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Somewhere, I read some scare for thought. It was postulated that in any
real melt-down, not the dip of October, it will be impossible for the common
(wo)man to get in a trade...Forget the phone; brokerages can deal with less
then some small (5%, I recall) of their account holders in any one day; less
if the orders are compound or complicated. Internet servers are likely to
be down (my broker already considers Internet trades 2nd class to phone ins)
and I wouldn't be suprised if they took the Internet feed down just to
reduce the flow. The 500 point down day, I tried all day to get in an order
(actually did get one in at 2pm East) but most of the day could nout even
rouse the server.
The newsletter guy suggested:
1. Get the Fax number of your brokerage firm's trade desk; it MIGHT not be
busy all the time, and your fax can keep re-trying. Test it out with a
simple order, pre-meltdown.
2. Get Fed Ex pre-addressed envelopes ready. A true meltdown may be
downlimit/suspended trading/busy signal/network-offline for days in a row,
but the brokerage will HAVE to admit they received your order if it is
confirmed Fed Ex.
Heck, I'm really a newbie in so many ways, but since I couldn't get through
either in October these struck a nerve (but, truthfully, I haven't
prepared...reminds me of earthquake preparedness; even those in earthquake
country mostly don't prepare). Anyone got any other ideas for meltdown
ordering?
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-metastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-metastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Steve Karnish
Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 1998 3:53 PM
To: metastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Fidelity failure
Bill,
I know of a number of sad stories that happened during the
October "meltdown". I believe this is part of the price one
pays for "cheap internet" trading. The firms that created
gridlock in October, refused to foster any liability for losses.
I've even heard of a situation that trades were entered, but
not confirmed, so the individual reentered the trades, only to
become net short. Sorry about your predicament.
Steve Karnish
CCT
----------
> From: Bill Saxon <bsaxon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: Metastock EMail List <metastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; Fasttrack
EMail List <fasttrack@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Fidelity failure
> Date: Tuesday, August 04, 1998 2:01 PM
>
> I was out of the market last week except for two stocks, with
the money I handle
> myself. With this further deterioration I decided today to
get out of those two
> when the Dow was down about 175 pts in the afternoon. I could
NOT get on
> Fidelity's Website after a half hour of trying. My wife was
waiting
> (impatiently) for me to leave so I consoled myself with,
"Maybe it will finish
> higher". Now I wish I had just tried to make a phone call and
pay the price to
> get out. Anyone else have a problem? What happens in a real
meltdown?????
> This cost me a couple of thousand, what if the whole wad rode
on some kind of
> account servicing???
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