To: genejockey who wrote (15299 ) 2/27/1999 8:36:00 PM From: who cares? Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 122087
When I look at a level 2 screen, is it correct for me to assume that all bids/offers being displayed are from MM's besides those from INCA, ARCA or ISLD? No this is not right. There are others like TNTO L.L.C. TERRA NOVA TRADING, and REDI LEEDS & KELLOGG/ECN SPEAR. TNTO is what a lot of daytraders trade through, REDI is more your professional guy, the hedge fund manager that works from the home etc., i'm sure there's more besides these. Inca, and ISLD like Anthony said, are commonly used by MM's to hide their true intention. This is one of the things that seperate the average daytrader from the elite, being able to notice quickly which MM is best bid when INCA is on the ask or vice versa, and spotting other fakes. E-Trade uses NITE for their MM. Schwab uses MASH, they own MASH. Most of the on-line brokerages use NITE and own small pieces of it. Ehhh, they probably unloaded their shares in the run-up. Typically if you place an order to buy 1000k at say 35 through E-trade and it's bid 35-ask 35 1/8 not a damn thing will happen. You'll see NITE at 34 5/8 or some other number way off the bid. If it bids 34 15/16 or 7/8 suddenly you'll get your stock bought at 35, otherwise, unless NITE thinks it's fixing to tank and he's loaded up, you won't get the buy. He has to make a profit somehow, after all he pays E-trade for your business. You won't see him hit the bid, or anything. Of course he could be shopping your order to the active sellers on selectnet, but that takes effort, he's not going to put any effort into helping an E-Trader pick-up a 1000 shares. He could really care less if you get your shares bought, obviously if you wanted to really buy the stock you'd have put in a market order and let him screw you out of the spread. Instead by bidding at the bid your probably just one of those daytrading scum that makes it so tough for him to make 1/4 and 1/2's on every share, so he's not going to help you. This is why it's best to do it yourself with one of the MBtrading or Cyberbroker types. Of course they're not the best for shorting, they don't have the shares on the hot issues, but with Anthony picks you don't have to worry about that extra 1/16th, so you can use other means. CMB