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Non-Tech : SWS - An undiscovered gem -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stephen allen who wrote (169)	5/7/1999 8:37:00 AM
From: stephen allen	Respond to of 504

Friday May 7, 6:59 am Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: Southwest Securities Group, Inc. SWS to Accelerate Growth of On-Line Brokerage Business DALLAS, May 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Securities Group, Inc. (NYSE: SWS - news) announced plans today to spend approximately $40 million to expand its on-line brokerage subsidiary, Mydiscountbroker.com(TM). When needed, capital will be transferred to Mydiscountbroker.com in shares of Knight/Trimark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NITE - news) and will be used to accelerate the growth of SWS' on-line brokerage subsidiary. At current market prices, SWS estimates that less than 17 percent of its total NITE shares might be allocated to this expansion. The $40 million cost of promoting Mydiscountbroker.com will not be funded out of SWS' earnings but by selling relatively small amounts of NITE on an as needed basis. David Glatstein, SWS president and chief executive officer, said the additional capital will be used to promote both Mydiscountbroker.com and the rollout of its new InvestorView(TM) software, which was developed by Comprehensive Software Systems(SM) (CSS(TM)), Golden, Colo. ''We believe InvestorView gives Mydiscountbroker.com a distinct advantage,'' Mr. Glatstein said, ''and we intend to exploit that advantage. When on-line investors discover how easy it is to access and manage their investments with InvestorView, we believe Mydiscountbroker.com will become a preferred provider in the on-line brokerage industry. The new capital resources, coupled with InvestorView and a continuing commitment to high quality customer service, should accelerate Mydiscountbroker's already strong growth trend.'' With InvestorView, Mydiscountbroker's on-line customers can buy and sell securities over the Internet, access account information, view real-time quotes, run reports for accounts, and view product information. One of the software's primary advantages is its initial screen, which shows real-time positions, quotes, market values and account balances. InvestorView combines this information with unequaled ease of navigation by using extensive drill-down capability to eliminate repeated returns to a main menu. InvestorView allows the client to view detailed information about specific areas of his or her account without being overwhelmed with a bombardment of information. The screens are designed to present the most important information up front while allowing the client to ''drill down'' for detailed information. With minimal hands-on experience, InvestorView empowers the average investor to take firsthand control of his portfolio. ''We have been building to this event since going on-line in 1998,'' said Bruce Zucker, president of Mydiscountbroker.com. ''We now have our technology and infrastructure ready to dramatically expand the business. We believe the planned promotional expenditures will significantly increase our new account acquisition rate.'' Southwest Securities Group, Inc., holds approximately 1.7 million shares of Knight/Trimark Group, Inc., a leading securities market making firm, as a result of an investment in the company when it was founded as a private entity. Since NITE's initial public offering in July 1998, the company's shares have appreciated substantially. NITE's closing share price was $140-1/8 on May 6, 1999. Southwest Securities Group, Inc. is a Dallas-based holding company that offers a broad range of investment and financial services through its subsidiaries. The company's common stock is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol, SWS. Wholly owned subsidiaries of the company include: Southwest Securities, Inc. (www.southwestsecurities.com) -- investment banking, full-service brokerage and securities clearing services; Mydiscountbroker.com (www.mydiscountbroker.com) -- discount brokerage and online investing services via the Internet; SWS Financial Services, Inc. (www.southwestsecurities.com) -- general securities