Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Microcap & Penny Stocks : Bid.com International (BIDS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zwing_88 who wrote (24786)	4/23/1999 8:50:00 AM
From: waldo	Respond to of 37507

From the Globe: >>The biggest threat comes from the United States, where exchanges such as Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange are luring away business. In the year ended March 31, Canadian exchanges handled $32-billion of trading in interlisted Canadian companies, and U.S. exchanges handled $17-billion in Canadian companies. Most stock dealings in Canadian technology companies such as Bid.Com International, Descartes Systems Group, Open Text, JetForm, Corel and Newbridge Networks are now done on U.S. exchanges.<< An opportunity for change at the TSE The stock exchange's next president must have a global vision Friday, April 23, 1999 Toronto Stock Exchange president Rowland Fleming packed his boxes on Monday morning and departed immediately, leaving the board of governors scurrying to find a replacement. Already, lists of possible candidates are being bandied around the water coolers of Bay Street. The choice has never been more important. The TSE's next president will be pivotal in deciding whether the exchange remains a significant hub of stock trading or becomes a bit player in an integrated North American system. The TSE is in the same position as many Canadian companies, facing an erosion of power and position as a result of global competition. The biggest threat comes from the United States, where exchanges such as Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange are luring away business. In the year ended March 31, Canadian exchanges handled $32-billion of trading in interlisted Canadian companies, and U.S. exchanges handled $17-billion in Canadian companies. Most stock dealings in Canadian technology companies such as Bid.Com International, Descartes Systems Group, Open Text, JetForm, Corel and Newbridge Networks are now done on U.S. exchanges. The TSE has been laying groundwork to compete. It is part of a proposed reorganization of Canada's stock exchanges in which trading in all senior companies shifts to Toronto. It is also changing from being a non-profit co-operative to being a for-profit corporation. There are initiatives under way to revamp dated technology and to tackle the touchy topic of "upstairs" trading by institutions wanting to avoid using stock exchanges. Mr. Fleming shepherded these important moves, and understood the challenges. But he also faced criticism that he wasn't the person the TSE needed for the future. He was a banker by training, not a brokerage expert and not an expert in managing public capital markets. With his departure, everyone on Bay Street seems to have an opinion about who should replace him. There are calls for a brokerage insider or someone with experience in running a major global exchange -- even a U.S. stock exchange executive. Some say the new president must be a detail-oriented administrator who can complete some of the plethora of initiatives dangling half-finished. But the TSE doesn't need merely a stock trader, nor merely an administrator, and certainly not a cozy insider on Bay Street. It needs a broad-minded strategist who can develop a feasible strategy to protect the franchise. The next president will decide whether the TSE merges with a foreign exchange or perhaps strikes a strategic alliance. There is talk of electronic links that would put TSE terminals on the desks of foreign traders. These decisions require a bold leader who understands Canadian, U.S. and world markets, and is familiar with the competitive landscape. The TSE also requires a CEO with authority to make decisions and see them enacted -- no small feat at the exchange. It has a famously fractious ownership group, a sea of hypercritical brokerage insiders with diverse and often competing interests. The result has been years of delays on important matters. Those senior insiders control the fate of the TSE. It is in their hands to select a new president who has the skills and industry support to ensure the TSE remains the forum for business equity financing that Canada needs. W

To: zwing_88 who wrote (24786)	4/23/1999 8:53:00 AM
From: waldo	Respond to of 37507

Green Line stops margins on volatile Bid.Com shares TD brokerage's decision comes as stock price drops 50 per cent Friday, April 23, 1999 MARK EVANS Technology Reporter The volatility of Bid.Com International Inc.'s shares has forced Toronto-Dominion Bank's discount brokerage to stop offering its clients the ability to trade the issue on margin. The unusual decision was made yesterday by Green Line Investor Services after Bid.Com shares had tumbled 50 per cent to $13.90 by the close of trading Wednesday. The stock had climbed as high as $32.35 earlier this month amid enthusiasm about the company's expected listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market and interest in the on-line auction house business. Bid.Com fell $1.45 to $12.45 yesterday on the Toronto Stock Exchange after hitting a low of $8.50 earlier in the day. Steve Sparrow, regional manager of call centre operations with Green Line, said margin isn't being provided on Bid.Com to protect clients and the company from possible losses. Green Line, he add, already limits the amount of margin on Internet stocks to $100,000. "Anything that comes out that will lead to a high degree of volatility, we will take action on," he said. "This is nothing new or a comment on the investment quality of Bid.Com, but a part of our ongoing business operations." Bid.Com's new margin status with Green Line puts the Mississauga, Ont.-based firm in the same company as K-Tel International Inc., Livent Inc. and Crystallex Inc. Investors who buy stocks on margin are "borrowing" money from brokerage firms in hopes that the value of the investment will rise and they can cover their positions and make a profit. Many firms require that clients provide collateral such as other securities or cash to cover all or part of their positions. If a brokerage house refuses to accept trades on margin, it suggests the firm believes the stock could be worth less in the future than the price at which it was purchased. Paul McDermott, head of options trading at Charles Schwab Canada Co., said his firm has not offered margin trading on Bid.Com, which only gained investor attention late last year. "It has to do with the riskiness of the stock," he said. "If we were making loans to customers that didn't have other sufficient securities we could sell, it could be our capital on the line." The growing restrictions on Internet stocks by Canadian brokerages comes on the heels of moves in the United States. In February, Charles Schwab Corp., the leading on-line brokerage house, increased the amount of money investors need in their accounts to trade 22 Internet stocks on margin. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been pressing brokerage firms to introduce more stringent margin rules after the number of complaints from investors about on-line trading jumped last year as investors climbed on the Internet bandwagon. The decline of Bid.Com shares gained momentum Wednesday after Mark Pavan, an analyst with Yorkton Securities Inc., downgraded the firm to an "underperform" from a "speculative buy," based on its high valuation and concerns about competition in the low-margin on-line auction business. In November, Bid.Com raised $10-million by entering into a bought deal agreement with Yorkton to sell 5.7 million special warrants at $1.75 each. A Bid.Com spokeswoman said yesterday that the company expects to announce its first-quarter results by mid-May. Report on Business Company Snapshot is available for: BID.COM INTERNATIONAL INC. The Globe and Mail W