Leading Wall Street Firms Go Live with Lava's ColorPalette; America's Growth Capital, Avian Securities and Montgomery & Co. Select Distinctive Trading and Order Management System

Business Wire, Oct 11, 2005

NEW YORK -- Lava Trading Inc., the innovative technology firm that develops unique, high-performance trading solutions for the financial services industry, today announced that America's Growth Capital, Avian Securities LLC and Montgomery & Co., LLC have each chosen Lava's ColorPalette(TM) as their trading and order management system. Each of the companies underwent an extensive RFP process involving several OMS providers before selecting ColorPalette.

"We are excited to expand our rapidly growing ColorPalette client base with the addition of these high-profile companies and we look forward to a long-lasting relationship with them," said Richard Korhammer, CEO, Lava Trading. "Lava is committed to differentiating itself through innovative high-performance trading solutions and we are confident that ColorPalette's fast, reliable and intelligent technology will provide America's Growth Capital, Avian Securities and Montgomery & Company with a competitive advantage in today's result-driven environment."

ColorPalette is a sector-based trading and order management solution, designed as a high-throughput, fully automated system for managing institutional and retail customer orders. Its features include streamlined regulatory handling of current rules for all capacity orders, customer order crossing and internalization management, open architecture with standard and strategically-placed APIs, complete trade risk management, and TraderIntelligence(TM), a dynamic order-based query.

"ColorPalette allows us to streamline and improve upon our existing technology structure both from a quality and financial standpoint," said Jeff Liguori, Head of Trading at America's Growth Capital, a boutique full service investment bank focused on providing research and banking for the emerging growth sectors of the economy.

After careful consideration of various platforms, Avian Securities was convinced that Lava's advanced technology best suited its needs. "Choosing ColorPalette as our trading and order management system made the most economical and strategic sense for our company," said Lawrence Zirkel, Managing Partner and Director of Sales and Trading at Avian, a NASD member firm specializing in brokerage services and information technology research geared towards institutional investors.

"ColorPalette is a comprehensive OMS solution with superior technology that provides us with access to every equity market center in the United States, without requiring additional investments in IT servers or in upgrading our company network," said Jeff Wright, Vice President at Montgomery & Co. A leading investment bank, Montgomery provides research, sales & trading coverage, strategic advisory and M&A services, and public and private financings to growth companies in the information technology, communications, healthcare and media & entertainment businesses.

About America's Growth Capital

America's Growth Capital is a national, emerging growth focused research, trading and investment banking firm founded by seasoned growth sector specialists with experience at leading boutique and bulge bracket investment banks. The firm's strategy and business model are tailored for today's dynamic and competitive emerging growth capital markets. Key elements of this model include dedicated investment banking efforts highlighted by consistent, senior-level advice and attention, an investment research methodology based on deep sector knowledge and sector-focused institutional sales and sales trading resources. The company's full range of services focuses exclusively on emerging growth sectors, including technology (IT infrastructure and security, semiconductors, enterprise software), business services, life sciences (biotechnology) and digital media. For more information, visit http://www.americasgc.com/index.html.> About Avian Securities, LLC

Avian Securities, LLC is a NASD member firm with offices in Boston and New York specializing in brokerage services and information technology research geared towards institutional investors ranging from very large mutual fund families to smaller hedge funds and cross over funds. Through unbiased in-depth analysis of end markets and key technologies, Avian Securities provides customers with insightful commentary regarding investment opportunities. For more information, visit http://www.aviansecurities.com/.> About Montgomery & Co., LLC

Montgomery & Co. LLC is a full service investment bank focused on growth companies. Montgomery & Co. provides research, sales & trading coverage, strategic advisory and M&A services, and public and private financings to growth companies in the software, security & services, communications, healthcare and media & entertainment businesses. Headquartered in Santa Monica and with offices in San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle and Orlando, Montgomery & Co. is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD), and its professional associates are register with the NASD-SIPC.

For more information, visit www.monty.com.