we already knew this, but it's nice to hear it backed up officially. check out the fine. i'm sure they make tens of millions off this, but are fined 75k. Member Firm Disciplined for Deficiencies in Publishing Quotations LaBranche & Co., LLC of New York City, "An NYSE hearing panel found that the firm failed to adhere to the principles of good business practice in the conduct of its business affairs in that on Dec. 11, 2001, on one or more occasions, it failed to publish quotations in an Exchange-listed security that were an accurate and timely representation of the bid or offer sizes and, in some instances, the bid or offer prices; and failed to show the depth of the market in that security. The panel found that, while the investigation into this matter did not evidence that the firm failed to maintain a fair and orderly market in the stock on Dec. 11, the firm's quoting of the stock 100 shares X 100 shares with respect to 47.5% of the published quotations on that day had the effect of making the NYSE Direct+ system for high-speed automatic execution of certain limit orders unavailable on numerous occasions. The hearing panel also found that LaBranche had a responsibility to publish accurate quotations showing the depth of the market, thereby providing a better indication of what was occurring in the stock on the day in question." The NYSE imposed a penalty of a censure and $75,000 fine. LaBranche consented to the penalty.
NYSE will continue to impose fines as a source of income. Moderate enforcement of flagrant violations at a slow pace is a continuous game of "cops and robbers" Satisfy the public and keep the specialists happy AND get paid. What could be more perfect?
and look at what it said. ladenburg had the market 1x1 on 47.5%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! out of the entire day, ..... it took NEARLY HALF OF THE DAY'S quotes to get this fine....clearly, they do this to a lesser extent in most stocks, and on a lesser %, every day....this, so they can exploit the order flow they have on the book. having the crowd isn't enough.