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The figure to watch is what % return do they make on their equity. I've heard its around 60%. Now a wild and crazy hedge fund that takes big risks might make 30-40%. Perhaps the reward that the specialists make is a bit too rich for the risk that they really take.

Daytrading works best when markets are topping like in 1993 and 1999-2000. The daily and weekly charts start moving sideways and the volatility moves to the intraday. Of course good traders can make money in any market.

So you deliver bottled water :D

Actually we produce a product that the whole world wants - its called the US dollar. Because all of the other countries have an interest in propping up the dollar so that their exports are competitive - the US can basically print dollars at will. Its not a bad deal. We give them pieces of...

Lately I've been saying that I work with computerized trading systems. If pressed on the topic, I then say I trade futures indexes. The usual response I get, especially from bimbos is "Really, I use Windows at work". My reply - "good stuff". Unfortunately, with the high tech bust - the...

Either one of two reasons IMHO 1.) You're not preparing yourself to take a possible loss BEFORE you make your trade. I.e. you say to yourself that you are willing to lose X amount of money in order to make Y amount. If you don't prepare yourself, when your trade moves against you, you think...

For full-time off-floor traders who mainly trade their own account, just out of curiosity - what do you call yourself or tell people when they ask you "what do you do for a living"? Here is a partial list of some of the more common titles I have heard: Daytrader - descriptive, but more...

The power of the specialist, their near monopoly, comes not from the percentage of trades that they take the other side on, but from how they control the shown bid and ask for the 80% of listed stock trades that they handle and the timing of when trade executions can take place. IMHO

The discrepancy has been absolved

Another discrepancy I noticed: "The specialist usually only accounts for 20% of the volume" -- RTharp "But the networks may find the New York Stock Exchange a much tougher competitor, largely because more than 80 percent of trading in Big Board stocks takes place on the floor of the...

Here is a partial quote from an article in the NYT. Comment: the more piggish the specialists get in exploiting their near monopoly, the more competition they will invite. Electronic Trading Networks Look Toward the Big Board By J. ALEX TARQUINIO By cutting costs and promising speedy...

Just wanted to get that in for the Canadian, Aussie, British ETers.

I know what you mean. I went to McDonald's today to buy a hamburger. They were charging $1.76 and I was bidding $1.75 - guess what? I didn't get the burger! If we get rid of pennies and go to nickels - then I should get the burger, no? :D

We seem to be in a pause period, kind of like just before the last gulf war in December 1990. The start of the war is probably what will get the market moving. Bush said something about January 27th being a decision date. Not hoping for war, just making an observation.

Instead of having a rule-book that can be violated, with specialists knowing that only 5% of people will ever follow-up and complain - why not make it automatic, like on Nasdaq. If you have the best bid, then you get filled before a lower bid. That makes more economic sense than selling to...

Typos on my part - what I meant to say was: If the bid was 22.52 and the ask was 22.60 when it traded below your limit buy price, then its possible you would not be filled as the NYSE traditional order system doesn't let you split the bid-ask like on Nasdaq i.e. the specialist does not have...

If the bid was 22.52 and the ask was 22.60 when it traded below your limit buy price, then its possible you would not be filled as the NYSE traditional order system doesn't let you split the bid-ask like on Nasdaq i.e. the specialist does not have to show your 22.50 limit as the best price (ask)...

The few big traders I have met want depth AND instant fills. If they can't have both, then of course depth is the most important. P.S. if you want to quote someone - click on "quote" as in (Edit-Quote-Kill) located in the lower right hand corner of the post you are quoting. It makes it...

Wow! I didn't think that this was going to be controversial. You would think that I was advocating shrinking the Emini tick size or something. :D I do agree as the dictionary says that intelligence is "The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge". But, doesn't a musician acquire and...

As others have mentioned, I believe that there are other kinds of intelligence besides the traditional ones that we are tested on. In the book 7 Kinds of Smart by Thomas Armstrong – he lists the following categories: 1.) Word Smart: Linguistic intelligence – language, literature...