| To: TFF who started this subject | 2/22/2001 4:38:22 AM | | From: supertip | | | | Downbeat internet traders learn the secret of swing
By Lesia Rudakewych
Published: February 21 2001 23:12GMT | Last Updated: February 21 2001 23:46GMT
If this week's International Online Trading Expo in New York City is any guide, "day trading" is out and "swing trading" is in.
In these times of market uncertainty, the reasoning goes, it makes sense to swing trade - hold positions in stocks beyond the day's market close - because it could take more than a few minutes or hours to be certain of a stock or market trend.
Though held at the glitzy Marriott Marquis, on Times Square, the expo was anything but glamorous. With the 50 per cent downturn in the Nasdaq Composite since last March having wiped out many of the tech stock "easy wins" of 1999-2000, traders and exhibitors alike were focusing on how to win in an increasingly competitive environment.
The few who made an attempt at lightheartedness looked out of place. The fatigue-wearing representatives of ReconTrader.com rarely ventured out of their army tent, set up in a crowded space near the elevator bank. The twenty-somethings in thick-rimmed spectacles from myTrack.com, clones of a character in a company advertisement, gesticulated wildly - to no avail.
Such attempts at attention-grabbing might have worked last year, at the height of stock market euphoria. But most exhibitors offered a more sober message of training, risk management, short-selling and loss-limiting techniques.
On two floors crammed with stalls, small audiences of mostly middle-aged men listened to sales staff with headset-microphones making subdued pitches.
"We got focused on the wrong things - the money. You need to focus on the risk," Chris Wilson of ProTrader.com told a group seated at his stall.
At the crowded booth of the Online Trading Academy, where Equity Trading Online LLC promoted its training courses, Ed Bassett exhorted his audience to be circumspect: "We're pretty pompous to think this market is always going up. You need discipline as a trader."
Among the participants, who each paid a $50 entrance fee for such trading insights, many agreed that training was a pre-requisite.
Gary Cirillo, a semi-retired art dealer contemplating trading as a part-time career, said: "I know a handful who've made money, out of many more who've lost money. You have to be dedicated to do this well. There's nothing casual about it."
But if the industry seemed to be succeeding in inculcating the need for education, matters appeared more muddled on the technology front.
Myriad trading dotcoms competed to show off their trading platforms, each trying to sell a higher execution speed and more complex trading platform than the next.
With once stellar names such as Charles Schwab and E*Trade seeing growth in accounts and trading volumes dwindle, there was a sense of heightened competition among brokers, research services and trading software providers.
Broker dealers and proprietary trading firms, which hope to benefit from any consolidation among online brokers, argued that a professional in-house trading environment offered the best success ratio for traders, as well as access to capital.
Nowhere was the growing gap between the experienced trader and the novice - the twin targets for the online exhibitors - more evident than near the booth of Broadway Trading LLC.
There Michael Sedek, a 24-year-old veteran trader and registered principal at Broadway Trading, talked of his training techniques for clients who pay $75,000 to open an account and trade full-time. Somewhat discouraged by the age of the crowd, he said he hoped to attract young people without the worries of a mortgage.
Brad Giaquinto, 26, of Long Island, said he felt confused by the online brokers. "Most of them seem the same and the $50 expo fee is way too steep."
markets.ft.com |
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| To: TFF who started this subject | 2/22/2001 11:15:37 PM | | From: dlipsett | | | | Terra Nova launches free platform that enables traders to take control
Chicago, IL / December 7, 2000 – Terra Nova Trading, L.L.C. (“Terra Nova”), a leading direct access broker, introduces the Terra Nova Investor Series -- a free, web-based trading platform designed for active investors who want real-time data and the power to route their own orders.
Terra Nova, in conjunction with Townsend Analytics, Ltd., developed the software to address customer demand for a simple yet powerful direct access trading platform. The Investor Series is a rich intermediate-level solution that will appeal to customers of conventional on-line brokerage firms. Through the Investor Series, active investors will view real-time prices and route their order from the same screen. Double click features permit quick order entry, adjustments and cancellations. Live order status helps customers evaluate their fills, and real-time account updates reflect current buying power. The Terra Nova Investor Series operates on the same state-of-the-art technology found in RealTickä, and it is the first web-based direct access product to integrate RealTick with Microsoft’s ActiveXâ technology. It also incorporates Archipelago’s integrated ECN book, which allows traders to view Archipelago, Island and Redibook ECN orders in real-time.
To encourage active investors to try direct access, Terra Nova will offer the Investor Series at no charge, with trades starting at a special rate of just $8 for up to two calendar months.
Features include:
· Easy point-and-click access
· Real-time Nasdaq, NYSE and AMEX Level I quotes
· Real-time charts
· News
· Live order and account updates
· E-mail stock alerts
· Customizable watch lists
· Zack’s Brokerage Research and Market Guide
· Archipelago’s integrated ECN book
· Direct order routing to the Archipelago, Island and the NYSE
· Integrated customer support chat room
· Live news web cast from JAGfn
“We want active investors to experience the benefits of direct access, and the Investor Series provides an easy, non-intimidating way to do so,” said Terra Nova President Chris Doubek. “This new platform puts power and control where it belongs – in the customer’s hands.” |
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| To: dlipsett who wrote (8763) | 2/23/2001 4:41:36 AM | | From: Jon Tara | | | | Ugh! I think this is the same thing that Townsend used for the awful CME experiment. :(
My understanding was that the ActiveX stuff was to be the basis for the "next generation" RealTick. But the "next generation" RealTick never came, and, instead, they did incremental improvements to RealTick III. (With the 7.0 release.)
There was some tantalizing discussion about being able to "snap-in" third-party components into RealTick.
I would presume that the ActiveX version was less stunning that Townsend had hoped-for... |
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| To: dlipsett who wrote (8763) | 2/23/2001 4:44:39 AM | | From: Jon Tara | | | | Now, I am REALLY confused.
An MB customer forwarded me an e-mail from them saying that they were changing their name to Terra Nova-MB, and would be changing their web site address to www.terranova-mb.com starting Tuesday.
The e-mail also said that the currrent MB Trading is "a branch office of Terra Nova, LLC".
This seems in direct conflict with other infomation here.
What gives?
(Not an MB customer - just intrigued.) |
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| To: TFF who started this subject | 2/23/2001 5:29:51 AM | | From: supertip | | | | Online Traders Wanted (in China)
By Christina DeFalco, AsiaWise
21 Feb 2001 17:22 (GMT +08:00)
News that China's government will allow domestic investors to invest in B-shares, previously open only to foreigners, is sure to cause a short-term trading surge when the B-share markets reopen on Monday. Are China's investors likely to be placing their orders online?
Online stock trading has become a global phenomenon and China has been making efforts not to be left behind. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has made its support of online trading practices clear.
CSRC Chairman Zhou Xiaochuan has repeatedly assured the financial community that the securities watchdog would work to facilitate online trading - this despite uncertainty about the country's Internet policy in general and trading corruption concerns in particular.
Generally slow to pass clear regulations when sensitive areas are involved (offshore listing being one recent example), the CSRC picked up the pace when it came to online trading, passing guidelines last May. Under the new laws, companies offering online trading services must be approved by the CSRC - freezing out Internet start-ups who had moved to fill the gap in the market.
So who is allowed to offer online trading services? Last week the CSRC pronounced 23 domestic securities brokerages competent to offer online trading services.
Of the approved firms, China Galaxy Securities Company Ltd. is a good example of the type preferred by the government. Wholly owned and directly supervised by the central government, it was formed six months ago by merging five leading investment and trust companies. Already the largest securities company in China by share capital, the company has a head start on clientele - now it just has to convince them to embrace online trading.
But will they? There remain substantial hurdles to be overcome before the masses in China wholeheartedly embrace online trading.
A survey last year by the Social Survey and Investigation Office of China showed that 72% of those surveyed believed security to be the biggest problem with online trading. This is going to be an ongoing problem since the government restricts the level of encryption allowed to civilians - right now the level is below that needed to access a U.S. online bank account. China's online trading providers simply aren't able to offer the same security as brokers elsewhere in the world.
Another factor hindering growth is that personal computers remain the exception rather than the rule. The spread of WAP and TV set-top box technology will be instrumental in determining the future of online trading. Not to mention speed - an important factor as investors place orders while prices are constantly changing.
China's online traders relying on web browsers have to compromise price accuracy, while streaming options require high capacities currently unavailable outside major cities.
Monday's news that domestic investors will be permitted to invest in B-shares will help increase the profile and appeal of online trading, but it means more red tape for investors and brokers offering the service.
Controlling foreign currency outflows was a prime factor in the decision to open the B-share markets to domestic investors. But mainlanders will have to have a legal foreign exchange account in order to place orders for B-shares, which trade in U.S. dollars in Shanghai and Hong Kong dollars in Shenzhen.
The introduction of the ever-sensitive foreign exchange issue is likely to complicate things. It isn't clear whether China's online securities companies have systems in place to deal with B-shares or foreign exchange account verification. The ease of adding B-share services may depend on what stance the State Administration of Foreign Exchange intends to take on the matter.
At China Galaxy, international business department manager Wang Xiao Lei admits security and technology are the two biggest challenges this year. Ms. Wang didn't have much to say about plans to meet these challenges, but she did state that the company is making efforts to improve networking and address security issues.
In the meantime, all but the most cosmopolitan mainlanders will most likely look upon online trading with mistrust - and use conventional methods to place their buy and sell orders. |
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| To: TFF who started this subject | 2/23/2001 3:11:04 PM | | From: TFF | | | | ATTENTION QCHART USERS - THERE IS HOPE:
groups.yahoo.com
Generation V is the code name for the fifth generation financial server written by Eric Scott Hunsader. The 4th generation was Continuum/QFeed which continues to power QCharts and Livecharts (Quote.com).
Join the group and show your support. Hopefully we can get this feed running with RavenQuote. |
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| To: LPS5 who wrote (8756) | 2/24/2001 11:02:50 AM | | From: TFF | | | | CME's GLOBEX®2 E-mini Index Extend Volume Records For Second Day
Feb. 23, 2001—For the second consecutive day, volume on Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.’s (CME) GLOBEX®2 electronic trading system reached record levels, with 343,193 contracts changing hands on Thursday, Feb. 22. In addition, volume in CME’s
E-mini S&P 500 and E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures contracts set new records of 160,134 and 139,943, respectively, also their second consecutive new high marks.
The records beat those set on Feb. 21, when 306,417 contracts traded on GLOBEX2, including 147,028 E-mini S&P 500 and 126,645 E-mini Nasdaq-100 contracts. Last week, records were set on Feb. 14 at 297,100 for GLOBEX2, 138,187 E-mini S&P 500 contracts and 126,045 E-mini Nasdaq-100 contracts.
As the fastest growing contracts in CME history, the E-mini index products provide customers with risk management and asset allocation choices in a broad-based market index and in the volatile technology sector. Each E-mini S&P 500 futures contract, sized at $50 times the index level, represents an underlying value of $62,875 as of yesterday’s close. For E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures, each contract is sized at $20 times the index, or an underlying value of approximately $41,000.
The electronically traded indexes are available to customers virtually around the clock from 3:45 p.m. until 3:15 p.m. the following day.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com) is an international marketplace that brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and GLOBEX2 around-the-clock electronic trading system. CME offers futures contracts and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign currencies and agricultural commodities. On Nov. 13, 2000, CME finalized its transformation into a for-profit, shareholder-owned corporation as it became the first U.S. financial exchange to demutualize by converting its membership interests into shares of common stock that can trade separately from exchange trading privileges. The exchange moves about $1 billion per day in settlement payments, manages $25 billion in collateral deposits and administers more than $1 billion of letters of credit.
S&P, S&P 500, Nasdaq, Nasdaq-100 and other trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks that are not proprietary to Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. are the property of their respective owners, and are used herein under license.
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