I've been noticing that ARCA fill time has been going steadily downhill for a while now, and this morning took the cake. I tried to buy UNH on a pullback, going into ARCA for 1000 shares. Granted the stock was very active, but at the time I placed my order there was a lull. It took almost 30 seconds to get filled, and of course the stock moved up 10 cents in the mean time. There is no way it should have taken that long. Is ARCA now being controlled by the NYSE? So much for a level playing field
Hey Hydro! No I saw the news, but I'm just saying so much for ECN's being a real alternative. ARCA orders used to go through in a second even during fast markets. I really felt like I was dealing directly with the specialist today. What a bunch of BS.
I'm assuming there weren't any available ECN shares so your order went NY limit which can often take 30 secs on an overly active stock. You would have probably been better off sending an NX in there. UNH was my best trade so far today, still long a little.
I was talking about the NYSE/ARCA merger. Should explain why you feel like going through ARCA is sometimes the same as the specialist.
Okay, I guess I will need to switch to a "real" broker where I can NX. Cybertrader just has NYSE and the ECN's. I need to step up my game.