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

To: tom pope who wrote (4398)	3/30/1999 10:06:00 PM
From: Mark Z	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7382

Tom - Take this for what its worth but have you noticed this problem has only been occuring since we 'upgraded' the software a few months back? Never used to happen in the old version. Also, I was hit by it today for the first time in a few weeks. My guess is the software routines that handle 'data overload' are not very well coded. In the old version of the software, if too much data were buffered, there was a nice 'flushing' routine to clear out the backup and let the datastream continue. That's no longer in place or, perhaps its still in place but the thresholds have been somehow adjusted and some other adjustments lead to the order entry box effectively freezing up. BTW, I agree with your comments about MB. My guess is there's nothing they can do about it. Its unfortunate the technical support function lies with the branches rather than with Townsend where it belongs.

To: tom pope who wrote (4398)	3/31/1999 4:20:00 AM
From: wily	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7382

>> As I think you know, I'm not one of the malcontents who think their broker is a pack of thieves. MBT is as good an organization as there is. Sometimes however the system lets them, and more important, their customers, down.<< I'm not a "malcontent" either. I've played the field (this is my sixth broker, third RT) and found that each has their own "issues" and style. I haven't found one organization that I would call truly admirable, but some do have their strong points. Generalizing, I would say that it is not a cheap or easy business to run and each firm makes trade-offs between profitability and level of service. The choices they make seem to compromise their accountability. I don't view tech support as a strong point at MB. I shouldn't have to hear an "I don't know" from the staff as a final answer. If it is their agreement with Townsend to support the product themselves then they should have the competence and commitment to do so. The fact that you can get better clues by posting on this thread than calling their office should tell you something. Regarding your problem, from the responses you've gotten, it seems that it is a data backup problem caused by an inadequate connection and not handled well by the software. Daytrading is enticing, but I'm leaning towards positions/investing until the infrastructure gets up to the task. w