
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 27, 1990                   TAG: 9005260004
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Mag Poff
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TRADER SEEKING HOT STOCKS - NOW

Q: I am what you might call a stock trader. In the past, I have relied upon several different brokerage firms to provide me with fundamental research in order to make my stock selections. While on average this information has been good, it seems to be geared more to the long- to intermediate-term investor.

What I am looking for is an individual who has the capabilities to provide me with computer-generated short-term trading advice. I know from experience that most brokers say they can offer this from their home offices. This is not what I want. I like to trade stock and options on a very short-term basis, and would like to work with an individual broker that can offer me the technical trading services I desire.

I figure you will know of a person who can give me the computer-generated technical trading support I want.

A: The only stock trading floor in Roanoke is the one operated by Dominion Investment Banking Inc., a subsidiary of Dominion Bankshares.

But even that company can't help you.

T. Michael Smith, president, said Dominion's customers can access information and quotes by computer modem, but not the trading information you want.

All brokerage houses focus on the intermediate to long-term investor, Smith said. Individual brokers don't generate their own research.

He suggested that you subscribe to a trading advisory service with a "hot line" to execute orders. Those services exist to help traders like you.

Two of the best, Smith said, are Ned Davis Research of Atlanta and Martin Sweig of New York. Both have the `'hot lines" you need.

\ New fund's rating scarce

Q: I never see anything in print about the A.L. Williams Mutual Fund. How good is it? How reliable is it? I have a modest investment in the Common Sense Trust - Growth Fund. Any information on it is appreciated.

A: Three magazines that rate mutual funds - Forbes, Money and Financial World - make no mention of A.L. Williams Mutual Fund. A Roanoke brokerage house checked a list of funds and also failed to find a reference.

Forbes magazine says Common Sense Distributors of Duluth, Ga., operates several funds under that name. Their quotations are listed in the mutual fund summary in this newspaper.

Neither Forbes nor Money rated the Common Sense Growth Fund because it has existed for too short a time. Financial World graded its performance as C-minus last year. The magazines said it had hefty fees: 8.5 percent up-front commission and annual expenses of $1.82 per hundred dollars.

by CNB