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Strategies & Market Trends : Anthony @ Equity Investigations, Dear Anthony, -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony@Pacific who wrote (9469)	2/6/1999 12:46:00 PM
From: ViperChick Secret Agent 006.9	Respond to of 122087

wall street journal February 5, 1999 ETrade Battles Third Glitch To Hit Service in as Many Days By JOHANNA BENNETT Dow Jones Newswires Online brokerage firm ETrade Group Inc. suffered its third interruption of trading services in as many days Friday. Lisa Nash, an ETrade spokeswoman, said the company believes only a small number of clients were unable to place trades during a half-hour period early Friday afternoon. The cause of the interruption is under investigation. Ms. Nash said the problem was uncovered around 12:20 p.m. EST after ETrade officials noticed a dip in trading volume and determined that some clients were unable to gain access to the Web site's trading page. The interruption lasted until 12:50 p.m., ending when the company began systematically switching clients to another set of servers, Ms. Nash said. A problem with new software interrupted the Web broker's trading services Wednesday and Thursday. Online investors have been railing against the brokerage firm for most of this week, filling Internet message boards with complaints and criticism. Friday was no different: The first complaints began appearing around 12:30 p.m. "Now would be a good time for another brokerage to offer a special "Leave ETrade Deal," wrote one investor on a Silicon Investor message board. Despite this week's venom, ETrade's problems aren't unique: Such snafus have been common this past year in the online brokerage industry, which has experienced a tremendous growth rate. Most major Internet-brokerage firms have had system outages this year. Some industry experts contend that brokerage firms are experiencing the same problems that America Online Inc. weathered a few years ago when its customer base grew too large for its network to easily handle. But Bill Burnham, an analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston, said ETrade's recent problems weren't volume-related. Rather, he added, they seemed to stem from an inability to alleviate the problems caused by the software change made earlier this week. Whatever the reason, online investors are tired of snafus, which not only make them angry but can also cost them money. At one point Friday, an anti-ETrade message board was one of the 20 most popular threads on Silicon Investor. A new thread also emerged dedicated to helping investors file lawsuits against online-brokerage firms. Despite the ridicule, ETrade officials insist that a large portion of the brokerage firm's clients were unaffected by this week's difficulties. Ms. Nash said the company believes that over the course of the week, less than 5% of its customers were hit by the service interruptions. By the end of the week, she added, the firm will have completed 300,000 trades. A number of online brokerages saw their shares fall Friday. Shares of ETrade fell $4.5625 to $48.9275 Friday, while Ameritrade Holdings Inc. slid $15.25, or 14%, to $95.50, Siebert Financial Corp. fell $8.125, or 19%, to $35.125 and M.H. Meyerson skidded $4.4375, or 36%, to $7.9375. All are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market