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To: Linda Kaplan who wrote (524)	8/1/1998 7:11:00 PM
From: TraderAlan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1339

Linda, Came across this thread as I've horrible experiences with Brown this past week and am looking for a new broker. Have been with them almost 4 years and have never seen this kind of garbage before. I use all market orders through the web on 1k lots of DELL, CSCO, MSFT, INTC. This week I didnt get those orders executed for 3-5 minutes, with major slippage buying and selling. Can't believe I had a market order in on the most liquid stock in NASDAQ (MSFT) for over 3 min and couldn't get it filled. I finally spoke with a floor guy in Boston who said the MMs now are routinely removing orders from automatic execution and entering them into a manual queue so they can control the order flow. Of course, the executions are taking place only when the stock ticks against you. This is a license to steal. Spoke with the local Brown manager here (Denver). He says they are getting 40-50 complaints a day in their office on delayed executions but doesn't know exactly why its happening. He has a meeting on it in Boston next week. Alan

To: Linda Kaplan who wrote (524)	8/1/1998 7:37:00 PM
From: Jim S	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1339

Couldn't agree more, Linda. I've been through the same gamut of brokers as you, including (shudder) JB Oxford. When I had serious internet problems (I live in a very rural area, and there is only one ISP), I had to find a broker with computer, touchtone, and vox access that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. I trade enough to get Fidelity's best rates ($15 stocks and $27 options), and they have the finest, bar none, tech and customer support system out there. But, they are a massive, bureaucratic outfit, and they are s-l-o-w. They don't update balances (including margin balances) until the next morning, so a 10 min round trip on a $100 stock can exclude you from any further trading during the day. Bottom line is that I'm as picky as you are, and remain convinced that there is no such thing as a "good" broker. (But, Fidelity comes close -- their Spartan brokers are salaried, and don't get commissions!) Even if I do switch most of my trading to Brown, I intend to keep my Fidelity account open because of their flexibility. I don't usually issue gratuitous compliments, but you get one anyway: Your posts on this thread are clear, well-written, and backed up by facts. More importantly, you state your case without the common abundance of emotion typical to people who have been mistreated by a broker. Also, you complain about the same things that infuriate me! <G> I'm pleased to have met you here. good trading, jim