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I don't mean to be a Pollyanna, but in 97 there were plenty of warnings for
those watching the Internals and other Market Indicators that one should not be
in the Market. This during August which happened to be near the top. Perhaps
the only real safeguard against the dreaded melt down is to be out in advance.
(Wise words from one who didn't get out of this last little dip until Friday and
Monday AM) <]:-) None the less all avenues should be investigated. Getting the
non 800 phone numbers is as far as I have gone. The fax never occurred to me.
Pete Asprey wrote:
> 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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