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Non-Tech : MB TRADING -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gary Korn who wrote (1092)	9/7/1998 6:01:00 PM
From: Len	Respond to of 7382

Gary, first of all, you know quite a lot, much more than your experience would suggest. Of course market orders work better at Fido.. It gives them a license to steal, especially if they make a market in the stock. I don't necessarily mean illegal, but it gives them a chance to really do you harm in the fills you get. Now, there are times when trading, that you really do have to bite the bullet and post a market order, but not often, at least in my experience. And by the way, it really is possible to get the fills I previously posted. In fact, I rarely pay differently. Also, allow me to post my standard post about Elite Trader. It saves my increasingly painful wrists.<g> Check out elitetrader.com. Baron Robertson has a free site there full of a wealth of valuable information. He has also authored an advanced daytrading course at that site, and it really lays things out in a way you can understand. At $199, it's better than similar programs priced five to ten times as much. While more expensive than most books on the subject, you will make up the cost with one trade using the methods described there. It's online, so you can print it out, or do the chapters at your leisure. And, the one time fee gives you permanent access as he adds chapters. Not affiliated with him in any way. I just recommend his course and site. There's also a free chat room during the day full of friendly people like me <g> who are all very knowledgeable and helpful. And most Tuesday nights at 8:30, he moderates a roundtable discussion where questions are asked, information is exchanged, methods are discussed, etc. Also free. Baron is also an MBT client. Check it out. I think you'll get a lot out of it. Hope it helps you. Len

To: Gary Korn who wrote (1092)	9/7/1998 6:11:00 PM
From: Jeff Jordan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7382

Gary, I agree w/ Len it's costing you big money...I almost always buy at bid. The only time when limit orders cost me money is when the price is moving faster than I can change my orders and I'm talking 1/4~1pt. Also w/ your fast internet access you could be in/out before you could get your broker on the phone...that can equal thousands. Gary you need to open another account w/ either MB Trading or AB Watley to say the least. Even Dreyfus. What good is your L2 if you can't push the button to make a trade? w/ soes trading you will do even better. Look into it. Jeff

To: Gary Korn who wrote (1092)	9/7/1998 6:26:00 PM
From: William W. Dwyer, Jr.	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7382

Gary, Concerning buying at the bid, I find that when I enter a long position, if I try to buy at the bid and am successful, that means the stock is general selling off and it is likely to go down instead of up. I have likely made a mistake getting into this trade, and getting my order filled at the bid is (generally) my first clue. If anyone is willing to sell to you at the bid, you gotta wonder why. So, I like to enter stocks with a SOES limit order or SelectNet order and buy at the "ask." If I am truly buying at the right time, no one will sell to me at the "bid" anyway and I am just wasting my time trying. The stock will quickly go up and leave me behind, still trying to buy at the bid, but NOT in the position. Usually the difference between bid and ask is small, often less than 1/8 (maybe even 1/16), so fighting for that seems to not be worth the time and the risk of missing the play altogether. On exiting the play, I try to estimate the top and anticipate it so that I can sell at the "ask" instead of the bid. As soon as I see any bit of selling, or a trade in-between bid and ask, I assume the momentum is dying and immediately place an offer to sell on ISLD and sell then. If I don't get hit immediately (and take that nice profit), I change my order to make it ISLD maybe 1/16 below what I already had, giving up a bit, trying to improve (lower) the ask, still trying to get out quick. If that doesn't work pretty quickly (within 15 seconds or so), I place a SOES market order and sell at the bid, or perhaps a SelectNet order 1/16 or 1/8 below the bid and get out any way I can (if stock is falling quickly). If the buying has stopped, you can believe the selling is coming and soon, and you will lose all the profit you already had. So, if I buy at the ask and sell at the ask, I am really paying the spread one time, but not twice. Thinking you can beat the spread on both sides of the trade is, imho, a bit optimistic. It can be done, sure, but it takes excellent timing and execution skills, maybe even a bit of luck. Just a thought. Bill