Long ago I traded some smaller market commodity futures back when floor trading still dominated. I was told that sometimes the bigger fish went stop hunting, they would target an area where they thought a large group of stops were and hope it triggers a large cascade. They looked at retail stops as targets to hit, so in a way it's kind of a conspiracy. I have no idea if this is still a thing or if it ever was, cool story though.
%% I'M sure they would if they could+ higher commissions made it even more likely+ another profit reason. Elephants dont even pay attention to whales; different jurisdiction. Good business going after marlins + sailfish, sardines + sharks; i like a big mouth bass jumping sky Hi trying to throw a lure/LOL I like the LBR joke, the wife said never bring home a stinking can of $194 sardines
Adverse Selection of fills: Algos are allowed to front run your orders by bidding 1/100th of a penny in front of your order. If their fills then "figure" to go against them, the algos then let you get filled, often dumping their stock on you. The justification for the above is that the counterparty is getting price improvement, though to your detriment. Adverse Selection on limit orders, along with the general efficiency of algos, are two of the many obstacles facing day traders.
Thanks....never even heard of 'adverse selection', but putting that into a search engine leads to all kinds of interesting stuff. It's really humbling to learn how little most of us know once you see all of the complex operations behind the scenes. Not sure it would help anyone's trading, but I'd prefer to have a better understanding of how this particular casino works.
Fine to read up on esoterica but KISS avoid pre and post market hours and low priced hype stocks if you don't want to get burned or lets say "almost" burned.
I've already been burned to a crisp. I wouldn't do it again if I had the choice, but the past is the past. Forward!
Please speak for yourself. This is such old news. The fact that you think you are in company speaks volumes to your self assessment. It is 2023 not 2003. Perhaps consider that you need to get educated before you enter the ThunderDome. Those of us who have been trading pre internet, have read hundreds of books. Many still provide valuable background. And we have kept up on a daily basis. So consider your education level is grade school, and you are trying to work in a graduate level arena. That is a better assessment based on your comments like "casino". Log 3-4 thousand hours of education, and you will be at the end of the starting phase. The internet will help but it can be very superficial. Best of luck and hoping you can take this constructively.
Here is a good book that explains a lot of obstacles a day trader faces. The author posts on ET forums. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01EFXO198/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=