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Non-Tech : CYBERTRADER -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lizard lick who wrote (1895)	2/13/1999 7:59:00 PM
From: Sir Francis Drake	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3216

This is funny. I wasn't really going to make an issue of the Cyber press release, because I think it falls under the "business realities" category. After all, Cyber wants customers. This is fair. They find excuses to make people aware of their existence, to promote interest. This is fair. One could quarrel over whether they did it with sufficient skill (seems lacking), but I can't fault them for doing it at all. I would not begrudge them this. What is far more disturbing is if they present themselves as an alternative that's head and shoulders above the target of their attacks. If you are going to beat your breast over your superiority, you better make damn sure you have the goods to deliver. The issue of lagging quotes is very, very disturbing. This has a material impact on trading. BAD. I can only hope that they are working on it full blast. Let's face it. The software is of little importance. I think the famous "dynamic ticker" is almost useless - just by watching the LII and T&S, I regularly spot a trend (up or down) far in advance of the dynamic ticker. It may be a good idea, but it needs some tweaking - the developers should talk to more experienced traders, as the database behind it needs some more sophisticated analysis. The various SmartKeyes are at best useless, and at worst destructive. I've discussed this with other traders, and this is not the place to sort out this issue (complicated) - in every case, I find actually doing the work manually, using my own judgement on order routing is far superior. There may be a few select situations where an "intelligent" system is useful (Arca comes to mind), but these are limited to a very few occasions and only for certain purposes. Personally, I have no use for any of the "bells and whistles" dynamic ticker, SmartKeys etc. And I'm not clamoring for them. What I do demand are four things: reliable non-crashing software, reliable quotes, reliable order entry, and fast confirmations. I can think of some ways to improve the order entry interface (make it easier to change the price of the order), and that would be useful. They MUST improve the quotes situation. Thus far, I cannot say that Cyber is a bad broker. Are they better than E-trade? Yes - and I sure would hope so. Are they a solution to all your trading problems? No, and nobody can be. Can they stand to be improved - hell yes! I am optimistic that they want to be the best - the fact that they are going to address themselves to the issue of quotes is good. I think they should be given time to work out their problems, and as to the silly PR - that's par for the course, and OK by me (I do want my broker to be successful!). I will be watching like a hawk to see how they handle the quotes issue. This will be very telling.

To: lizard lick who wrote (1895)	2/17/1999 6:27:00 PM
From: CyBerCorp.com	Respond to of 3216

Dear Lizard Lick, Just a note to let you know that we are still working on finalizing a relationship with a news provider. Our goal is to provide the utility at the best price for our customers. We realize the importance of real-time information and hope to finalize the arrangement in the near future. We will keep you posted as things develop. In response to the situation where a trader had difficulties getting an execution using the Smart and CyBerSmart keys, we make every attempt to provide our traders with information on execution and the specific routing or process which the different execution systems take. In cases of the Smart and CyBerSmart executions, there are a number of different options that allow you to configure the manner in which your order is routed. It is up to the customer to determine what order routing is most beneficial for his style of trading. Unfortunately when trading NASDAQ stocks, there is not one particular type of order routing that is better than another. Instead, there are pros and cons to each possible configuration. With this having been said, the best way to improve your execution time is to understand in detail the benefits limitations that each different execution option has and then select the one or ones that best suit your trading scenario. Keep in mind that no one situation is like another. You are always going to have different options, be it ECN's or Market Makers, as well as different amounts of market activity. I hope this has helped shed some light on your questions. Please let us know if we can help in any way. Also, there are several sections in the CyBerTrader User's Manual referring to the selection of the Smart Keys. Please feel free to call TraderSupport for further information and resources. Sincerely, CyBerSupport