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tonyt, >> And if you put a sell order in at the close, take one guess at what the close will be. << How about if you put in a BUY order at the close? Moreover, even if you put in a sell order at the close, first there is no guarantee that it will reach the market maker before the close & result in a transaction. Second, the prices listed as the bid & asked are dynamic, ever -changing, & frequently updating on your screen long after they Have you never gotten a better or worse fill on an order than the bid or asked would have predicted? Lastly, even if you had something for sale near the close, there is no obligation to put in a market order. A limit order would have been accepted. An example of a surprise fill happened to me today. I bought 5000 warrants at 6.50 when the stock started running & the warrants just laid there. When the stock roared to a quote of 13.25 bid 13.50 asked, I gave Bear, Stearns & Co. an order to sell 5000 Lgnd at 13.25. That order got filled at 13.50. The prices you see in the quotes are not guaranteed for any period of time. The closing quote, given after the close, is not a real bid or asked, but instead an approximation of what the quote provider determined it to be, taking into account only the market makers last prices, but not the electronic competitive exchanges or third market. That's why you see trades taking place after the close at prices outside the "official" quotes. Those trades most probably took place on the electonic competitive exchanges or the third market, which are not bound by prices put up by Nasdaq representing a closing range. Bernie. |
