"LaBranche shares fell 9.7 percent, or $1.84, to $17.21 in midday trading on volume of more than 1.4 million shares. Its average daily volume is 436,650, according to Standard & Poor's data. Earlier, the shares fell as low as $16.95. In mid February, LaBranche, the largest New York Stock Exchange specialist by number of common stock listings, said it might miss analysts' first-quarter consensus earnings targets given the market conditions and said it would provide further guidance in mid-March" i guess the specialists arent getting rich either in this market.
I talk to someone whose dad helps run a specialist firm and they have not made money in 4 months as a firm and the rumor is that several specialist firms will be handing out pink slips in the next few weeks to traders. Kind of scary if they are not making any money.
looks like NYSE has to approve your firm for liquidity quote. they say it is not additional cost to openbook users.
What is disappointing about this thread is that it looks like a rule change is coming from the SEC since they are already testing it out, yet no one knows how the hell it will effect traders. The SEC filing did not go into enough detail and explain how orders will be handled. It seems that it will be an important change because if I understand it right it could seriously alter a lot of short term trading strategies. I am not getting a ton of price improvement right now but if thing pick up again and have follow thru like a few months ago it could mean the difference in getting 20 cents on a trade or 40 or 50 cents on a trade depending on how they fill your order.
I think "they" stuck this in Rule 60 , supposedly about quotations. And I think you are appropriately named given what this rule will do to your strategy.
just flex your muscles and see what they can dish out. lets never give up!!! Its too much of a nice way to make a living.
i have been seeing it on WMT and getting the improvement, however the print is outside the market and the quote never changes...in fact there was a crazy one in WMT today during the morning he was showing 48.00 x 48.05 and printed a 48.50 i thought it was an error, but sure enough he gapped it up a 1/2 point. made a nice short got the fill and it came all the way back in and covered at 47.70, but thats besides the point
one more comment, i havent had as many price improvements either, and sometimes just outright screwed as never before... for example the market is 48.05 x 48.10 and i put in a buy at 48.15 just to make sure i get the fill, he fills some 10's goes and fills me at .15 and then goes on printing 10's... i am going to look into it more tommorrow
Market Orders When a liquidity bid is published in addition to a best bid, a market order to sell of a size greater than the size of the best bid will be executed to the extent possible against the best bid (or the order will be crossed by the specialist when he or she is acting as agent for the order using the auction market procedures in NYSE Rule 76, which calls for the member to publicly bid and offer on behalf of the orders before making a transaction with him- or herself) with the balance of the sell order being executed at the higher price of the liquidity bid or at the price of other orders on the book below the best bid, but above the liquidity bid. For example, assume the best bid is $20.10 for 200 shares, while the liquidity bid is $20.05 for 10,000 shares, with no other bids in between the best and liquidity bids. If a market order to sell 1000 shares is received by the specialist, 200 shares would trade at the best bid price of $20.10, and 800 shares would trade at $20.05, the liquidity bid price, unless the specialist in crossing the order obtains price improvement for it. If there were other bids on the book between the best and liquidity bids, the sell market order could receive executions at those prices. For example, if, in addition to the best and liquidity bids of $20.10 and $20.05 in the previous example, there were also a bid of $20.07 for 300 shares, the market order to sell would be executed as follows - 200 shares at the best bid of 20.10, 300 shares at $20.07 and 500 shares at the liquidity bid of $20.05, unless the specialist in crossing the order obtains price improvement for it. Market orders to buy would follow the same principles using the best and liquidity offers. Limit Orders NYSE is proposing that similar procedures would be used for the execution of limit orders when there are liquidity bids and offers as well as best bids and offers. In that regard, when a liquidity bid is published in addition to a best bid, a limit order to sell of a size greater than the size of the best bid, but which is limited to a price executable at or above the liquidity bid price, would be executed first against the best bid (or crossed as explained above), with the balance of the order being executed within its limit price at a price at which orders on the book will not be traded through. For example, assume there is a best bid for 200 shares of $20.10 and a liquidity bid of $20.05 for 10,000 shares. In addition, there is a bid for 500 shares at $20.07. If a limit order to sell 1,000 shares at $20.05 is received by the specialist, it would be executed as follows - 200 shares at $20.10, 500 shares at $20.07 and 300 shares at the liquidity bid of $20.05. In all these examples, however, as with market orders, the specialist would follow NYSE auction market crossing procedures in an effort to obtain price improvement for the order. Limit orders to buy would follow the same principles. i found this guys, it appears contradctroy b/c it says you wont get im,provement but the specialist will make an "effort" to improve. i didnt really read it closesly b/c i am tired but thought i would post it before going to sleep here is the link to the full doc. http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro/34-47091.htm here are comments that seems there is still confusion http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro/nyse200255/jtbrown1.htm