To: Catfish who wrote (71172 ) 1/30/2008 5:42:36 PM From: rogerover Read Replies (1) | Respond to Mostly trading through a couple of small market makers for many years, back when all OTCBB orders had to be called in on the phone by one MM to another. I learned by reading the tape that my own orders could be reported several different ways, and a single buy of mine might hit the tape several times as the shares wended their way from the seller to his MM, then from the other MM to mine, and then from my MM's "house account" to my personal account with my commission added into the per-share price that got reported on the tape. Even after years of this I would still occasionally be baffled by something, but could always call my guy to ask him to explain what had happened and reconcile it to what printed. I have also had situations with thinly traded micros where, for example, I personally sat there as the "best ask" (just minding my own business and trying to sell my stock) while people on SI complained that "the MMs are holding the stock down." Because my MMs were little tiny companies, other larger MMs like NITE would still get some brokerage firms' orders and would want to match our bid or ask to keep those firms' business and make a commission, so my little order might have a disproportionate effect on the price for a brief period.
