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Strategies & Market Trends : From the Trading Desk -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Pierre Borczuk who wrote (2848)	4/13/1998 8:09:00 AM
From: steve goldman	Respond to of 4969

I dont know SPComstock or some of the other systems people are using, but most have OLE? plugins for EXCEL, etc. I have our Quotron systems in here locked in EXCEL so I can do such computations. Perhaps creat a database of stocks and the application only displays those where bid-offer>=3/8. Regards, Steve@yamner.com

To: Pierre Borczuk who wrote (2848)	4/13/1998 8:26:00 AM
From: Steven Bowen	Respond to of 4969

No Pierre, I don't. I just have a real small universe of stocks that I watch closely, usually only around 20 or so. I don't go out of my way to look for large spreads, but sometimes when I see them I'll take advantage of them. Another thing, the spread is real dynanmic on most stocks of this nature. One may have a spread of 1/2 or 3/4 for 30 minutes, then it may drop to only 1/4 for the next few hours. It would be tough to scan for. You almost have to develope a universe of stocks you're comfortable with, and then just watch within your universe. Along with a large spread, make sure you find the volume. Liquidity is just as important as the spread. I like 300-400k at a minimum. 500k to a million is better.

To: Pierre Borczuk who wrote (2848)	4/13/1998 8:27:00 AM
From: steve goldman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4969

Thanks for the replies on that questions re: trading/execution times. I received about 15 emails from people detailing their wide range of experiences using various online firms. A couple of notes: 1. Its amazing how many people read SI and don't have access to post messages, etc. As a suggestion, much of the value in SI is the ability to ask a question about a system, or stock and get lots of replies. This site expands your universe and line of vision. 2. A few asked me what kind of execution times we (Yamner & Co) average and if it were any more than 5, 10 seconds, why would anyone come our way...... Yamner & Co, has been around for more than 20 years. We dont make markets, act as principal and work client orders. We utilize every execution system available to get the client the best price, the best execution. We offer direct access to our trading desk, our traders for immediate execution, guidance and feedback. We do it cheaply more than the Abwatleys but less than Schwab and others. Now, that might sound like a bit of a plug, and of course, to an extent, it is :), but I make mention of this to distinquish the type of client we service versus the clients many of these online firms (datek, watley) service. IN MY OPINION, a firm like datek or abwatley or mbtrading can service well the very active day trader, doing high volume, looking for good executions and in no need of feedback, guidance or direct access to the firms' traders. These firms do it quickly and cheaply. (as for which ones might be the best, I don't kow Datek's service,but have experienced ABWatley and know well of MbTrading. If I were go choose such online services, I would go with the latter). Nonetheless they have their limitations. Some have only been around for months and provide no assurances of continued solvency. Remember, this is where you place your cash. Some lack a committmen6t to customer service, transfers, cash requests, check writing.. They offer no guidance or suggestions, nor work orders, rather leaving this all upto you. For many day traders, fully knowledgeable in the industry, these limitations might mean nothing. But how many up here are truly that confident in our skills and our firms? Now, many on these threads are infact, skilled and experienced traders,but in my experience in handling posts and emails submitted to me, there are many up here who are not doing such volume, and would benefit more greatly having direct access to traders, trading desks and every available execution system going. To an extent I am presenting our firm, but more importantly, I think some mention should be made of the lack of suitability of some of these online firms and other opportunities out there. It just so happens I work as trader for one of them. Regards, Steve@yamner.com yamner.com