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Non-Tech : Datek Brokerage $9.95 a trade -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dan Duchardt who wrote (6294)	12/23/1997 8:34:00 AM
From: MJR	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

I'm not sure it's quite sure that you will NEVER get a buy below the ask and a sell above the bid. Some of that is up to the market makers... let's say XYZ is trading at a bid of 10 and an ask of 10 1/4. If you put a sell order in at 10 1/8, you may get the fill if a couple of things are happenning: 1) the MM wants to accumulate shares because he knows/thinks this is a good price that he will be able to unload for a profit later, or 2) things are bullish with XYZ and the bid is about to go up. Note that 1 and 2 could be, but don't have to be, for the same reason. A similar bearish argument could be said for being able to sell above the bid. Buys and sells between the bid/ask can and do happen.. even with Datek.. in fact, that's why I'm with Datek.. they have on some occasions been able to fill my order between the spread giving me an extra 1/16th or so.. which is free money! I'm surprised the rep you talked to didn't phrase it with the term "usually" rather than "never" Hope this helps, Mike

To: Dan Duchardt who wrote (6294)	12/23/1997 10:03:00 AM
From: Fred Puppet	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 16892

Dan, your understanding of how the system works is correct. The person that you spoke to at Datek is wrong. To verify this, you might go to the NASDAQ site: nasdaq.com Enter OLOG (the stock that you wanted to buy) into the box, and you get a quote along with a blue box that says "New SEC Rules Apply". Click on the blue box to read more about the new rules. In summary, when you place a buy order between the bid and ask, your order becomes the bid. If nothing else changes, then the next person who sells at the market sells to you. However, other retail customers or market makers can also place bids at your price, in which case you might not be the one to buy when a market sell order arrives. The broker that handles that market sell order can route it to any market maker at the best bid. They are unlikely to route the order to Island if they have an established relationship with another market maker at the best bid.

To: Dan Duchardt who wrote (6294)	12/23/1997 11:12:00 AM
From: Jon Tara	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 16892

"I called Datek and was told that I will NEVER get a buy below the ask price, or a sell above the bid price. Limit orders just have to wait for the market to move to meet them or they will never get activated." You should e-mail Jon Normile and let him know which ignorant Datek rep told you that, so that they can be educated. That is absolutely incorrect. It is possible to buy at the bid and sell at the offer. Not guar-ahn-teed by any means, but possible, and I have done so, on Datek.