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To: bill meehan who wrote (19071)	2/11/1999 1:10:00 PM
From: accountclosed	Respond to of 86076

LOL. I like the 58 year old dude that asks about the retirement plan and decides he has to takes things into his own hands. So he clicks twice on E*trade and <<presto>> he has a yacht. <g>

To: bill meehan who wrote (19071)	2/11/1999 1:12:00 PM
From: Cynic 2005	Respond to of 86076

<<Better yet, I'll just check with Discover Brokerage to see how the guy in the tow truck did it. <G>>> I have an account with them and they didn't even tell me about this guy whenever I called! In the Great American tradition, can I sue them? -g-

To: bill meehan who wrote (19071)	2/11/1999 1:14:00 PM
From: wlheatmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 86076

Those damned internet brokerage commercials are so blatantly slimy and irresponsible--one wish that the FCC would come down on them for false advertisement. Hell, who's a lawyer here and can we sue for false claim?

To: bill meehan who wrote (19071)	2/11/1999 1:56:00 PM
From: accountclosed	Respond to of 86076

I found Gruntal's latest technical report on the pc industry <gg> efn.org

To: bill meehan who wrote (19071)	4/23/1999 8:45:00 AM
From: Cynic 2005	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 86076

<<Better yet, I'll just check with Discover Brokerage to see how the guy in the tow truck did it. <G>>> Bill, you have to catch that tow-truck driver before he goes off the air! -g- ----------------------- April 23, 1999 You Can Get Rich Trading Online; Cash Just a Click Away! Or Is It? By REBECCA BUCKMAN Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL NEW YORK -- Trade online. Make money. Buy an island? Some securities regulators worry that's the message being sent to investors by a long-running TV commercial by online broker Discover Brokerage Direct, a unit of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. The popular ad features a tow-truck driver surprising his businessman customer with tales of his online-trading success and the purchase of his own island -- actually, he says, it's a country. A Morgan Stanley spokesman declined to comment on the ad. The spot, as well as others run recently by competing Internet-trading firms such as Ameritrade Holding Corp., have raised eyebrows among state securities watchdogs, who worry the ads may raise unrealistic profit expectations for small investors. Peter Hildreth, president of the North American Securities Administrators Association, says his group will study such advertising as part of a just-formed online-trading "project group," while the National Association of Securities Dealers issued a regulatory alert to its member firms touching on the topic last month. "Do you know anybody who's bought an island or a country after trading online?" asked Mr. Hildreth, who also is New Hampshire's director of securities regulation. "We're not going on a crusade against these folks ... but I think it makes sense for regulators to look at it." Indiana Securities Commissioner Bradley W. Skolnik added: "I think what we are creating is almost a culture of day trading and churning ... . It's important that the NASD and the SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] take a look at that." As online trading has proliferated, brokerage firms have run nationwide print and TV ads to snare new customers. Many of the ads are a stark departure from the more staid images projected in the past by firms such as Merrill Lynch & Co. -- precisely because many online firms say they want to target less-monied investors. Online brokerage officials worry privately that regulators, in their zeal to clamp down on day trading, in which investors can generate hundreds of dollars of commissions a day, are now expanding their reach to relatively harmless marketing messages. But regulators such as Mr. Skolnik believe many of the new spots created by more-mainstream, online firms imply that investors can "get rich quickly" with the click of a mouse. Another ad by Discover depicts a teenager arguing with his parents over curfew as the teen's helicopter -- presumably bought with proceeds from his Discover account -- idles on the family's front lawn. And in a new spot from Ameritrade, Omaha, Neb., a young mother, just in from a jog, expertly navigates Ameritrade's Web site, places a sell order and exclaims: "I think I just made $1,700!" Peter Horst, Ameritrade's director of marketing, said all of the firm's new spots simply depict "people who are taking great satisfaction in managing their own money," he said, noting that only one mentions a specific investment gain. Thomas A. Pappas, the director of advertising/investment companies regulation for the NASD's regulatory arm, declined to say whether his group, which oversees ads by brokerage firms, was examining any particular online campaigns. The NASD requires preapproval for only a few types of ads, namely those from new broker-dealers and ads relating to securities options. The NASD reviews mutual-fund ads after they run. Still, the NASD in March issued a regulatory-and-compliance alert. Issued shortly after SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt and NASD Chairman Frank Zarb made public statements about the risks of online trading, the alert reminded brokerage firms that they should be able to back up claims about the speed and accuracy of their trade executions. It also noted that if an ad "promotes the opportunities associated with using an electronic trading service or day trading strategy, at minimum, it must prominently disclose that there are risks including the possible loss of capital." Mr. Horst, of Ameritrade, said he didn't think his firm's ads needed any type of disclaimer. "Where do you draw the line as far as how much communication you have to do to keep people from being foolish?" he said.