First off, there is no such thing as typical call. I have clients who might be so concerned with a split second execution that they call a few moments ahead and say "josh, setup tobuy 1000 abcd on soes at the market and try it at the bid for 2 minutes" they hang up...they might call back and say "cancel the bid at x, buy it at the market"...report in 2 seconds, if its there. or "you missed it, stocks running, want to change it to y, OK....done".
As for "garbage" of pulling up account info,etc., given that the cardinal rule is to "know" your client, we know just about all our clients and their approach to their own buying power. Look, you can always buy more than your buying power, you either have to come up with cash (as a deposit into the account) or you geta 90day NYSE margin restriction (this is what someone was talking about a few days ago).
Except for the individuals who don't remember whether they have 400 or 500 shares of ABCD, we usually just enter the orders as instructed. If a client consistently went over buying power in a big way and satisfied it by selling out the position (which is not technically legal but can be done) I would have to talk to theclient, explain that it is improper and if they can't keep it in control, yes we will have to check buying power before jumping on trades for him/her.
Repeating back an order...dependson the client. Look most of our clients are very honorable. (to be honest, most people are). I would never want to do business with anyone that wasnt like that. If a client called back and said "I said 100 not 1000 " and I felt it was because it was a losing trade, we just wouldnt do business. This has probably only happened once in the past year.
Repeating is to ensure the firm doesnt have an error. To be honest, I have two good ears as do most of my trades and don't need to have orders repeated for most clients. I have the calls recorded if the client hasan issue with the quantity, price etc. It rarely and I mean rarely happens with us.
You are referring to your situation when you were a "broker". While I am a broker by liscense, as are all traders, I am a trader. When I answer the phone, I am the one who executes the trade. I don't phone it to our trading department. We are the trading department. As fast as I can push the button, I can get a SOES trade, or immediately inform the client that he/she missed it/it moved and suggest an immediate course of action, if any.
In terms of pure speed, you tell me....when you enter (forget Superdot and phone based trading since I dont think most online firms offer that)...when you enter a 1)SOES trade 2) SNET preference trade 3)listed trade....how long from the moment that you hit the key do you get a report? 3 seconds, 5 seconds....count them. Most of the time, Ihave found that many of these systems take 4,5 10or more seconds depending on their systems. ISLD, if you stick to theirinternal system, is one of the fastest, yet venture onto the nasdaq circuit and it can be much longer.
For instance, when I hit the key, I am right on the NASDAQ circuit. You can;t get any faster. I am connected to the primary system.There are no tributaries or routes or servers to move through. If its there you get it in a second, sometimes a millisecond. It takes longer for me to perceive the order turning blue (an execution) than the time the trade goes off. Usually the order turns below before the return key snaps back up. (and I mean that sincerely). Superdot trades...you can't get anyfaster than superdot...routed electronically right to the specialists from my index finger...no subsystems, no checks, no tries to match against an internal book for market making principals,etc.
Now my experiences come from testing the ABwatley and a few others about 6 months ago which seems an enternity in this high tech revolution. But you all tell me if its better than that...if so, then we can work the argument from there.
Regards,
steve@yamner.com |
