A FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT OF

RUNNING A SMALL BUSINESS

The roller-coaster stock market hasn’t hurt business for Meir Levy and Ilan Levy-Meyer, co-owners of Cannon Trading Co. in Beverly Hills. Instead of investing directly in securities, the brothers originally staked their claim in the digital economy back in 1995 by buying up 40 domain names related to futures trading. They then linked all those similar-sounding names to their online trading site, e-futures.com, where clients can buy and sell futures contracts, options and other instruments, as well as check market information. Jennifer Smith spoke with Levy and Levy-Meyer about using the Internet to serve their global client base in a turbulent market.

“We started the business in 1988. At the time, we dealt mainly with hard commodities like metals and grains.

“We were one of the first to start doing business online. The Web site functions as an informational and marketing starting point, then the client downloads the software that enables them to conduct transactions through our site.

“They can pretty much trade from anywhere in the world. The majority of our online clients are trading futures on composite indexes. Most are small speculators. The Internet has leveled the playing field, so that now we can be a leader in the futures industry despite our small size.

“We have a $3,000 minimum account size, and our full-service commission rate is $37.50 per side, or less, depending on account size and trading volume.

“The industry has become more of a customer-service business. Our job is to tell clients the techniques for using the market to their advantage and give them a market overview so they can make decisions.

“On April 14, when the market was going crazy, we sent clients alerts that popped out on their trading software and their e-mail, and we told some clients that they needed to get out of the market.

“The idea is to help them stay less at risk. Some clients are very stubborn. (For example,) there are many people making lots of money on the yen right now, and they think that the market is a one-way track. But we tell the clients that the downside always exists.

“As a broker, you just have to hold your client’s hand. It’s never pleasant to talk to someone who’s losing money. But when someone is in a panicky frame of mind, they’re liable to lose even more money.”