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

To: Mike who wrote (8163)	4/25/1998 2:37:00 PM
From: Mike Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

Mike, Do you have the phone number and URL for Web Street? Is Web Street the name of the broker or the name of the software (or both)? Thanks for your help. Another Mike.

To: Mike who wrote (8163)	4/25/1998 7:53:00 PM
From: Saita	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

Mike Can you tell EXACT time, date and ticker of the trades you get filled $0.30 "above the ask"? Serguey

To: Mike who wrote (8163)	4/25/1998 10:24:00 PM
From: jawd	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

>>>The reason you don't get these kinds fills at datek is because they would rather keep the additional money for themselves than have happy customers who continue to generate commissions.<<< Absolutely! I'm convinced that Datek makes money in 90% of our trades in fast moving stocks. I remember placing a market order to buy covering a short on DELL where I'd timed it exactly right, and was expecting to make $1,500 profit - it turned into $500 - where did the other $1000 go? Datek took the opportunity to screw me. Proof? Read the confirmations you receive in the post. Firstly, no tracking numbers are shown, no times of execution, nothing. This makes it very difficult to correlate your facts if you do a large number of trades and wish to complain later. The confirmation is the bare minimum legally required. Datek is only concerned with doing the right thing legally - not morally. Secondly; look at the Ex (Execution) and Cap (Capacity) codes on the confirmation against each trade; 90% of my trades are C-3 which means this: C= "Cross transaction" (as opposed to NASDAQ transaction - see below). 3 = "We acted as principle, either buying from you or selling to you. We may have earned a profit on this transaction." Only about 5% -10% of trades are coded A-2 which means: A = NASDAQ 2 = "We acted as agent for your account and risk" Add to this that Datek IS A "non-registered" MARKET MAKER!! They are listed in the Nasdaq Volume reports as shifting huge volumes of all kinds of stocks under their own MM symbol "DATK". For instance, they ranked 4th below Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, Morgan Stanley and Smith Barney in February 1998 as trading the highest number of Amazon stock. They ranked higher than Alex Brown, Mayer & Schweitzer, Montgomery, INCA and ISLD!!! They don't take order flow??? How about this from their confirmations: "The firm may receive remuneration for directing orders to particular broker-dealers or market centers for execution. Such remuneration is considered compensation to the Firm" I really hope there are a few hungry attorneys reading this because Datek simply doesn't deserve to survive.

To: Mike who wrote (8163)	4/26/1998 5:32:00 AM
From: Alexander Pavlov	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

<< However, I do most of my trading with WebStreet ... Most recently I entered an order to sell my position in a stock and was surprised to find that the my order was filled a full $0.30 above the ask on a quick moving stock. ($0.30 X 2800 shares = $840 additional profit above my limit order) ... The reason you don't get these kinds fills at datek is because they would rather keep the additional money for themselves than have happy customers who continue to generate commissions. >> Mike, I used to get these kinds of fills at Datek. On April 16 I happened to short SEEK, but volume was so high that there were too much quotes updates to run through my Internet connection. As a result my PC Quote Level II was 3 min late and since I forgot to check time I managed to place a sell short order below current bid. Here go actual figures: Sell Short order @40 1/8 executed @40 9/16; Buy to cover order @38 1/2, executed @37 13/16. That was not a first time I got a price improvement on a fast moving stock, but a first time I managed to place a sell order below current bid and buy order well above current ask. And nobody got an advantage to make an 1-1/8 pts out of my mistake. I think the real problem with Datek is their attitude to customers. Very strange behavior for a company in highly competitive business, where any angry customer could simply vote with his/her money with just a couple of mouse clicks... Good luck to all, Alex