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To: OtherChap who wrote (28750)	12/2/1998 4:56:00 PM
From: Ken Holbert, Jr.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Brokers raise cash limits for Net stocks By Jack Reerink NEW YORK (Reuters) - Brokers are increasingly requiring customers buying Internet stocks with borrowed money to put up more cash --- in a sign that even brokers find it tough to stomach the wide price swings of the volatile shares. Salomon Smith Barney, a unit of financial services firm Citigroup Inc., has become the latest to boost its margin requirements. It follows several online brokerages in raising margins on Internet stocks, or the amount of money a customer needs to have in his or her account to cover stock purchases or sales. Investors who fall below margin requirements receive the infamous margin call from their broker, who tells them to pony up more cash or liquidate their stock position. If a customer does not pay up and a forced liquidation fails to cover the investor's debts, the brokerage can get stuck with the bill. Salomon Smith Barney now requires customers to back up their holdings in some 15 Internet stocks -- including cyberspace retailer Amazon.com, and online auctioneers eBay Inc. and Onsale Inc. -- by 40 percent in cash, instead of 30 percent. One of the firm's spokeswomen declined to comment Tuesday, other than to say the change took effect Monday. Boosted by demand from investors desperate to buy into the Internet gold rush, stocks of Internet companies recently have shot up sometimes more than 30 percent, or tens of dollars, in a single day. But they can also come crashing down, as shown by the wild price moves that occurred Monday. Onsale's stock, for example, opened at $106.38, plummeted 55 percent to $48, and closed at $61.50 that day. Under securities regulations, customers buying or selling stocks on margin must put up 50 percent in cash or securities such as Treasury Bills to cover the initial transaction's market value. To maintain the position, however, they need put up only 25 percent of the holding's value, although most brokerages require a more conservative 35 percent as a minimum maintenance. Waterhouse Securities, a discount brokerage unit of Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD - news), has raised maintenance margins on some Internet stocks, a spokeswoman said last Wednesday. The measure, which applies to high-flying stocks of companies such as eBay and Internet services firm EarthWeb Inc. requires customers to have 50 percent in cash for holdings bought or sold on margin, instead of 35 percent. ''Whenever we see a stock that has increased volatility, we take a look at what is best for the firm and customer,'' the Waterhouse spokeswoman said. An informal survey of other brokerages showed that some, such as Merrill Lynch and Co. Inc. and Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE:SCH - news), have left their margin requirements unchanged, while others have adjusted them. For example, Fleet Financial Group's Quick & Reilly discount brokerage arm has raised margins on stocks that have shown increased volatility, a spokeswoman said. The move is standard operating procedure for the brokerage, added the spokeswoman, who could not identify the stocks affected by the measure. Rumors about brokerages, and even regulators, tightening margin requirements for trading in Internet stocks surfaced last week. But a spokeswoman of the regulatory arm of the National Association of Securities Dealers Wednesday said regulators are not about to meddle with margins. ''Any sort of change in the margin requirements would have to be proposed to the (NASD) board and then sent on to the (Securities and Exchange Commission), (and) we have nothing even under consideration,'' NASD spokeswoman Nancy Condon said last week. An SEC spokesman declined to comment.