that nasdaq dynamic pre market thing does look like a cool site.
I haven't seen it in the morning, so I am not sure how much value there really is to it though.
Last sale can be misleading.
The only way I have ever really been able to anticipate gap opens on nyse stocks is on my instinet terminal. And even then, you need to know where to look. Which usually means looking for symbols with news, or watching scrolling headlines.
As for indications, well, sometimes using the prices that stocks are actually trading at on instinet and comparing them to opening indications on nyse can be interesting.
For example, if a stock closed at 50, and is trading on instinet at 52, and you see an indication of 53-54, you know you want to either buy it on instinet and sell at the market on nyse, or just short it on the open on nyse. Problem is, the prices will virtually always adjust before the real open. The specialists aren't stupid.
The one play that does seem to work very consistently on gap openings on nyse stocks (i have talked about this before), is this:
Stock closes at 50. Before the opening, you see it indicated at 51-51.5 (for example). Then the indication gets raised. And raised again. Last indication is (say) 53-54. I would put out a limit order to short the stock somewhere above 53. The thinking is that generally, the specialist has a pretty good handle on where the stock should open. So I go by his FIRST indication. That was more than a point and a half LOWER than my order to short. Same play works on the long side. And it doesn't matter if the issue opens up or down. It is just playing the stock to go to the ORIGINAL indication on an issue where the indication changes several times. It takes a lot of watching, and the opportunities are not that frequent. But it has proven to be a pretty consistent strategy.
The one crucial thing is if you are WRONG, you must get out quickly. Nothing worse than a runaway gap that goes against you. Can't give these plays a lot of room. ALSO, I would not recommend a HUGE gap play (like THC or CI last week). When a stock gaps with a 25 point change in price, it is just a guessing game. And a dangerous one.
Good luck to all,
Rs7