Hi, Paul.

PE> PE>>                QUANTITY       SELL-PRICE
PE> PE>> 1996-07-16 NTS 54000 0.09378  11.5       (1)
PE> PE>> 1996-12-18 NTS 51000 0.095    12.5       (2)
PE> PE>> 1997-01-09 NTS 53000 0.095    12         (3)
PE> PE>> 1997-04-02 NTS 23000 0.11     13         (4)
PE> PE>> 1997-04-16 NTS 28658 0.095    13         (5)

PE> FM> OK they're on, but I need to know if they're in *addition* to, or
PE> FM> *replace* some or all of what you had on already. Before this you had
PE> FM> (selling):

PE> They replace all of my previous sell orders.

OK, all the old ones now removed.

PE> FM> 51,658 {at} 13    (A)
PE> FM> 101,000 {at} 13.5  (B)
PE> FM> 4,000 {at} 13.5  (C)
PE> FM> 30,000 {at} 15    (D)

PE> FM> It looks to me like (1) & (2) replace (B) & (C); (3)
is new; (4) & (5)
PE> FM> replace (A) and (D) remains.

PE> All correct except for the "D".  It goes too.

PE> FM> Understood the format, although some of those parcels didn't correspond
PE> FM> to any you'd actually bought - some did, but some were combinations and
PE> FM> some were part of parcels.

PE> It's what I still own.  Whenever I sell something, I nominate which stock I
PE> sold (usually the most expensive), and there can be partial parcels left.

PE> FM> Does this new program of yours (semi)automatically decide what you want
PE> FM> to sell?

PE> No, not yet.

PE> FM> Teach it to send an internet message and cut yourself out of
PE> FM> the loop! When SEATS97 comes in, maybe we can cut both of us out of the
PE> FM> loop!

PE> What's SEATS97?  BFN.  Paul.

SEATS (Stock Exchange Automated Trading System) was introduced 10 years
ago - by an unfortunate chance, the day the market crashed! Before that
there had been floor trading, the "open outcry" method.

This year, the ASX is introducing a major replacement, probably also in
about October (uh oh). It will be Windows (NT) based, with an important
objective being that it will look just like the existing trading system.

However, the interface to the ASX network will be an open specification
so that anyone who wants will be able to create whatever they like, with
the proviso that it will have to undergo fairly rigorous testing to
ensure it doesn't stuff up. In practice, only large brokers with
in-house systems development, and 3rd-party suppliers, will do so.

One possibility being discussed is to be able to take orders directly
from another system, say an in-house order generation system, or the
internet. At the moment that is not possible, apart from not being able
to do so technically because the SEATS interface specification is not
public, there's also a regulation that all orders must be entered by a
human operator. That regulation is expected to be rescinded.

Many brokers will choose not to follow that course (including us), and
of course there will need to be many safeguards for those who do to
prevent any Tom, Dick or Paul feeding orders in from the outside
without, possibly, any intention of paying for the stock if buying or
having the stock if selling.

Regards, fIM.
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 þ * þ Is that seat saved? No, but we're praying for it.
@EOT:

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