Steve,
Placed an buy limit for an Nasdaq stock with a discount web broker. call it SureeThing (not real name), ST for short. Market was 10 15/16 X 11 1/8, 1500 X 100 when I placed a limit buy for 1000 at 11. after a minute or so the bid goes to 1000 at 11. I suppose since I wasn't hit my bid was broadcast. OK.
A few more minutes go buy, and a 1000 shares trade at 11, but my order wasn't executed. Wait a couple more minutes to make sure it wasn't my order, since confirmations sometimes take a couple minutes.
This is the cute part. I don't cancel my order, but enter a change order, the only change being the price. Change it from 11 to 10 3/4, which I suspect drops my price 1/16 behind the insider market maker.
I immediately check my order status. Surprise, my original $11 order executed while my change order was pending.
I think my broker was front running. Holding my shares. If the market went against me, ST would execute my order. If the market was with me, I would never get a fill.
BTW, I was happy with the fill and only changed my price to push the broker into filling my order at 11. The stock never sold below 11 in the past month, I bought last Tuesday and it closed Fri at 11 7/16.
Sound like I may be right about what the broker was pulling? (This particular broker provides minimal confirmation information: the date but not the time of trade. Even DATEK provides immediately proveides the exact time of order entry, executions and cancellations.)
Richard James |
