Trading via the opening print

Discussion in 'Trading' started by LelandC, Jun 14, 2001.

  1. LelandC

    LelandC

    Just wondering if anyone here has figured out a way to use the opening print on a listed stock to his advantage? The nice thing about the listed market is that one can enter a market order before the open and that order will become part of the opening print.

    I have heard that some of the traders at Bright Trading use Open-only orders but I am not sure if those are the same thing or not?

    Leland
     
  2. Hitman

    Hitman

    It is very tough to do without a Bloomberg terminal (which has opening indications so you can see where the thing will open). Yes, senior traders at my firm frequently short into the opening print on bad news, but they get to see where the stock opens before hand.

    Another useful trick although unconfirmed is that say you see the entire SOX sector going up, and you want to buy ADI if it opens within a 1/4 point of yesterday's close (say 50). You can use a limit buy order at 50 1/4, so if the stock opens anywhere below 50 1/4, you should get the opening print (advantage: next print could be quite a bit away, and if you trade more than a few positions at a time it cost way too much time to wait for the open while you could be loading up other positions).

    It is also one of the only ways you can get something short without a bullet on a day like today, I believe. I have to confirm this later . . .
     
  3. LelandC

    LelandC

    Hitman,

    I think you still need an uptick to short into the opening print don't you? For example if XYZ stock opens at 50 and immediately tanks off the open and you had a sell short market order in before the open I don't think your short would be part of the opening print. At least this is my understanding? Maybe you could check on this for me?

    Leland