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Non-Tech : E*Trade (NYSE:ET) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: grogger who wrote (2817)	4/15/1998 11:38:00 PM
From: jkb	Respond to of 13953

I agree with you - EGRP makes money - and is a viable business - today. The search engine Internet stocks are doing great because people are - however crazy as it seems - buying them for the growth possibilities - sequential and quarter over quarter growth in percentage terms is great there - and that's what people are paying for - the speculative growth opportunity. Growth in EGRP is now perceived as no longer accelerating at past rates - and therefore is no longer interesting to the speculative crowd - and thereby will likely trade at reasonable forward looking PE's (20-25, 30 at the high-end - IMO). I do however think that this philosophy of buying based on speculative growth (i.e. Internet search engine stocks) is crazy as the first indication of market correction will begin their obliteration. Good luck to all.

To: grogger who wrote (2817)	4/16/1998 7:19:00 AM
From: Robert Giambrone	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13953

BN 4/15 Schwab Shares Fall as Online Trading Hurts Earnings (Update1) Schwab Shares Fall as Online Trading Hurts Earnings (Update1) (Updates percentages in 3rd and 5th paragraphs.) San Francisco, April 15 (Bloomberg) -- Charles Schwab Corp. shares fell almost 9 percent, its steepest drop since October's market plunge, after the company reported disappointing earnings as Internet trading squeezed commissions. Schwab fell 3 1/2 to 36 7/16 after the biggest discount broker said first-quarter earnings rose 1.9 percent to $68 million, or 25 cents a share. The results fell short of Wall Street forecasts as the company shifted to a flat fee for online trading in response to fierce price competition. The stock -- which more than sextupled in the last five years, outstripping the market and full service rivals -- fell 13 percent this year, mirroring the dive in other online brokers, such as ETrade Group Inc. and Ameritrade Holding Corp. Shares of full service brokers surged this year. It's ''the double-edged sword of the Internet,'' said John Keefe, an independent securities analyst. ''It allows everybody to come and compete'' on price. That means lower fees from customer trades.'' Palo Alto, California-based ETrade has fallen 6 percent this year, while Ameritrade shares plunged 14 percent. ''Price competition fears dominate investors as far as online brokers are concerned,'' said Piper Jaffray Inc. analyst Bill Burnham. ''The low price companies are taking (market) share from the higher priced companies. Firms like Datek Securities and SureTrade, which offer trades for $10 or less, have seen strong growth recently.'' Even Merrill Lynch Even some big full service brokerages, such as Merrill Lynch & Co., are preparing to offer online trading to keep their customers happy. Commission revenue at Schwab rose just 8.3 percent, even while the average number of trades per day surged 25 percent. That's because the average commission per trade fell 13 percent to $56.88. The decline came as online trades increased to about half of all trades, up from about a third a year ago. In January, Schwab began offering a flat fee of $29.95 for any online trade, to compete with Internet brokers and shift more of its business onto the Internet. Before that, Schwab customers who didn't have electronic accounts got a 20 percent discount off the regular $55 rate for trading 100 shares if they traded over the company's Web site. Also weighing on the stock is investor concern that Schwab may lower its prices again, Burnham said. Investors shunned ETrade last week, as its shares fell 13 percent the day after it reported earnings. Investors became nervous as ETrade's marketing expenses soared and new account growth slowed. Ends Well In Schwab's case, patience may pay off, some investors say. ''Clearly the earnings were disappointing, but we think this (shift) will benefit Schwab'' in the long run, said Morty Schaja, a money manager at Baron Asset Management in New York, which owns about 9.4 million Schwab shares. ''We've been in the market buying all day long,'' he said. Investors and analysts point to Schwab's new account growth. Schwab added 358,100 new accounts in the first three months of 1998. That's 22 percent more than it added in the second best quarter in the past two years. ''No one else has been able to get that kind of account growth,'' said Laurian Lytle, an analyst for Milwaukee-based Firstar Investment Research & Management Co., which owned about 3.2 million shares at the end of December. The growth helped attract $20.8 billion of new assets in the quarter. ''Schwab in the end will be the king of the Internet,'' said CIBC Oppenheimer anlayst Steven Eisman. ''But the margin pressure will continue for about a year or so.'' --Monique Wise in the New York newsroom (212) 318-2608 /cws --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: grogger who wrote (2817)	4/21/1998 3:18:00 AM
From: David S.	Respond to of 13953

Hey, I am just waiting to see if it goes below $21. Like they say, buy low .... sell high. Even though I like the recent foreign deals they have made, I am waiting to see if the revenue from those is going to be counteracted by the cheap-priced competition that has popped up everywhere. Even eschwab is stream lining their electronic trade, so that they can lower their price.