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Non-Tech : Web Street Securities (WEBS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gorak Shep who wrote (607)	8/9/1998 8:54:00 PM
From: wlcnyc	Respond to of 1339

Thanks. You have answered the "bigger" question. "So, you may never know whether Web Street receives payment but it really doesn't matter. The end result for the customer is the same either way." Exactly what I thought and is the reason I mentioned it in reponse to your statement concerning the "other" broker's free trades: "...only apply to market orders where they can direct orders based on payment for order flow rather than best execution.<i/>" Unless I am missing something, for the free trades at Web Street, whether the order is a market or a limit order, it may still be directed for order flow rather than best execution. Sorry if I have prolonged this more than need be. I have been trying to get an answer to this question for a long time in order to better understand it all. Thanks again, Bill

To: Gorak Shep who wrote (607)	8/9/1998 9:02:00 PM
From: cicak	Respond to of 1339

Very interesting discussion. I've had a lot of the same questions myself. I'm already aware of the "payment for order flow" issues and was curious about how this would affect my trade executions. I've been very pleased with my trade executions so far. I have level II and I've been able to get trade executions between the bid and ask price on several occasions. However, I don't understand the mechanics of how this happens. How does a market maker decide whether to fill an order between the bid and the ask price ? Thanks.