bluesky - The MMs can't see your stop orders. They just have a pretty good idea where a lot of people are probably placing them if they want to try to run them. Free websites and realtime alerts don't normally fit in the same sentence. Your broker might provide realtime alerts though, but if you're trading intraday and you don't have a realtime quote service (which will be for a fee), why not?
Thanks guys for this wealth of information. Because of my time zone (Guam island in the Pacific), I normally swing trade because I have to sleep just when the market starts and awakens during the last hour of trading. Thus, I have to put stops to protect me against any major event while I'm asleep. Obviously, the alert method won't be practical for my situation. I believe I just have to continue using stops but I'll have to re-evaluate its positioning taking money management in consideration. Thanks again.
but what I was taught (and do) is NEVER announce to the specialist what my stop is...I just make a note of it and when the bid or ask gets there, pull the trigger. Also, I never set a stop at an obvious number...for example, if the stop should be at .10, I'll do at .09 or .11. If you're trading from Guam or Hawaii, etc., my rules (above) obviously won't work if you are not at your terminal t execute it. Good trading, Jim B.
ArchAngel, Are you saying that stop orders entered through broker will not be seen by MM until it is triggered? Does this apply to NYSE and NAZDAQ stocks? I called my broker and I was told MM will see my stop order before it's triggered on NY or NAZ. I am confused now. I have realtime quote but no realtime alert from my broker. I don't have Direct Access account. I watch tick by tick for the stocks that I have position open and enter order if a mental stop is reached.
i would say that specialists don't care about your couple thousand share stops. they don't move markets, its the fundmanager/institutional guys that send the 50-100k share orders that move markets. nasdaq mm on the other hand i'm not so sure.