Underscores Knight's Commitment to Enhancing Investor Understanding of How Trades Are Executed

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Knight/Trimark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NITE), the largest wholesale market maker in U.S. equity securities, announced today its sponsorship of CNBC.com's Student Stock Tournament (SST), which begins February 21, 2000. The sponsorship is the first of its kind for Knight and marks the beginning of the firm's investment in furthering investor understanding of how trades are executed.

"Knight is committed to investor education and proud to sponsor CNBC.com's Student Stock Tournament, an interactive way of teaching young investors stock market fundamentals," said Kenneth D. Pasternak, the president and chief executive officer of Knight/Trimark Group. "In particular, we believe that self-directed investors must grasp fundamental issues like the difference between limit and market orders, the importance of liquidity in after-hours trading and the role of various participants in a rapidly evolving marketplace."

The SST is a competition between student investment clubs and/or classes in grades 4-12. Participation requires adult supervision. Students invest play money in stocks over the Internet, learning basic investment terminology and strategies, as well as the importance of market structure. At the conclusion of each tournament, the top performing team wins 100 shares of General Electric stock for their school.

Knight/Trimark, headquartered in Jersey City, NJ, is the parent company of Knight Securities, Trimark Securities and Arbitrade Holdings. Knight's subsidiaries make markets in equity securities listed on Nasdaq, the OTC Bulletin Board of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and American Stock Exchange (AMEX); and in options on individual equities, equity indices, fixed income instruments and certain commodities in the U.S. and Europe. The firm also maintains an asset management business for institutional investors and high net worth individuals through Arbitrade's Deephaven subsidiary. As the number one destination for online trade executions, Knight is the processing power behind the explosive growth in securities trading via the Internet. The firm was recently selected to Fortune's "e-50 Stock Index," an elite collection of companies that are shaping the new Internet-based economy. Currently, the four-year-old company employs more than 800 people worldwide with offices in Jersey City, NJ; Jericho, White Plains, Purchase and New York, NY; Chicago, IL; Boston, MA; Minnetonka, MN; Santa Clara, CA and London, England.

SOURCE Knight/Trimark Group

CONTACT: Margaret Wyrwas, Vice President, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations of Knight/Trimark Group, 201-557-6954 or mwyrwas@knight-sec.com; or Chuck Dohrenwend of Edelman Worldwide, 212-704-8102, for Knight/Trimark Group/