Quote from dalegrief:
...I started noticing this in the Broker stocks a week and a half ago, they are definately harder to trade now. I heard a rumor back then, that it was new specialist software that tracks the futures, probably the e-minis, and links it with their bid ask. This is what feels like is happening. the bid ask will be
40.10 x 40.15 with size 40x45 and the minis will tick up a point and suddenly the bidask is 40.20x40.22 with size 35x50. There will be no print of the 40.15 size, he just changes the bid ask. It really makes entering stocks impossible, and then with the issue of not getting price improvememt, and prints outside the bid ask out of nowhere, which I also have noticed, it makes me think Nasdaq time, or maybe futures?...