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Non-Tech : Datek Brokerage $9.95 a trade -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Rood who wrote (11620)	4/13/1999 9:32:00 PM
From: Keith Lenart	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

Bill. You've hit the nail on the head. I trade at Datek primarily for two reasons: Speed (don't laugh) and cheap commissions. I have accounts at Schwab in which I keep long-term & retirement holdings, short options positions, or anything else I'm not trading. I'm perfectly happy with Datek's commissions. I've been luke warm on their NM & NS status of certain stocks. But, if Datek can't deliver consistent technical performance, I'll close my account.

To: Bill Rood who wrote (11620)	4/13/1999 9:45:00 PM
From: Sir Francis Drake	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

Bill, cancelling an order depends on the order handling software at Datek. If an order has been Snet out - there is a mandatory 10 second delay before anyone can cancel such an order. If an MM takes your order, he can ignore it for a certain period of time before executing you or "refreshing" his quote (15 seconds). A lot of trading software out there is programmed to Snet preference the inside MM for 30 seconds - if it is not executed, it can switch to the next MM etc. That can send you into a loop of 30 second intervals that can add up. However, if you cancel an order, you should be able to do so in no more than 10 seconds - unless an MM sits on your order. I don't know how often MMs do that, but they are thieves to be sure. Bottom line however, that the "cancelling" problem at Datek has nothing to do with the market, but everything to do with Datek's process. Again, I don't believe they front run the orders, or scalp their customers. What I believe is happening, is that for some reason, their servers are slow in updating the status of orders, or there is some hangup along the way - I notice it happens during "busy" times, such as during the first 1/2 hour or trading. How to adjust to trading with Datek? Well, the most obvious would be to avoid trading during the first 1/2 hour of the trading day. I realize that this makes trading effectively IMPOSSIBLE. After all, the first 30-60 minutes of the day (and the last 30-60 minutes) are THE prime trading times. Therefore, during days when these problems occur, Datek is at best a position trading broker - where you hold a position for at least several days (since unfortunately you can't buy at the close and sell on the next days gap up - because the gap up occurs in the morning, when Datek has problems... I've lost money this way - trades that should have made me money, lost me money because I couldn't get executed etc.) I realize that this is somewhat ridiculous - after all, Datek is supposed to be primarily a traders broker. When they are in good shape, they are one of the best out there. When they suck, they are hopeless. Recently, they suck.