I visited the floor of the NYSE exchange a while back While I was down there I was talking with a floor broker about how he gets size orders done in a busy stock. He was talking about various ways to deal with the specialist and the 'crowd'. At one point in the conversation he mentioned another well known firm and a 'dirty trick'(his words) they use to get size done. He said if a stock has a surge of buy orders and everyone is going toward the post to see how the stock is, this aforementioned firm will take say 100,000 share offer which is on the specialists book through ITS instantly before anyone can even talk to the specialist. My question is; does ITS allow you to take down 100,000 shares with out any human intervention in a listed stock? Has anyone with floor experience seen this situation happen? Personally I don't think it's 'dirty' I would just like to know how to move that kind of size without clerk or specialist intervention. Any input is appreciated- Scalp
I havent worked on a floor in years, ITS is the Intermarket trading system which links the exchanges....NYSE, AMEX, CHX, BSE, etc. If the NY offer is at .10 and the CHX has a .09 cent offer the NY broker can take CHX stock thru ITS. Unless things have changed the broker has to bid at the specialists post (clear the post) first before sending. To benifit from ITS you have to be a floor member of one of the exchanges. Back when I used it there was human intervention.....the bid to buy (say 100000 shares) flashed on the screen with a 3 minute time out....the specialist (or clerk) on the receiving end had to accept the order and enter the contra broker give up. I don't think this has changed but will will ask someone still on the floor. Sending that order without clearing the post was a serious no no.
When a DOT order was sent to the NYSE, there was always the possibility that stock could trade ahead. I was told that the NYSE DOT and SUPERDOT systems were "order delivery systems" only. In contrast, an ITS order was immediate and firm (at least that is what we were told). This was all as of 5 years ago so things could have changed.
ITS is for the exchanges to use to trade with other exchanges... not for the retail customers. Brokers may suscribe to CAES on the same system for their customers. The ITS is very similar to the old SelectNet for Nas Stocks. A pop-up window appears on the screen with a request to buy or sell at a price, with a time limit (usually 15 or 30 seconds). As I understand it... The receiver of the message can: Accept the whole trade Accept part of the trade, reject balance Reject the whoe trade Let the order time out after the set period of time. It is an antiquated system and definitely not cutting edge. The option floors just stated using the same system under a different name to help facilitate cross-floor trading.
I agree with Nitro. This is interesting. Can you elaborate on this Jeff? Is a direct connection to the regionals done through regular retail accounts, or is some membership or special access required? Thanks!