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Non-Tech : Quote.com QCharts -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E. Davies who wrote (4970)	12/19/1999 1:54:00 PM
From: Matthew L. Jones	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 17977

At the risk of upsetting an apple cart, I would suggest the following: Any trade which is dependent upon split second execution should probably be rethought. Those who are under the illusion that because they have a Nasdaq Level 2 screen in "real time" is seeing the "real story" in "real time" is sadly mistaken. Talk to a market maker. You will discover that Level 2 is not a panacea nor does "direct access" provide for the same speed of execution as direct connections which market makers have at their disposal. If you truly think that you are on a "level playing field" as our good friend Harvey Houtkin proclaims, you are in for an expensive education. Kind of like bringing a knife to a gunfight. On the other hand, there are many strategies which work well with good execution and a good picture of the action which real time streaming quotes provide. Having three separate quote vendors all with stocks, options and futures, I can assure you that they all lag slightly from time to time, and that typically the Real Tick 3 platform (quotes coming from PC Quote) lags more than the others. For what it is worth, QC is typically about a half second faster than Interquote which is about two seconds faster that RT3 (PC Quote) which are all several seconds behind the real picture. Some of the delays are exchange issues, some computer issues, some switching and internet issues. Any of them are good for most trading, however one needs to plan on the delay inherent in any internet or satellite or cable quote system available to the general trading public. Trading plans should be modified so as not to be dependent upon split second access and absolute real time. Some of the best traders in the world trade off of nothing more than day charts and limit orders placed sometimes hours before entering the market. Matt