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Strategies & Market Trends : Trading the SPOOs with Patrick Slevin! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Chip McVickar who wrote (3236)	1/26/2000 12:55:00 AM
From: Patrick Slevin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7434

Jeez, I don't know what the heck it is with the new version of SI. I was on the old version when I read your post and could not access your links. Now I'm on the new version and I still cannot access them. They look incorrect now that I look more closely. There are only 5 digits and SI is currently up to 8 digits. I'm pretty sure I was around when there was only 6 digits in a message id but I think I showed up just after they rolled from 5. Anyway, I don't know who would tell you Merrill can handle orders better than Carl. Carl probably does their orders through Man and Man is one of the biggest around the globe. Besides if you are trading electronically using the mini it's of no difference anyway. If you are trading the spoo then Merrill probably isn't handling it as well as Aron or McDonald or Plaza or a handful of others with uncommon names. But you nor I aren't exactly trading hundred lots, so I don't think Merrill or Aron is going to outperform the other consistently anyway. What I was saying about Carl was based on a conversation with people who I would believe would know. This conversation is over two years old and things might be different. But my understanding at the time was that the key issue with Carl was accessibility to the desk, that it was not uncommon to have difficulty sending in the order. In other words, a "desk" related problem, not a floor related problem. This was shortly after they were acquired by Man and for all I know that problem is no longer an issue. Me I would not use them because I would rather use Man if I used either. Personal preference. I know people who clear through or work for LFG; but I also have an account though LFG so I would not be looking to swap it around when its clearing the same way, all I would be changing is who I'm speaking with on the phone. The people I speak with on the phone (who are with LFG) I'm happy with so there would be no reason to move. Is this what you are looking for? Again, I don't know what the original posts were so I tried to answer the question in various ways. As far as ML is concerned, I have a retail account at ML and was left hanging on the phone just Monday around 3:45 trying to catch a low to buy...almost hung up as the instrument moved higher as I waited about 3 or 4 minutes. To be truthful the only desks I've never had an occasional problem getting through on the phone to are the Man Desks I have accounts with; one Futures, one Equity Options. At the moment I have accounts with seven firms that come to mind. So, just because it's Merrill or Carl doesn't mean it's not going to happen now and then. <talking about the discount desk or the direct floor service having lousy service> The desk; although I don't have that as personal experience and I don't know if the situation still exists. Well, I think I must have hit what you wished to hear by now. Let me know if it's something else. Now let me ask a question; weren't you happy with an old white-shoe firm in Boston that you were speaking with? Something happen there?