Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Thanks very much Nohogs.
That same article states:
'Bartlett [CIO of TDA] is also planning for active traders. “Active traders are a different breed: they’re very sophisticated, self-sufficient and they want choice. So we’re making some very targeted technology acquisitions that will provide what we think is the future in state-of-the-art tools.”
With numerous ongoing investments in the active trader space, TD Ameritrade is poised to remain at the forefront of active trading, an area where Bartlett sees lots of room for growth.'
Hi, King
Would it be possible for you to copy the text of the Ameritrade "teaser"? Are they saying they will have a number of new products available in mid-May, or just one?
Thanks so much!
TDAmeritrade already offers a program called Advanced Analyzer for $19.99 per month. http://www.tdameritrade.com/tradingtools/advancedanalyzer.html
Are they saying they are going to provide a new version of this?
TIA,
Songbird
Hi, nohogs,
In addition to what others have said about Ameritrade,
in the recent disclosure document made public in March it states: "Growth focus will start with integration of SpoozToolz to optionsXpress (202,000 customers) and TDAmeritrade (5.75 million customers). Additional brokers will be added as developments allow"
http://www.stockbroadcasting.com/Featured/spzi/QIncome.asp
(Page 84 of the PDF)
I think Paul said he wouldn't sell the template library for 20m.
Milo,
It says a lot that Paul and co have stayed the course and worked through the technical problems since the first launch.
Allie, do you think that Spooz will be able to PR the relationship at some future point?
Thanks very much, Poker
Why would AT not want the relationship known? Is it because at the moment Spooz is an unknown, subpenny pinksheet stock?
PV, could you expand a little on what you mean about AT forcing Spooz to be less that transparent about their relationship?
Thanks!
Do you think that Spooz would value the input of non-professional traders like many of us? Could we be used as beta testers?
Probably not, but it would be fun to try it out!
Are you quoting from something, Wing?
Lol, never thought of that! I guess you could! Personally, if I lived by the river, I'd want to make sure my house was well elevated. The floods of '93 were devestating to many communities by the Mississippi.
Sorry to say I won't be at the meeting. I know we would all be very appreciative if you could give a detailed report of what you learn. I'm hoping for a webcast of podcast - but being there in person will allow you to learn a lot more, I'm sure.
Yes, Wing - Iowa's my home.
Sure, Wing.
Scott explained to me that you could create a single tradeable product which is made up of any number of stocks (or other securities, perhaps) - much like Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) which are made up of multiple securities like mutual funds, but which can be bought and sold like stocks.
So, apparently, SpoozToolz allows you in effect, to create your own ETF-like product.
I was shown a list of such products that had been created by Spooz. It seems like they were for various sectors. Scott said you could create whatever kind of product you like.
I don't remember how you do this - but Scott said it could be done.
Wing, there was an intriguing comment on the other board from someone (PV was that you?)who reported that Paul said something to the effect of Ameritrade liking what they see and its quite possible they may decide to buy Spooz out. (http://ragingbull.quote.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=SPZI&read=5910)
I'm just thinking about this - if you were a large online brokerage and found that you were providing your customers a remarkable tool (ST) that was increasing trading activity and drawing people away from their current brokerages, might you be interested in purchasing the company that made ST before other brokerages started entering partnerships making ST available to their customers?
Milo, I got the tour from Scott, too. Lots of things went over my head. One thing that struck me was that you have the ability to create "synthetic" trading products - e.g. create your own ETF-like products. I was shown some sector products that had been created by Spooz.
I asked if it would be possible to use Spooz with the broker I currently use (Fidelity) and was told no - not at the launch. The two brokerages mentioned that could be used with ST were TD Ameritrade and Options Express - there were a couple more possibilites also.
It seems like this product would be very appealing to many traders, investors, money managers and the like. And according to Scott, the price is super cheap compared to products that people are currently using.
Thanks, Wing. I emailed Paul.
Allie, I didn't ask about recording the demo. That would probably be more complicated. Paul didn't give a definite commitment to record the meeting, but said he would get back to me.
We need to get a commitment from Wing to take copious notes for the rest of us!
I suggested to Paul in an email that they record the meeting for those who couldn't come. He said he thought that was an excellent idea. So I'm hoping we all will be able to listen in, if not participate.
Don't know if it would be live, either.
Sure, Peeved, there is always that possibilty. And there lies the risk in investing in a startup company emerging from developmental stage to a production one.
For me, I am willing to take that risk on a company with a quality product and a management team that to me seems smart, experienced and well connected.
Nothing in investing is 100% certain and each of us has to weight the evidence, calculate the risk and make a choice.
IMO, all the indications are that SpoozToolz 2.0 is a quality product. We know it has been demo'd to some and will get a public airing at the shareholder's meeting on May 17th. If the product was defective or not ready I really doubt that they would have called the shareholder's meeting and scheduled the demo.
Also, all indications are that along with the public release in June there will be a sustained marketing campaign. Substantial funds will be needed for such a campaign, and so I am not surprised or overly concerned if dilution is taking place to raise the necessary funds.
To me as a shareholder, the only reason for bailing at this point would be that I had reason to believe that the product was faulty, or that management was corrupt or incompetent. Speaking for myself, I don't believe either. So I plan to hold through the launch.
I think all longs would be in agreement, Fed. Earnings are what count at the end of the day. IMO, from what I have learned, Spooz has the potential for very good earnings.
Wing, the PR you quote also states that trading was scheduled to start April 1.
Paul did say that they would make public the results of SWARM trading, but gave no details of how often reporting would take place. I'm not really surprised that we haven't heard anything yet as we are only 2 1/2 weeks out from that date.
If they do have a cartoon teacher, I hope you can turn it on and off - I find Microsoft's Mr Clippy pretty annoying.
Wing,
Not to mention the template library in which (from what I can gather) pre-built templates are available. Users can modify them, but don't have to.
Again, from what I gather, they are set up so a user can activate them and they execute trades automatically.
IMO, we are seeing Spooz going about the product launch in a very thorough and organized way. It doesn't seem like they are trying to cut corners or do things cheaply. It looks like they realize they are competing with established companies and so are getting on the same playing field.
Allie, I checked out Trungale, Egan and Associates' site. They have some examples of ads they have created for clients including The Chicago Board of Trade and Man Financial. The ads look polished and very professional.
Thanks for posting, Tr8dervic.
FYI, I had sent an email to Paul and just got a reply from Catherine Raines that Paul is in New York this week - expected back Friday.
PV, That one gets my vote of the best so far!
Wing,
I am sure you are right about v2 being alive and well. This week we heard from fedfundz, who is the first person on the board that I know of to have had a sneak peek at SpoozToolz 2. He is a trader on the Chicago Board of Trade and was impressed enough to ask his boss to purchase the product for his company, and to buy shares himself.
To me, that says a lot.
Yes, Wing.
Why would a person with the resume and accomplishments of Mr. Katovich attach his name to Spooz if they were a disreputable or shady company.
Thanks so much, fedfunz. It is great to get a first-hand impression from someone in the industry. I've learned a lot from this post alone. No one to my knowledge has mentioned "creating new, tradable products" before.
I very much appreciate your contributions.
Song
Hi, Fedfunz.
Great to hear from you. Could you tell a little more about what you liked about SpoozToolz, and why you would prefer it over other products?
Thanks in advance,
Songbird
Or he could have meant to say:
"I am excited that our plan to launch SpoozTooz v 2.0 has increased in scope"
Spooz is going to make SpoozToolz work not only on Microsoft Excel - but other spreadsheet applications. There are a number of competitors to Excel - some being free applications. This opens up new markets - and a larger pool of potential acquirers.
Thanks very much, Wing.
"We are working to migrate the software to other spreadsheet applications (including those who run server side and can be accessed from the web) enabling electronic trading from any web-enabled, handheld device"
IMO, read Google Spreadsheets.
OT: Volumes soar at Chicago exchanges
Melanie Wold
03 Apr 2007
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade each reported record trading volumes for first quarter 2007. Both exchanges benefited from growth in electronic trading and volatile securities markets.
The CME set quarterly and monthly volume records in every product line. During the first quarter of 2007, CME volume surged by 30% from the same period in 2006, with an average 6.5 million contracts per day traded.
Average daily volume on the CME Globex electronic trading platform increased by 40% - hitting a record 4.8 million contracts per day - compared to first quarter 2006. Globex trading represented 75% of total CME volume. The month of March was particularly active and CME reported average volume at a record 7.7 million contracts per day, up 45% from March 2006.
The CBOT also set volume records with average daily volume for the first quarter of 2007 at 3.9 million contracts; 24% higher than the first quarter of 2006. Total volume for the first quarter was 239.7 million contracts, also up 24% from first quarter 2006 and 18% higher than the last quarterly record which was set in the fourth quarter of 2006.
CBOT’s e-cbot electronic trading platform also set a record, with 3 million contracts traded on average each day during the first quarter, a 42% increase over first quarter of 2006. Electronic trading on e-cbot represented 78% of CBOT's total volume in the first quarter.
The securities industry in general had a stellar year in 2006, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. Sifma reported that the industry achieved an 88.2% increase over 2005, with full-year profits of $33.1bn (€24.8bn). The previous record was $31.6bn in 2000.
The securities industry's performance in 2006 was led by exceptionally strong trading gains and record underwriting revenue, said SIFMA. For the whole year, securities firms realized $43bn in trading gains, 84.7% above the 2005 level of $23.3 bn.
http://www.financialnews-us.com/?page=ushome&contentid=2347497066
Spooz is in an industry that seems to be growing.
Songbird
I wonder if the "select" customers are people who have accounts with the brokerages that Spooz is partnering with.