are you intentionally trying to be obtuse? i haven't assumed anything... i thought debating the merits of the specialist system (i.e. whether they are needed or not) was kind of the point of this thread
My point is ... we don't need specialists. Sounds like you've assumed we do. You are asking for reasons why we need specialists. I'm telling you there aren't any.
All aboard!!!! http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB106608743323540500-H9jeoNllaB2npyraHyHaqmDm4,00.html
Mr. DeSano, 43 years old and a 12-year Fidelity veteran, declined to cite specific cases of suspect trades by specialists. But he said: "I could give you 9,000 examples." He said Fidelity had stopped lodging complaints because he said the rules are so gray that it never yielded results. "You never get any satisfaction, so you stop complaining," he said. i've been trading for nearly 6 years and i have to echo this sentiment exactly. you know you've been screwed, the floor knows you've been screwed and everyone knows there is nothing that is going to be done about it....it's just business as usual....... i hope it changes.
Since there is nothing to complain about and no one to really complain towhen trading OTC, you can only "get screwed" by 3% of the stock price (Island parameters), and sometimes even worse when trading with other entities. But, very few ever complain, because it is fruitless. We (BT) have complaints against the NYSE once in a while, and have recovered a lot of $$$ for our traders. These price adjustments, trade fills, etc. are made in virtually every case that we complain about. We try to teach our people what to be concerned about, and never to "cry wolf'... which may help our cause. When we complain, they seem to listen, and take things pretty seriously...whether it's 100 shares, or 10,000 shares. Every complaint about ECN's or OTC hs not been resolved with any satisfaction (I'll admit that we don't trade a lot of Naz, but we still do a few million shares a year). Let's all put our heads together and find a way to make a decent system better, rather than revert to a system where there is no marketplace. I'm meeting with the people from the AMEX today, who want to start making markets in NAZ stocks, so we can start doing opening only orders, and MOC's etc. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.... (Yeah, I know....the AMEX??). But if their trying to "clean up their act" I'm willing to help. Don
Ok Don, how about asking the AMEX about the QQQ cancel charges or the new QQQ limit order charges, then you can ask them about their options specialist ignoring orders that better the market. Keep us all posted about the great new things the AMEX will be doing for us traders.
You're "reading my mind"... We stopped trading AMEX (99% anyway) as soon as Susquehana started to charge those ridiculous fees. Ane these people know how I feel about all that. But, my door is always open to something that may help the industry. And, yes, I'll keep you posted. (We've know since the 70's not to trade the options on the AMEX, and I have friends on the floor, and even they know better than to trade off floor). Don
Lot of buzz on the specialist system on CNBC and WSJ today. They even had a little poll on it http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CNBCTV/Promos/P63356.asp A guy named "Don" called in-support of the specialist system. Hmmmm wonder if that call was from Las Vegas? I think SEC Donaldson is going to be the road block on change. He doesn't seem like he wants to piss off his weekend friends the specialists and floor brokers. They might shun him at the country club.