Date:    02/01/2000  4:36 PM


Subject: File Number SR-NYSE-99-47
To whom it may concern,
     
I am writing to oppose the proposal that rules for margin requirements be 
changed on the NYSE, NYSE Rule 431. As a day trader with a small account, I do 
not think that requiring a certain size account or restricting the number of 
trades per day is the concern of the exchange or of the SEC. 
     
Brokers have always been able to solicit investments from elderly and indigent 
people, and they have often done so. In justice there is an element of 
proportion, and a rule requiring a certain balance for day traders or 
restricting number of trades per day does not observe this aspect of justice and
fairness. 
     
In our society, people are allowed to manage risk in a way they find 
appropriate. There is no evidence that day traders with small accounts manage 
risk worse than investors, or that they endanger themselves and their families 
more than investors do. By imposing arbitrary restrictions or those favoring 
large brokerages, you would be administering the law in a way that favors large 
institutions and existing interests in a manner that is contrary to the mandate 
of a regulatory body.
     
Sincerely,
     
Lucia Stern
Day trader
Account holder, MBTrading