Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Disk Drive Sector Discussion Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LK2 who wrote (5425)	2/5/1999 3:27:00 AM
From: LK2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9256

Internet stock trading is showing explosive growth (number of trades, number of customers). Why didn't Lawrence Kam push these stocks harder? Was he keeping the best for himself? FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> foxmarketwire.com New York Attorney General to Probe Online Brokers 1.14 p.m. ET (1814 GMT) February 4, 1999 NEW YORK— New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said on Thursday he would launch an inquiry into the online brokerage industry because his office has received dozens of complaints about delays and glitches from consumers trying to funnel stock trades through cyberspace. "The public knows that there are always risks involved in investing in the stock market," Spitzer said in a statement. "But part of the risk should not include questions about whether trades will be executed promptly or whether online brokerage firms can deliver on the services that they've promised." Investors funnelled a record 340,000 trades a day through the Internet in the fourth quarter, up 38 percent from the third quarter, and trading volumes in January are rising at the same clip, according to industry reports. About one in seven stock trades now takes place online. Internet brokers have signed up some 7 million customers, and many expect that number to rise to more than 10 million at this year's end. The surge in Internet trading, however, has led to many system outages at brokers, frustrating many investors. Major Internet brokerages Charles Schwab Corp., E+Trade Group Inc. and AmeriTrade Holding Corp. all have reported outages and software glitches recently. Many E+Trade customers were unable to trade on Wednesday because of an outage and one investor reported problems again Thursday morning. The glitches already have attracted the attention of regulators, prompting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Arthur Levitt to warn cyberspace investors that they can end up paying more for a stock than they thought because of system delays and Internet shares' wild price swings. Stocks such as those of Internet media company Yahoo Inc. can gain or lose tens of dollars in the space of an hour. Spitzer's office said it had fired off letters to several online firms, asking them to provide information about their services. A spokesman was not immediately available to name the firms subject to the inquiry. "Based on the tremendous growth of online trading, and a corresponding increase in complaint calls to my office, this is an issue we must look into," said Spitzer. "Unfortunately, it seems that often the information super highway is full of potholes for consumers." © 1999 Reuters Ltd. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< PS--Asia/Pacific stock markets are currently getting crunched. Probably a reaction to yesterday's US market sell-off. Even tho tech was the big loser, the drop was very broad, and stronger than the DJIA would indicate.

To: LK2 who wrote (5425)	2/5/1999 8:13:00 AM
From: Sam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9256

Interesting article on Freeserve, Larry, thanks. It was inevitable. Eventually, not only will Net access be free, but so will the computer. Or at the very least, the "thingamajig" that connects will cost what, say, telephones cost today. Not much.

To: LK2 who wrote (5425)	2/5/1999 12:05:00 PM
From: Gottfried	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9256

Larry, thanks for the free ISP story. Here free ISPs have not done well. BiggerNet in the Bay area went belly up just recently. There is no phone call revenue to share with phone companies here in the US, because additional local calls are free after the base fee. So the free ISP is forced to put an always-on-top ad on your screen to raise money. This ad is annoying because it covers some buttons and it gets little attention because it is one of many you see on the web. Free PCs - as Sam suggested - are more likely. Already MS, CPQ and anyone else I've ever contacted feel they have a right to intrude with pop-ups any time to try to sell me something, often under the guise of an upgrade offer. They might as well pay for the PC. [This intrusion is more prevalent on new PCs]. Gottfried So why are DD stocks worthless now?