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Non-Tech : Market Makers - What They Do and How They Do It -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jjs_ynot who wrote (173)	2/24/1999 6:23:00 PM
From: David in Ontario	Respond to of 429

Dave - my shopping basket of questions about MM's If possible, could you give a detailed post of how MM's do their job? I'm new to this thread, and I'll make my way through the posts and I may well find some/most of my answers there. However - here are my questions. Thanks in advance for anyone who responds :) (1) I read so many posts on the momentum threads about how posters believe the MM's are doing this or that - or that it's an MM fake - or that MM's don't want the stock to go here or there. Comments? (2) I know they make their $$ via spreads and volume, but how much control do they have? Can they initiate sell-off's or upward surges? (3) How do MM's work together if they are from different firms? Do they all watch the same market depth screen's for that stock and then fill order's in a coordinated manner? (4) Is an MM obliged to pick up a Bid or Ask if it's reasonable? (5) When they alter the spreads between the Bids and Asks what's going through their minds? I know that stocks with enormous spreads are best avoided, but what crtieria do they use to set the spread? (6) How much discretion do they have in controlling the overall market for a stock? Yes - they're 'Market Makers', but what are their bounds? I don't know - that's why I'm asking. (7) Who selects an MM to create a market for the stock? That's it for now - thanks, David.