Word: wits
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...have this business to himself. The two online brokers, E*TRADE and e.Schwab, have each announced similar initiatives that are, unlike Wit, tied to specific underwriters. E*TRADE will offer IPOs managed by McCaffery's Robertson Stephens; e.Schwab will work with Hambrecht & Quist. E*TRADE's Cotsakos envisions the same tiny 100-share minimum as Wit, while e.Schwab's minimum, a snooty $100,000, writes off the Little Guys that Wit hopes to empower...
Some advisers think the high minimum isn't such a bad thing. Maybe betting the nest egg on hype-heavy IPOs is just another way for middle-class families to lose their shirts to financiers who wear nicer shirts to begin with. What will happen the first time Wit sells shares of some loser at $12 and they promptly sink to, say, $4? "These deals tend to be highly volatile," says a banking executive. "They appeal to people who can afford a certain amount of risk. But the mom-and-pops? God love 'em. It's not easy...
What's worse, Wit penalizes customers who flip their buys for quick bucks. Selling Wit IPO shares less than two months after you buy them will not only cost you 5% of the sale price but also land you at the back of the line next time around. Klein admits this radical strategy--aimed at both encouraging stay-the-course investing and stroking the underwriters who want to stabilize their young companies' stock--removes one ace from his customers' hands. Still, he argues, buying and holding at the offering price is a better bet than buying during...
...lesson is that as an investor, you're still on your own. Wit and E*TRADE will balloon your net worth faster than the average high-growth mutual fund only if you do your homework and deduce which deals are worth betting on. "We're only going to be as good as our reputation," Klein says calmly. "We do the due diligence, we investigate the company, we determine what we think is a fair price." Klein thinks that's a winner, but then it's easy to be sanguine when you've got wheat beer to fall back...
Having practiced family law (divorce law) for 38 years, I offer a simple solution to the high rate of marital breakup examined in your story on the debate over whether it should be harder to get a divorce [SOCIETY, Aug. 18]. To wit: females should not marry before age 30; males should not marry before age 40. CONNOLLY OYLER Santa Monica, Calif...