That has already happened. Except during an LRP, and even then, only for 10 seconds, a market order is essentially the same as an auto-exec NX order without a limit. The specialist can't screw you, though; if you go market, you'll get the best NYSE bid or offer.
"It's called REG NMS, and it will be a nightmare when it gets implemented on Mon.".. AutoMate Why, AutoMate, will this be a nightmare? Won't market orders be given better prices? Is there a downside to this rule?
Just my opinion of course but................ my feeling is that it will be a nightmare because, despite all the hullabaloo and supposed preparation that the NYSE, the ECNs and the exchanges have done , the very nature of premise at the center of this whole thing 'ROUTING' will, I believe, cause untold headaches for market participants who need lightening fast executions. In theory, it should be great. But in reality I just don't have faith that the markets will have their collective shit together. I don't want to sound like a fatalist here because I generally embrace change and look for opportunity where other only see doom and gloom but I just have a feeling that the additional loads that will be created in the markets be having to 'route to get best ex' is going to be problematic, especially in times like we have been experiencing with volatility and volume spikes of late. I am taking a wait and see approach to this whole thing but I can foresee issues with the implementation on Mon., I hope I am wrong but my confidence in the NYSE right now is low. As a small sample of the potential for probs on Fri. at 4:30 my firm was still being told that INET DOT facilities had not received order tags from the NYSE so that certain INET DOT order routing strategies would not be able to suppress routing, nor would they be able to tell us if our orders interacted only with the specialist or got routed until we get our bill. :eek: Hope I am wrong in being pessimistic but I have been hearing a lot of "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst" type of statements, and this is from one of our ECN reps. Auto