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


To: INFO_DART who wrote (9129)7/17/1998 12:11:00 AM
From: Michael Turner  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 16892
 
It is public information that many on-line broker dealers sell their order flow to market making firms. I was quite surprised when Webstreet went with the free trades...a bit too obvious for most.

The true cost of a transaction has little to do with the commission, whether it be $10, $20, or more. If you give up an eighth or a quarter on a 1000 share trade through Webstreet because they are selling your order flow, that's a heap of cash. If you have to do the same thing to exit the trade, that's just icing on the cake.

Brokers that offer direct order routing to the market are the best way to go, IMHO. The commissions are around $20, which is cheap considering that you can effectively eliminate the lost eighths and quarters.

Michael Turner
Author
DayTrading into the Millennium
tradersresource.com



To: INFO_DART who wrote (9129)7/17/1998 9:45:00 AM
From: gao seng  Respond to of 16892
 
Morgan Stanley research through Discover Brokerage per WSJ



To: INFO_DART who wrote (9129)7/17/1998 1:21:00 PM
From: Jeff Dryer  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 16892
 
Your message reads as if you hope Datek goes out of business. Webstreet is not a profitable business. Do you want all online brokers to be unprofitable? Webstreet offers trades for free due to extreme competition, not because they can afford to.

Shouldn't investors celebrate and encourage the online discount brokers more and forgive some of the flaws. If it weren't for the discount brokers, commissions would be hundreds of dollars per trade. No company or system is perfect. Executing trades via the Web is relatively new, and with any new technology there are a lot of hurdles to overcome.

I think people forget that there are real people (who are tying to succeed under very tough circumstances) at these companies... not just machines. It is easy and common for consumers to rip a company for something, and relatively uncommon to hear any words of praise when things are done well.

Operating a business is a balancing act between price charged and quality of service provided. Consumers want both low price and high quality which is a very difficult challenge for most companies.

Competition is good, and consumers increase competition and push companies to provide a better service than they would otherwise provide. Customers are the coaches, and companies must listen to succeed. However, it is difficult to listen when the criticism is so negative. Who is the enemy? Online companies? Would you rather pay $300 per trade to a full-service broker?

Yes, ideally, you would be paid by a discount broker each time you make a trade.