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To: TFF who wrote (6517)	2/15/1999 6:01:00 PM
From: TraderAlan	Respond to of 12617

TAF, There already mini-halt of 3-5 minutes obvious from the intraday charts (basket system delays). They're just trying to legalize the theft. Alan

To: TFF who wrote (6517)	2/15/1999 6:11:00 PM
From: TraderAlan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12617

TAF, I'm passing along a letter recently sent to the head of NASD by "anonymous". I am not "anonymous" BTW. You'll note the letter is somewhat critical of Terra Nova. I have no opinion about TN (I'll leave that to scanshift <g>). BTW scan is not the author either. Mr. Zarb – I respectfully submit the following comment to your recent letter. My concern is over the number of non-branch offices and franchise operations of Day Trading firms like Terra Nova Trading in Chicago, Block in Houston (now closed). TNT has 25 non-branch offices which anyone can open without having to become an NASD broker/dealer. Some other firms are trying to copy the same model. They do not have to meet the regulatory, capital, advertising or other issues that new member firms must meet before staring business. These trading rooms and clubs advertise for clients as if they were a NASD broker/dealers. I feel many of the issues you addressed in your letter are coming from these types of firms. I doubt that the non-branch office regulations were mean to circumvent membership and regulation. I also have a concern for the methods and tactic used by some SOES Market Making firms. They continue to keep spreads wider than needed and continue to back away from trades. The 17-second refresh regulation is out of date in this high tech world of today. There is no stock or commodity exchange, that I know of, that a Market Maker can quote a price and not have to honor it for 17 seconds. There are few exchanges that allow trading of a Market Maker for themselves and a customer. Combine this with a delay in honoring quotes and this compounds the problem. I agree that “instantaneously “ can not be used to describe the SOES system. I saw a proposal for the NASDAQ to allow limit orders. I hope this proposal passes. If it does not, the NASDAQ will continue to lose market share to ECN's. An ISLD ECN execution happens in a second. SOES orders should be of equal speed. The low commissions offered by some NASD broker/dealers that still “sell order flow” might also be causing in appropriate day trading by undercapitalized and uneducated investors. I feel there should be greater disclosure by firms “selling order flow” and the delay that such a practice causes to an order. Most investors do not know how the NASDAQ dealer market operates and the delays that can occur on their orders. Respectfully, An anonymous Day Trader