List really looks to me like NASDAQ decided to try it on less popular stocks first. The only widely (relatively)followed stock in pilot 1 list is NEWP. I understand their desire to launch SS away from the major heat; first steps carry increased probability of mistakes, undesired fills and are likely to lead to distorted movements. At the same time trading of those thinly followed stocks is not going to bring much of experience with new routing system, that's obvious downside of this approach.
Still, I think it's rather wise way to roll SS out (I am not touching the question about how wise innovations by themselves are - that we are to see yet :)
In regards of adjustment, we plan to pick several stocks out of pilot 1, representing different price levels, volatility and following, and to observe them for a while, not attempting to trade them. I would like to see how Level 2 shapes up, how readability and liquidity are affected, how speed of price change is affected etc. We are going to try and make our adjustment as quick and painless as it was for us with decimalization.
BTW, there is one more reason for day traders to stay away from trading pilot stocks. It might be not the case for all brokers, but here is how things look for those I talked to:
In order to switch SOES for SS all that brokers have to do on their side is to take away SOES tier size limitation and 5 minutes rule. The rest is done on NASDAQ side. It's not biggie, those are just switches that can be turned off easily. But here is a catch: those switches work for all NNM securities, there is no fast easy way to turn them off for selected stocks. Of course I wasn't able to do extensive research on many brokers (neither intended to), but this aspect certainly carries potential for unexpected outcomes.
In any case, I prefer to stay on the safe side at all times and to double my caution during big changes.
Vadym |
