Date:    02/01/2000  10:14 AM

Subject: File Number SR-NYSE-99-47 

I would like to comment on this proposal to raise margin requirements.  I can 
only speak from my own experience, but this proposal would not have helped me or
"protected me" one bit back when I began daytrading.  
     
I began with $180,000 in my account.  Having plenty of money did not help me 
make better trading decisions.  It did not guarantee my success.  It is 
ludicrous to think that the amount of money in an account makes a capable 
daytrader.  Study, hard work, dedication and experience make one successful.
     
I lost some and spent more until my account is now less than $25,000.  I have 
made very few trades this past year.  But I have spent more than 40 hours a week
for 15 month studying trading.  I am now capable of much better trading 
decisions.  I am now achieving consistency and technique that have nothing to do
with how much money is in my account.  I am now ready to grow my account.  It is
very presumptuous of the NYSE to handicap my efforts with this senseless, 
arbitrary rule.  
     
If the NYSE feels new traders need to be "protected", they should look to all 
traders regardless of whether they have $2000 or $200,000.  Perhaps trading 
experience should be the rule.  Although I don't condone the NYSE legislating 
our freedom to trade, they might restrict margin until a trader has a year of 
experience. 
     
Twenty five years ago I began my own business on a shoe string.  Like trading, 
most new businesses fail,  but there are no rules that thwart your efforts to 
try.  No one regulates how much you can invest or lose in your attempt.  Thanks 
goodness... I never would have had the opportunity to succeed and spend my life 
proudly self-employed.
     
And at the risk of repeating myself, the amount of money available had nothing 
to do with my success. Success is based on hard work, study, and dedication. 
Please do not accept this proposal.  It stands in the way of good old-fashioned 
success.  
     
Linda Swope
Swope's Mountain Photography