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Strategies & Market Trends : How To Write Covered Calls - An Ongoing Real Case Study! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Victoria Walley who wrote (11123)	6/30/1999 9:21:00 AM
From: Mark Z	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14162

This doesn't apply to BTGC because their options only trade in Chicago but another possibility when you see a bid equal to what you're asking and your order isn't filled is that your broker routed your order to an exchange that has a lower bid. Most quotes you see are composite quotes showing the 'best' (most favorable) bid/ask. But brokers don't necessarily route your order to the exchange where that bid is. I've learned to look at quotes for each exchange and ask my broker to route it to the exchange with the most favorable pricing. I pay a little more for this but easily recover it in improved pricing. If you receive quotes where the symbol is entered with a '.o' suffix, enter a .co, .ao, .po, .xo (chicago, american, pacific, philadelphia) instead of a .o to see the bids by exchange.

To: Victoria Walley who wrote (11123)	6/30/1999 12:08:00 PM
From: Jon Tara	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14162

Victoria, keep in mind that if you are buying or selling 10 contracts or less, you WILL get a fill at the bid/ask (sell at the bid, buy at the ask) if your order is routed electronically. Check with your broker on their routing algorithm. Some brokers will automatically send certain orders to the floor. Usually (but check with your broker!) a market order for less than 10 contracts will go electronically. So, if I've got less than 10 to fill (almost always) and I'm happy with the bid/offer, I'll just enter a market order. The specialist should never has an opportunity to back away - the computers just make the trade. MY experience with MY broker is that if I place a limit order, the specialist can back away, and has done so. I know that if you are used to trading NASDAQ stocks, you have probably learned never to place a market order. In many cases, though, I think it is justified and safe with options.