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

To: Scott Pedigo who wrote (6494)	1/28/1998 9:07:00 AM
From: Dan Duchardt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 16892

Scott, You raise an excellent question. I don't claim expertise either, but I'm starting to learn a few things. AS I do, I am finding there are a LOT of misconceptions about how things work. I concede that some of those misconceptions may be mine, and I'd like to have them corrected My post was in response to Esteban's, which clearly implied that he was getting filled at better prices than I was because of Datek's good work on his behalf. If your impression is correct that we can never get filled offering stock at the ask, or buying at the bid, then all of us should know that going into the game. Esteban's post suggests something more favorable is at work. Datek has responded to other posts on the board saying that it is possible to get price improvement, sometimes. I do know that NYSE and AMEX are different from NASDAQ, and the way orders are handled is different. "Market Makers" are firms working NASDAQ stocks. The exchanges have specialists working each stock to ensure an orderly market, and bids and asks somehow go to them from the brokerage firms, some of which have "seats" on the exchange. There are trading systems (at least for NYSE) that get your order directly to the floor of the exchange and into the hands of the specialist for processing. I do not know if orders are somehow then prioritized. The last time I looked on their web site, I saw Datek's description of NASDAQ order handling, but I didn't find anything like that for NYSE or AMEX. I really don't know how Datek handles an AMEX order, and I have no idea where my order was sitting, or what status it had in relation to other orders for those days when I was not getting filled. I'd like to hear from somebody who does know.