Right now they don't. But if those HFT/Rebate guys all shift there, the stocks will do plenty of volume. It's not gonna happen over night. But they could definitely take their game to a new stock. The volume on The NYSE is gonna take a huge hit if these guys don't head over to a new stock. I am sure a lot of the ecns/dark pools will do something to attract these guys somewhere else. These guys aren't goin anywhere.
I think that whole rebate game is going away anyway. If these guys actually knew how to trade, then yes, they could take their game somewhere else. But when your trade is based on a gimmick, then you are a sitting duck. Gimmick's never last forever.
The rebate game has been goin away for a long time. The rebate routes hit last (FLOW,BATS), so those guys are either taking the stock down a penny after getting hit and trading out of it, or if lucky enough, hitting one of the last bids in the book (and probably paying a decent amount to do so) for a scratch. A lot of the traders in C are just trading the spread. Paying sometimes to get in/get out. The ones who make any money that is. Rebate trading ,like you said, is a gimmick....and a losing game.
Agreed, unless the exchanges stop giving rebates, the game has NOT changed, just the stock symbol. As long as the leverage/capital is available, the hedge funds, HFTs, prop firms will move their volume somewhere else, however the "gimmick" of the rebates may lower the margin of profit, especially if they shift to mid-points just to get the rebate.
Yeah...I am sure a lot of people want to see the death of the rebate/HFT guys. But they aint goin anywhere. Like you said they will just find a new symbol. All they need is a low priced stock like ALU,S,SIRI. I would imagine they will start moving over to one of those beginning of May.
It still won't trade anywhere even close to C pre-reverse split. Prop shops, black boxes, HFTs, etc. can only create so much volume. If they're on both sides all day like they are in C, you still need somebody on other side of the trade. C trades a ton not only because of the prop shops, black boxes, HFTs, etc. but also because it's a widely held stock and one of the most popular companies in the world. Sprint, not so much at all.