Barron's Magazine Ranks TradeStation the No. 1 Direct-Access Broker.

Business Editors

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 2, 2001

TradeStation Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:TRAD) announced that it has received the top ranking of all direct-access brokers reviewed by Barron's in its just completed roundup. Today's top ranking by Barron's is the first review of the new TradeStation Platform, which launched last week.

TradeStation's unique patent-pending strategy testing and automated trading technology were cited as two important, key benefits of the platform. The company's top ranking by Barron's put it ahead of Instinet's ProTrader (Nasdaq:INET), Charles Schwab's StreetSmart Pro (NYSE:SCH), E*Trade's WebStreet Direct (NYSE:ET), Ameritrade's TradeCast Elite (Nasdaq:AMTD), and seven other direct-access brokers.

"To be ranked the No. 1 direct-access broker in our very first review and in the same week we launched this service speaks volumes for the prospects of our company," said Bill Cruz, Co-Chairman of the Board and Co-CEO. "Having a publication as respected as Barron's rate us number one affirms both the years of hard work that have made the new TradeStation Platform possible and our belief that it offers truly unique and compelling functionality that will attract a large number of institutional and active traders, the market segments clearly recognized as the most valuable in the brokerage industry."

Institutional Trader Opportunity

The new TradeStation Platform was designed to meet the needs of institutional traders. The institutional market opportunity is made up of hedge funds, registered investment advisors, and small-to-mid-sized mutual funds which together generate billions of dollars in commission revenue yearly. Fueling TradeStation's growth opportunity in this market is the need these professional traders have for both state-of-the-art, direct-access execution and the advanced strategy testing and automated trading features offered by TradeStation.

Active Trader Opportunity

Individual, active traders are estimated to have close to one million actively traded accounts, and they are believed to represent the lion's share of daily online trading activity (source: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Robertson Stephens). Most are believed to still be trading through traditional Web-based brokers and have yet to realize the benefits of direct-access trading, much less the capabilities of strategy testing and automation.

For more details about the new TradeStation Platform or opening an equities, options, or futures account with TradeStation Securities, an NASD, SIPC, and NFA member firm, visit http://www.tradestation.com. To speak with a registered representative, institutional traders should call [phone]. Active traders should call [phone].

About TradeStation Group, Inc.

TradeStation Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:TRAD), through its operating subsidiary, TradeStation Securities, Inc., offers the TradeStation Platform to institutional, professional and serious, active individual traders -- an electronic trading platform that enables clients to design, test and monitor their own custom trading strategies and then automate them with direct-access order execution. The trading platform currently offers streaming real-time equities, options, futures and futures options market data. Equities and options transactions are cleared through Bear, Stearns Securities Corp. (NYSE:BSC) and futures and futures options transactions are cleared through Lind-Waldock & Company. The company's other operating subsidiary, TradeStation Technologies, Inc., develops and offers strategy trading software tools and subscription services.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains statements that are forward-looking and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release the words "believes," "plans," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "designed," "anticipates," "may," "will," "should," "could," "upcoming," "potential" and similar expressions, if and to the extent used, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based largely on current expectations and beliefs concerning future events that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results suggested herein. Factors that may cause or contribute to the various potential differences include, but are not limited to, technical difficulties or errors in the new TradeStation Platform that delay the roll-out schedule and/or marketing plans for the platform, customer acceptance of the platform, and other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, but not limited to, the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000, as well as other press releases.