I can assure your illiterate ass, that I've had days that I've traded more options than you have in your life. And yes it is ridiculous for an OTM in QQQ to be trading in nickels. An .05 on a .40 cent option is a HUGE edge to give up. Yes in more illiquid equity options trade is not facillitated in even the smallest of denominations. But in the liquid issues that also lack tremendous volatility such as CSCO, nickels suck!
Jesse J., Why is everyone here stupid but you? First I'm stupid, now Pabst is, too. Is your last name Jackson? ROCK
I gotta agree with Brother Rock... the name of the game is to be able to adapt... if you can't adapt to current circumstances, you will join the pile of losers that forms the majority of trader newbies...
You want a liquidity quote? Just enter a bid for size a few pennies above the offer, you'll get plenty of size. The markets may not look as liquid with penny ticks but in reality there is plenty of liquidity and you can take down more size at a cheaper cost (i.e. you don't have to pay up 12 1/2 cents.)
Very good point def... for size traders who need several price levels for execution, there are major merits to the decimalized system...
decimalization has nothing to do with it...it is the increment size that is important. personally i would think that 5 cent increments would be the best case scenario. i am so tired of the specialist trading 1 cent in front of me all day everyday.
you forgot one more option... stop quibbling over pennies, and adjust your trading strategies... if youre looking for a penny here and a penny there are you only scalping for 10-15cents??? c'mon...
If you're tired of the specialist pennying you, then why not add two cents to the order instead of one or actually lift the offer - which in most of the major stocks have spreads < 5 cents. If you're not a scalper, you're basically stating that you'd rather pay up 5 cents than have any chance of getting a better price under current conditions. I also don't think the specialist is necessarily the one diming you. It might be someone else at your firm or the thousands of other traders scalping the same stock.