All-Tech, which now has 1,500 active trading accounts, was formed from an earlier company in 1988 as day trading was in its infancy.

In May, the company agreed to pay $278,000 to the Massachusetts Investor Protection Fund and investors to settle claims that it used deceptive advertising and made unauthorized transfers of customers' funds.

Matthew Nestor, director of the Massachusetts Securities Division, said regulators began investigating the company because of its ads and literature.

"We were really concerned that a rosy scenario was being created when in fact the vast majority of day traders lose money," he said. "Day trading is speculation. It's not investing."

As part of the settlement, the company is prohibited for two years from having a branch office in Massachusetts and soliciting customers from Massachusetts, Nestor said.

Harvey Houtkin, who joined All-Tech in 1991 and has been chairman and chief executive since 1993, calls himself "father of electronic day trading" and spreads his message through books and seminars.

Day traders buy and sell stocks, bonds or other securities on a moment-to-moment basis, usually using computer terminals linked to vast trading networks.

Unlike most investors who hold stocks for the long term, day traders try to capitalize on the daily ups and downs of the market, using rapid-fire buying and selling.

At All-Tech, each day trader puts up at least $50,000 in equity to open an account, and most paid $5,000 to attend All-Tech's 30-day training course.

They trade with their own money, and all pay a commission of about $25 per 1,000-share trade, or $50 to buy or sell the same shares. For instance, someone who buys 1,000 shares for $141.50, then sells them at $141.75, would net $200 after commissions.

But it's also easy to lose money as a day trader. All-Tech employs a corporate psychotherapist to help traders deal with the daily stresses.

The National Association of Securities Dealers, the parent company of the Nasdaq Stock Market, approved a rule yesterday requiring firms that promote day-trading strategies to disclose to customers — before they open accounts — the risks associated with that type of trading. The risks include the loss of their entire investment. Those using borrowed money to trade could lose that, as well, the ruling said.

The Web site for All-Tech carries this statement: "Warning: Active electronic stock trading is risky. Participants should be aware of and capable of assuming the inherent risks."

In a document filed in November with the Securities and Exchange Commission, All-Tech said it had 114 employees as of last August.

The company's president and chief operating officer is Mark D. Shefts, the general counsel is Linda Lerner, and the senior vice president-operations is Harry M. Lefkowitz, according to the SEC document.