocks within a day, with the goal of going home with no stock positions. The operation Heartland is buying employs about 200 brokers who use a variety of systems, including Nasdaq's Small Order Execution System, or SOES, to make quick, short-term trades for customers. By essentially divesting itself of Datek Securities, Datek appears to be trying to distance itself from the firm's most controversial units. Datek Securities is the only unit of Datek Online Holdings that has a disciplinary record in the Central Registration Depository kept by state and industry regulators. The firm has been on the losing side of numerous customer arbitrations alleging violations such as unauthorized trading or failure to execute. After the sale, no unit of Datek Online Holdings will do discretionary trading or SOES trading. "That's not who we are now," says Jeffrey Citron, the chief executive of Datek Online Holdings. Datek Online Holdings is the parent of Datek Online Brokerage the fast-growing on-line-brokerage firm that is challenging firms such as E*Trade Group and Charles Schwab Corp.'s E-Schwab unit. Financial publications have been voting Datek among the top on-line-trading firms for its user-friendly screen and speedy technology. The firm declined to confirm rumors that it is planning a public offering, saying they are "exploring all options." Datek Online Holdings also owns Datek Online Clearing Corp., a trade-clearing firm; a research-and-development firm called Big Think Corp., Datek Online Software Services Corp.; Datek Online Management Corp.; and Datek Online Network Operations Corp. The parent company is controlled by Mr. Citron, who is the largest shareholder, and Mr. Maschler and Mr. Elbogen, who have minority stakes, as well as other individuals. Copyright c 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.