After weeding out Susquehanna stocks, it generally boils down to the individuals not what firm they are with...I spend time trading a stock to see how the specialist will handle my orders, then focus on the ones I like. Also, I'll never trade with AMEX specialists...
I agree. In some stocks, using a market order is like giving the specialist a blank check. In DJ for example, he'll hold my market order for up to two minutes so he can gauge the stock's order flow before giving me a print. I also hate it when you see size on the Openbook at the inside quote, but the Specialist fades the bid or offer to 100 shares so you can't NX out. Then when you go market, he pulls the bid or offer away and prints you 10-15 cents worse before refreshing the quote with the correct Openbook size at the previous level. Damn crooks! You just have to try out different stocks and go with the ones where the specialist won't screw you (too much). Or go with the more liquid stocks where you have the option of using ECNs.
ryan: There's a recent thread somewhere here about some specs now having the technology in place to move their quotes in response to the futures. Maybe your specs just got this ability or they are making more automated use of it. I suppose that if I were a spec and I got hit with a flood of program orders every time the futures turned, I'd want to do this too. Unfortunately, it seems reasonable, since they are reflecting the market accurately - it just sucks that they're earlier than they used to be I also expect that, especially in the last couple days, the specs have screwed way down on their risk parameters, and try not to be in positions that they don't have to take, because of the headline risk. So, instead of trying to find the other side of your trade and gamble with you, he just moves away and makes sure he gets paid well for the additional risk. I'd expect this to be particularly bad for buy orders - the scuttle is that nobody wants to be short. Someone showed me the specialist short stats, which have come down dramatically in recent months.
good post......i have never traded the pep specialist but i'll take a look at him now. Are there any other specialist you like?
freezing the book shuttin down nx nil improvments itemizing to screw you open up quote / print immediately (take it all ) and close, drop quote ignoring orders puttin the screwball on market orders It seems the specialists must be hurting with the lack of institutional participation because they, as a whole, seem to be getting more "snakey" lately.
If that is true then trading must have been really easy a couple of years ago. I'm always a few months late...
When my main focus was listed, this was common all the time. I then learned who the fair specs were and avoided the others that weren't. Of course, I have always wondered if the "fairness" of a spec changes with the size that the player brings to the table. On the few occassions where I traded size in these "unfair spec stocks," I was always given red carpet treatment, so it is unclear to me... nitro