Earnings Dim for Knight

In the first quarter, Knight Trading (NITE Quote) was clearly not where the trade got done.

The top dealer in shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market , said it expects first-quarter profits to fall short of expectations, due to, well, duh, the falling stock market. The firm said it expected to report earnings of 18 cents to 20 cents a share, well short of the 28 cents the 15-brokers polled by Thomson Financial/First Call are expecting.

On Jan. 17, the company said it expected to earn 32 cents to 40 cents for the quarter, but sharply reduced those estimates as the Nasdaq has gone into free-fall. The company earned $1.07 in the first quarter of 2000....