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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Chris who wrote (57492)	4/12/1999 10:36:00 PM
From: Stormweaver	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Seems that CPQ annouced it conveniently enough for institutional investors to dump it after hours ... but let all the small guys fry. I really can't believe that a company of that size, with such a sizeable shortfall couldn't have let investors know earlier. It's criminal ... another law suit; I hope so.

To: Chris who wrote (57492)	4/12/1999 11:21:00 PM
From: Kenya AA	Respond to of 97611

Chris: I'm not trying to dismiss your comments about Instinet et al and maybe I'm being naive, but from EVERYTHING I've heard, what prices a stock trades at on Instinet in after hours has a negligent effect on what it will trade at on the major exchanges the next day. Also, the trading there is very thin, often with huge spreads. This is really just off the top of my head (I'm sure it's here somewhere on the thread) but I think CPQ traded at about the same levels on Instinet as it did during regular market hours today. Liquidity has its advantages. K

To: Chris who wrote (57492)	4/12/1999 11:50:00 PM
From: Kenya AA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Chris: Just came across some comments on Cramer's Yahoo chat about the CPQ warning and after hours trading .. unkadoug asks: Will the time come when announcements and warnings come when the online investor can react to them? Wouldn't it have been appropriate for CPQ to call a trading halt at noon Friday for its announcement, instead of waiting until only a few could trade in an illiquid market? Creme_Delacramer: First, Compaq halted all trading both online and off-line. You could not trade in Instinet either. Second I think that there are grave misconceptions about the fairness of after-hours trading. Believe me, I have traded in after hours for 18 years, and it is the biggest ripoff imaginable. Sometimes I can win, because I have an edge over someone who is uninformed. But that's not the way big money is made, nor is it what you should want. You want big liquid fair markets. That's how everybody benefits. This after-hours fascination is very misplaced because the markets will be inherently unfair. TheStreet_JSteffens: I agree. In the case of Compaq, announcing it when they did, allowing info to be available over the weekend was the fairest to all investors. The reaction may have been more severe had they done it any other time.