Hi Alan,
I don't know if I can be of much help here. First off, when you use SNET do you usually use preference mode or broadcast? I've only recently started experimenting with broadcast.
I've never been a scalper and only recently started to get the hang of day-trading (which may be only a consequence of the strongly directional over-all market). For the most part I try to pick my price points well ahead of time and trade against the flow (read: panic/frenzy) so that I'm buying on the bid and selling on the ask and ISLD is the undisputed champ for that.
Of course I don't always get my price and then I resort to chasing, usually early in (what I think is) a reversal. ARCA is the best bet here because it has the shotgun (scatter) effect. Depending on how desperate the situation, you place your money a little or a lot out of the money and the order stays there until it's completely executed (or the market is long gone). It might not get completely filled by the shares that are out there at the outset, but usually will get done by any backing a little while later.
The types of markets you're describing where MM's are only present with a quote for a few seconds -- I find it futile to try to use a selectnet preference. Just can't make my fingers work that fast. By the time you double-click on the MM and hit the order-send button, he's gone. Maybe broadcast-selectnet works here -- is this what you use?
As far as the efficacy of ARCA in such situations, I'm not sure. I don't play those types of markets that much. Probably there's other people with a lot more experience with them. If it's high volume but not moving much I'm probably going to be trading passively with ISLD. If it's moving and I wanted to chase -- I'm not sure. I think it would depend on how much ISLD activity there is, as that would be one possibility. ARCA does struggle in a similar way to Selectnet with these conditions -- I just don't have enough experience to say. Since ARCA orders to MM's are selectnet-preference orders, they have the same vulnerablility to MM response-delays. So you WILL see your ARCA order standing magically invincible in a sea of bullets ala Little Big Man. But like I say, it's still my preferred route when paying up.
Sorry for the long wind. I think you're with Cyber now, aren't you? Don't they have something similar to ARCA? Do you care to comment? Also, how is their reliability lately? MB has been good.
wily |
