yes well, aside from politics bull market and bear, there seems to be an interesting disagreement over whether smaller is better.
TEA, your suggestions to reduce the ES spread to .1 from .25 is trying to accomplish what? They reduced the spread on stocks to 1 penny, and what did it accomplish? It accomplished that an individual trader cannot make any money now after commissions. Before I could flip a stock by 1/16 and pocket $100 per trade, now I have to sit there for hours like an idiot, waiting while the stock goes up by 6 cents so I can profit. Why is it there is always somebody trying to messup good things. First they took away ETF quotes from Island, now you are suggesting to reduce the e-mini spread. Are your fingers itching so hard that you need something to screw up? We individual traders tell you we want .25, and you are telling us we dont. We individual traders tell SEC we want ETF quotes back on Island because it is good for us, and SEC says it is not. I am sick and tired of this. Leave us alone. You big guys are making billions, stay away from our thousands. BACK OFF. BUZZ OFF. STAY OUT OF IT. DONT COME CLOSE. GET LOST. JUST DONT MESS WITH US ANYMORE THAN YOU HAVE ALRADY.
What a BS!!! In the old good days when daily stocks ranges were $5 to $20 the price quickly changed by 1/16, remember? QCOM, JDSU, EBAY, YHOO... Now, when daily ranges are much smaller, yes you'll have to wait hours "for a 6 cents profit". Wait few years, S&P will be at 400 and they will have to decrease tick to 0.1
That is exactly what I said. I dont want to sit there for hours. Why should I? There is nothing noble in it, nothing useful. It is a waste of time. For long term holders it doesnt matter what price they get in ( a few pennies more a few pennies less) but for me it does. Lets assume for a moment smaller spreads will add liquidity and volume, but what is it good for if price oscillates in 2 penny range, when I need 5+? I mean I just dont understand it, on the one had SEC says smaller spreads are good for us individual investors (we tell they are not) but then they turn around and take off ETF quotes from Island. It seems to me that people involved in policy making just need to create some buzz and activity to show that they are doing something - it is called jobs security. WE DONT WANT YOU TO MESS WITH US ANYMORE. STAY OUT OF IT. NO MORE FIDDLING WITH SPREADS. I DONT WANT YOUR SMALLER SPREADS. I DONT CARE TO GET INTO AN e-mini by $5 cheaper, I ONLY CARE ABOUT ITS MOVES. THAT IS HOW I MAKE A PROFIT. IF YOU DONT GET IT, LET ME KNOW. I WILL SAY IT LOUDER. DUH?
well look, im not gonna pay wider spreads based on your needs. again, based upon your arguement, a $10 spread would be better than a penny spread, right. so everyone should pay a wider spread based upon estrader's personal requirements? one issue is the spread. a second issue is the ETF/island visibility. they are separate issues. if the spread is lowered it is not gonna impact the island visibility-ETF issue. so, why not stay on topic? and i hope that you realize that by arguing for artificially high spreads, you are inviting the type of intervention that you so dislike? your arguements are unsupported and illogical.
Ummm. Is it just me, or are you complaining about not being able to make money with the same methods the much-maligned market-makers use? Narrowing spreads implies that traders have to make an effort at price prediction (even at the 1-5min level), not just be quick on the keyboard exploiting an ARTIFICIAL, RULES-BASED structural barrier to 'true' price discovery getting premia for capturing noise. I sympathize with your frustration, but this is life and we all know the rules: "Adapt or die." regards, laz