Site's on track to sell $100M in debentures: As stock markets sputter and and interest rates drop... FMSbonds, a local municipal bond dealer, has discovered that tax-free bonds have become an attractive addition to investor portfolios... Klotz and his business partner, Paul Feinsilver, decided to capitalize on heightened interest in bonds in 2000 by using the Internet to sell the staid securities. Though FMSbonds was founded in 1978 to give investors money management advice, the 2-year-old site has expanded the company's reach as customers from Los Angeles to New York order bonds from the company site.

The site has worked as an inexpensive marketing tool. Before going online, the company would spend hundreds on newspaper ads that resulted in about 30 leads on potential buyers. Now the company receives up to about 2,000 inquires a month, Klotz said.

In the site's first full year of operation, FMSbonds sold $40 million worth of bonds online, and this year they're on track to sell more that $100 million via the web. The company has received an estimated 22,000 inquires a month since launching the interactive web site in March 2000, and overall sales have jumped to a steady $318 million worth of bonds for each of the past six months.

The firm has trading rooms in North Miami Beach, administrative operations in Boca Raton and sales office in both.

Bernard Lewis, 90, has been investing with the firm for more than 20 years. The Sunny Isles retiree's investments have funded his grandchildren's college education and are sending one to Florence to study psychology for six months. "I've done business with a lot of brokers, and they are the most honest bunch of fellas I've met," Lewis said.

Internet administrator Michelle Parker calls him after he makes a purchase online to confirm that he wants to buy a particular bond and understands what he's buying. If he decides the buy was a mistake, the firm returns his money -- something Lewis values because each online purchase must be a minimum of $15,000 in face value, or the amount paid to holders at maturity. The company sells bonds only from its own inventory, so customers don't have to wait for brokers to order them.

Klotz also posts commentary and analyses on the site. Investors can also surf the company's site and see its inventory without registering or paying a fee. "Even if you don't buy, there's so much you can learn," he said.