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Non-Tech : Interactive Brokers / Timberhill -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: James Hill who wrote (855)	12/8/2000 9:21:32 PM
From: rocklobster	Respond to of 9012

I wish I could tell you regarding Island ordering or posting limit orders in general. I have only used IB best execution because I havn't wanted to limit my exposure to any other order streams.. I don't know enough about these different execution routes to advise.. sorry I can't be of more help....I asked Dan about this but haven't heard a response yet.. rok

To: James Hill who wrote (855)	12/8/2000 10:25:36 PM
From: Jeff Jordan	Respond to of 9012

a 1/16 is .0625 I generally go 1/256 when I want to jump ahead of bids that are being filled... ie 20 1/256 or 19 255/256 if there are 50 bids @ 20 ahead of you you may not get filled as and example....then you should also consider the volume on the bid/ask side

To: James Hill who wrote (855)	12/9/2000 10:51:02 AM
From: Dan Duchardt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9012

James, What you have observed is very common these days. ECNs accept price increments much smaller than what Nasdaq will display on level2. ISLAND changed their procedure several months ago to stop rejecting orders that would lock the market. Those orders cannot be displayed in level2, but they are now being listed internally and are available for execution. The only thing I can suggest is that you learn to use this reality to your advantage. One of the good things about IB is that it displays ECN quotes down to increments of 1/64, so you can usually see when someone steps ahead of you. Question: What is the best choice in selecting order routing for a limit order? There is no hard fast rule on this, but here are things that affect your decision. ISLAND (ISLD): On the plus side- very liquid, and fast. There are some traders I hear who use ISLAND only. The only negative is the relatively high probability of orders getting split into partial fills, which can leave you with less than 100 shares that cannot be displayed on level2. You can usually get flat or round out your lot using ISLAND itself, or hitting an MM with SOES. INSTINET (INCA): On the plus side- also very liquid with lots of institutional activity. Frequent opportunity for buying at bid + 1/64 or selling at offer - 1/64 (actually, most of these execute at the offer). INSTINET executions, or at least the confirmation of executions has gotten much slower over the past month or two, often taking 8 to 10 seconds. Only accepts round lots. ARCA: Fair liquidity, but not all that often at the inside market. ARCA is an order routing system, not just an ECN. I don't use it that way, but I will hit it if at the inside. Not sure about how ARCA handles odd lots. RDBK (REDI): Good liquidity, and also an order routing system. Nice system for placing short sale orders because it will work your order one tick above the bid on downticks. It is faster than you are at moving your offer down as the market falls. REDI will accept odd lot orders, but will not break a round lot to fill them. BRUT, BTRADE (BTRD): Good ECNs to hit if there is a quote you want to take out, but not the best place to post an order since not as many retail traders have access as for the ECNs above. It depends on the stock and the action on the stock. Round lots only. MXT: I don't even display it anymore because of screen real estate issues. Can be useful outside of regular market hours. SOES: Very good for marketable limit orders against the trend, i.e., selling into a rally, or buying on a pull back. Not so good for going with the trend because of competition and uncertain status of displayed MM quotes. You can't post limit orders on SOES, but you can place limit orders to ensure against slippage. No odd lot restrictions, but there are (for a while longer) upper limits on size. Limit orders automatically cancel when market moves away from you. Dan