Warning: Online investing isn't perfect

Internet brokerage firms have agreed to help pay for an ad campaign to educate investors about the potential risks of online trading.

The ads will appear in New York-area papers, warning investors not to expect instant executions if market trading is heavy.

The campaign is the result of negotiations between several firms and the New York State attorney general, who tomorrow releases the results of a six-month investigation of consumer complaints about poor service by Internet brokerages.

Stock trades made over the Internet nearly doubled in the six months ending March 31 to more than a half-million a day, leading to online traffic jams that have disrupted all major Internet brokers' Web sites and sparked consumer complaints about money lost because of slow or unexecuted trades.

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