your analyzing me sets off a red flag for me (but thanks for the heads up. I will police myself to see I'm becoming a 'victim'). I average 1 trade on the NYSE every three minutes of every trading day. That can't help but force me to reach my own conclusions (to do otherwise would be irresponsible) .
I try to discern between my own mistakes, the inevitable bad trade, the normal give and take of the market, and a genuine set up by the specialist.
You know, when you say, 'cite specific examples,' you sound JUST like the NYSE themselves.
I'll reiterate: I have defended the specialist system even though I know there are times when I have been dealt with fraudulently. The rules are written and interpreted with loopholes that specialists take advantage of (to wit, the 1 min 'waiting period').
Specialist are beholden to the crowd. Electronic order entry is frequently overlooked (as the rules allow) and for proof you'll have to hunt down the article I posted or request it and I'll send it to you.
My conclusion is that specialists are stretching ever more to make their money, and that the economics of the specialist system is enticing them to do it. In other words, the only way they can be justified economically is by protecting themselves with a monopoly. There is effectively ZERO competition for my orders on listed stocks. The fills are entirely at the discretion of the specialist, within the context of a body of rules that has been written by an organization that he is a member of, that has the privilege of being 'self regulating,' that it takes literally an act of congress to hold accountable its customers.
It leads me to speculate that under current conditions there is no economic justification for their existence-- hence the construct of the monopoly to protect them.
I am not pleased by this. I have never been in a rush to eliminate specialists and go entirely electronic, because that has its own set of dangers. I believe that the human element is most desirable in commerce, and that every practitioner of a legitimate function is worth his pay. However, we live in times when true integrity is in short supply. I wish it were not so, and that I was as convinced of the soundness of the motives of the specialist as I am the need to question them.
In any economic venue in America, fairness is a requirement to be fought for. Markets only have as much integrity as their participants. Unreliable markets simply don't last.
I know...I never read long posts...I'll be surprised if anyone gets through this one.
