Steve, how are very large orders worked such as on the scale of 100,000 or 200,000 shares or more. I imagine this depends on the market that is used and also on the liquidity of the stock. For NASDAQ, institutions like the fundies probably go directly to a MM that specializes in large block transactions for this, right? What order of magnitude of shares can a brokerage business such as yourself able to handle in a given order? Lets take an example of a 200,000 share order with INTC and another with a more illiquid stock like SYMC or perhaps even ATML. At what point will you have to execute the order over a period of days? I cannot imagine a brokerage business able to efficiently execute the a *very* large order to the customer's advantage during the same day, or is this possible? For that matter, the brokerage business has other customers to attend to.
Also, can you define specifically what is meant by 2nd, 3rd, and 4th markets? You did give us some idea in a recent post, but I would like a more complete picture. Is this what was meant by a person I know who was in training at a brokerage house that said customer orders are unlikely to hit the floor of the exchange?
Oh, and how about today's market? I thought unlike some that we were not seeing a market rally of any duration. Everytime DJIA fails to make it above or stay above 8000 mark, it takes a big spill.
Thankyou, Steve.
Bob Graham |
