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

To: Dan Duchardt who wrote (6493)	1/28/1998 8:29:00 AM
From: Scott Pedigo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

when the price fell to 5/8 ask by 9/16 bid I offered it at 5/8. For over a day, with hundreds of executions at both prices, I I did not filled. The price fell to 9/16 by 1/2, and I lowered my price to 9/16. For over three days the bid and ask held steady with hundreds of trades at both prices each day; I never got filled. Somebody is under a misconception - either you or me. Why do you think your stock should have been purchased at the current "ask" price? Unless you are a trader yourself, or using one of the more expensive and elaborate trading systems which lets you get between the "bid" and "ask" and sell/buy directly to/from other investors, you must sell/buy to/from a market maker. And the market makers were willing to pay the "bid" price for your stock, or sell some to somebody else at the "ask" price. You can't sell your stock at the "ask" price. If you set a limit price for the sell which is higher than the current "bid" price, you can always hope that the price will trend up, or that there is some jitter in the prices and the "bid" price will spike up long enough for your order to get filled, but it seems that you just trailed the stock down due to a misconception. Or am I mistaken? I'm new at this and don't claim to particularly know what I'm talking about.

To: Dan Duchardt who wrote (6493)	1/28/1998 12:27:00 PM
From: Esteban	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

Dan, That experience you relate about your AMEX trade is very strange. I've found that if I get to what should be first in line on the ask as a seller, I get the next fill. Same on NYSE. The difference between the two exchanges for me has been that I can see my offer reflected in the quote when mine is the best on NYSE, not on AMEX. Still I always seem to get the fill that I would expect. Here's my understanding of how orders are handled on the AMEX and NYSE. Your order to sell placed at the ask should be entered in the specialist's book and basically filled in the sequence in which it was entered assuming there are enough buy orders at that price to fill all the orders entered before yours. If there were hundreds of trades at the ask and your order was on the book it is very unlikely that the list was so long that you wouldn't have been filled. Just because you don't offer at the bid does not mean you're not entitled to a fill. Every time I've called DATEK about representation the rep initially tells me that since I didn't offer at the bid I have no right to expect a fill. NOT TRUE as they verify after putting me on hold for a while. It depends on the circumstances. This does not hold true on the NASDAQ. The MMs have no obligation to fill your sell order unless it is at the bid. If my understanding of order handling on the exchange floors is incorrect, I'd very much like to hear from someone who knows better than I. Gorak? Esteban