Does anyone else have problems with CyberXchange ignoring the BRUT ecn? I will place an order to buy when BRUT is on the inside, and rather than trade against it, it will lock the market with an ARCA order. (Isn't ARCA supposed to use smart order routing?) I've only noticed this in extended hours trading; I can't say whether this happens in the regular market, because there is usually enough market participation that it doesn't matter. And yes, I have 'BRUT' listed in my execution preference list for smart orders (it's not excluded.) I called Cyber, and they have no knowledge of any problem. If any other traders have this problem, they might listen if a few of us call with the same issue.
Maybe. Was this a BRUT offer that was below the 16:00 closing price of the stock? Some platforms may (correctly) have logic that realizes that BRUT can show an offer than cannot be executed against if it is not a legal uptick. This used to mean, during after-hours, a zero-plus tick based on either the 16:00 close or the last trade on BRUT, whichever was later. Now, stocks on the Reg. SHO "A" list, and "B" list after 16:15, correctly can execute at any price on BRUT. If the stock is not in these categories, it's still possible for BRUT to show an offer that you cannot take. The correct strategy (for such stocks) would be to try to manually take BRUT first at its displayed price, then try to take BRUT at whatever the next inside offer is (in which case you may get price improvement to the next legal uptick), and then take the next inside offer. I doubt anyone's smart-router does this, though. Sure would be nice if BRUT, the only ECN that can display an offer you cannot take, would fix this (or be forced to fix it by a regulator). It's a source of manipulation, and a constant pain in the ass.
I think this was the case on a trade I attempted yesterday. But today I attempted to lift a BRUT ask above today's close, and I ended up just locking with an ISLD bid.
That's probably what I'll end up doing, if they can't fix it. It's just a shame; I like everything else about Cyber. But I can't afford to trade if BRUT isn't available.
Also, isn't ARCA supposed to use a smart order routing algorythm? I figured, even if CyberXchange ignores BRUT, my ARCA bid locking the market (on yesterday's trade, not today's) would execute against it.
ARCA is proactive only if you specify it to be. Some brokers disable that feature when routing to arca.