The Watcher program does not cost you anything. The firm who gives you Watcher pays a fee for each trade that you do using your Watcher, but that fee is included in your commissions. Most Watcher firms charge very reasonable commissions of about $20-$30 per 1000 shares executed. Additionally, you will need to supply the computer, modem and phone line.

Most people connect using a regular phone line with a 28.8 modem. Phone charges vary, from ten cents a day for people who live in New York city to as much as $600 per month for people who live in Vancouver. You could also order a dedicated line to our data center at 50 Broad Street if that turned out to be cheaper. Many firms offer 800 number access and then bill the reduced phone charges to your account.

No.

Don't confuse Bandwith with Latency.

Bandwith is the total amount of data you can send in a given time period, latency is the delay between when you send a piece of information and when it is recieved at the desination.

If you've pulled up a web page using your cable modem, you know the latency is unpredictable but typically runs between 1/2 second and 5 seconds.

If you've ever talked on the phone, you know that the latency of a continental US phone line is unmeasurably small. The time between when you make a sound and the other person hears it inperceptable.

It turns out that for order entry, latency is much more relevant than bandwith.

Your cable modem may let you enter 200,000 orders per second, but your orders will not be recieved on the other side until a 1/2 second to 5 seconds latter. Not good if your stock is moving.

A point-to-point modem connection does limit you to entering no more than about 200 orders per second, not much of a limitation since even the most acive trader only enters a couple of orders per minute. However, when you do enter your order, it only takes an instant before it acutally makes it to it's final desination.

The only difference between a "local" and a "remote" Watcher is the frequency that the screen updates. On a local Watcher, the screen updates contantly, on a remote Watcher it depends on the speed of your modem connection. On a 28.8kbd connection, the screen will update about 2-3 times per second. It's mostly a human factors issue, but I think that 2-3 updates per second is more than enough to keep you looking at timely data.

There is no minimum account size per se, however many firms do want you to have a reasonable amount to start with. This makes sense. They are laying out $2,000 to set up a port for you to connect, so they want you to have enough money to do some trades. Also, they don't want you to lose all of your money on your first trade. Bad for business. I would think that it would be hard to be an effective trader with Watcher with less than $50,000 worth of working capital. With $50,000, you would just barely have enough money to hold a few small positions.

You can't. DatekOnline has nothing to do with Watcher. Datek does not offer Watchers. You can't use a Watcher with DatekOnline.

Pete.

You may never know. While there are a few people who I have meet who have a very special talent, chances are you will not make your million anytime soon. Watcher is not a money machine. Watcher is a human amplifier, it makes good traders great and bad traders super sucky. The people who do well on Watcher work very, very hard and have amazing discipline. I know one guy who sits down at 8:30AM and does not get up from his terminal until 4:00PM every day. He does not drink during the trading day so that he wont have to go the the bathroom. If you are looking for a fast and easy buck, go to med school.

Between four and six depending on how rich you are. If you turn out to be a bad trader, Watcher can make you bleed dollars at an alarming rate. And with Watcher, you can't even get mad at your broker.

Good question. I don't know.

No. Most high schools had at least one geeky looking computer kid with no friends. Because no one ever really got to know us, today we are universally confused for one another. Don't feel too bad, we are all multi-millionaires now.

If you are an individual investor, the only way you can have access to Island is though a broker/dealer. If you use Watcher, your limit orders go directly into Island. If you don't use Watcher, tell your broker you want him to enter your limit orders into Island so that you have the best opportunity for execution. If he doesn't know what you are talking about, tell him to come here. If he does know but won't listen, get a new broker.

Yes.

You can't. DatekOnline has nothing to do with Watcher. Datek does not offer Watchers. You can't use a Watcher with DatekOnline. Don't call them and ask for a Watcher, they can't help you.

Several. To find one, try doing a web search on stuff like Watcher and SOES. Please not that NONE of the web based brokers (DatekOnline/E*Trade/Schwab) support Watcher, so please don't bug them asking for it. Don't send me an email asking what Watcher firm you should use, I won't tell you.

Yes, a little. But keep in mind that we must be doing something right based on the number of customers we have already gotten. I think that, in general, people now realize that wearing a suit is not tantamount to being trustworthy and being honest is more important than sounding important. I have given it much thought, though.

No.

No. If you can't afford to lose the money, you should not be trading. Period.

I didn't, she broke up with me.

The new rules are clearly very good for the market. Combined with NASDAQ's appoval of the 1/16th trading increment, I think the market has become noticably more efficient. Many SOES trades say that it has gotten much harder to make money in this environment, but I think that the good traders will continue to do well, if not better. The bad traders will probably complain a lot.

Sure. Just send me an e-mail telling what you'd like your address and your password to be and I'll set you up. Josh@Josh.Com is taken, but almost all others are open.

If you have to ask how, you probably can't. One of the things the NASD looks at in your BD application is how much experience you have in the industry. If you are asking this question, it's unlikely you have enough experience to satisfy them.

For more info, check out the NASD Website.

It's easy, you will have to sign an ACT Attachment II Agreement and fax it to NASDAQ Market Operations. Then, you can start giving Watchers to your customers. If you are really the principal of an operating NASD member firm and need more information, send me some E-Mail with your phone number and we will start the ball rolling.

No. Pete is married to a breathtakingly beautiful Egyptian chic. As for me, I have the coolest, sweetest, smartest, most awsome wife there ever was. And she's hotter than the filling in a MCDonnald's Baked Apple Pie.

Now don't get me wrong, I am as heterosexual as the next guy, but who could turn down a wet kiss from Mick Jagger? Be honest.

There's been a lot of speculation about that kiss over the years, fueled mainly by inflamatory but false press reports. If you ask me, some reporters have overly rich imaginations. In fact, my life is so pittifully boring that they have no choice but to make up stories about things that never happended.

Not to say that it wasn't a passionate kiss, it was. But just a kiss and nothing more.

Keep pushing and the next e-mail you see is going to be from my lawyer...

I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.