Don Bright, Robert Tharp Maybe I don't fully understand, if you got filled at 39.5 doesn't that mean the stocks inside bid should now be 39.5, and two if someone is selling size don't you want to be short not long? White
White--- no As of right now I just got a price improvement. I was offering 59.67 The bid was 59.58 and the offer was 59.62. I was offering .05 worse than the best offer. The specialist just got an order for 2900 shares (this is a thin stock today) and gapped them to 59.80 which is where I just sold my stock with the specialist. So I just got a .13 price improvement on my trade when you compared it to my order --or a .18 price improvement if you compared it to the best offer The inside bid/ask is now 59.70 bid and offer is 59.76 offer. So he is still away from the market. It did move but very little. He gaps below/above the inside bid or ask. I'm happy to take those. The question is will there be more of those offers? If not than you might not want it. As I'm writing it looks like I sold the high for the last 4 hours. So white to answer your question. No a lot of times it gaps for a huge order (not in this case) and the best bid/ask goes unchanged. This is where knowing a specialist comes into play. Does he execute big orders all at once or break them up into a few different trades? The guys I like to trade put all of their orders together so that they can gap heavily and dump there shares at the inside bid/ask. I just happen to be able to join him on these types of plays all day long. Robert Tharp
When listed stocks do a "print" on the downside it is usually just a momentary "negotiated" trade, and if all else is equal, the stock should return to the normal trading price. There are many reasons why the stock will go back up, but that would take too long to explain here. Just "trust us" ...this is how it works.
I posted it above but some of you might of missed it. There is a great article in active trader Magazine--current issue http://www.activetradermag.com/ about advantages of the NYSE trading. Website doesn't have article posted but run into Borders grab a cup of coffee and read it for free. Robert Tharp
One thing is when a stock gaps heavily enough arbitrage will soon bring it back inline as it was moved too far away from it's relation to the indexes it belongs to. There are a lot of other reasons but that's a big one. Robert Tharp
just curious, how long does it take to get a feel for the type of a specialist youre dealing with? it could take forever to findout if he splits up orders or prints one big order, if there is no major player activity it might be a while befoer you spot a pattern. I know you wont give your secretes out but i'll ask anyways, what things should one watch for? any particular trades (type of trades - size and print between bid/ask or out of current mkt) if you dont want to say thats fine, but is there a source out there that one might get more info on reading the specialist? (besides another thread on ET) thnx traders>>>
this thread is moving off topic heavily. Here is a link on Reading specialist for the new thread http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3282
Hey Rtharp, This NYSE+ you are referring to is that the Limit NX function. I was wondering if anyone has used the limit nx function and if so what is your opinion. I have just been introduced to it. The way it was described to me was, if you want to get filled at the inside market for less that 1K shares you can be instantly filled by sending a limit nx order. If there is stock available at that price level you will be filled instantly. I was wondering if this is available for all stocks. I would like to hear peoples feedback and any information you may have about this option. Thanks
I am intrigued by the concept you are discussing related to price improvement on NYSE when big orders come thru. This is very interesting to learn about and I am trying to distinguish in my minds eye the mechanical differences of how the OTC market works compared to the exchanges. I suppose I really do need to learn more about how the specialist system works. However I do have to say that I trade Naz exclusively (currently) and the stocks I trade-even thinner stocks in the Naz 100-would not move $2.00 on 50,000 shares as Don first suggested. In fact I see more and more a MM (or more often INCA) throw serious size (25k and more) at the inside price and print it (in many smaller lots) and the stock holds or moves the other way! While I am sure that 50,000 shares would move a small stock much more, as Don said it would likely do the same on NYSE would it not?