Quote from Bitstream:
look, nobody is argunin' here that there might or might not be widespread corruption on da nyse and that da specs way of handlin' orders is unfair, but that's somewhat besides da point 'cause, as u are makin it up, it seems that da spec is ALWAYS messin' around with our trades causin' us to become unprofitable or limitin' our profits potentials for every single trade we make. obviously this is not da case otherwise i would take u side and be convinced that electronic mkt is da way to go. but no, all da electronic mkts of well established econs [not growin' ones] are, in one way or another, dominated by bolts and those bolts screw your trades much more than da spec, dumpin' every stock attemptin' to rally and causin' massive spikes to shake every1 on da wrong side to exit their pos. this is a reality; u have to weight the 2 things and see what really is in our best interests, and imho nyse is best if it stays as it is.
I think you are incorrect on several counts.
A number of people, are, in fact, arguing in this thread, that the NYSE is not corrupt and handling orders unfairly.
The argument as to whether NYSE is corrupt is not beside the point. It is of critical importance, because when we send an order to the specialist, we are
entrusting the specialist to act upon our behalf, as our agent, and if he chooses to victimize us, then he will be able to abuse the trust we place in him. Electronic markets avoid this problem by not requiring us to trust counterparties, and by eliminating this opportunity for theft, fraud, and crime.
You are also incorrect to say that I have claimed that the specialist victimizes each customer on every single trade. You are exaggerating my argument in order to make it easier to defeat.
It is true that to some limited extent, people can manipulate electronic markets in order to trick highly overleveraged or less sophisticated traders to exit their positions, but this is nowhere near as big as the problem at NYSE. The difference is that at NYSE, the theft occurs as a fundamental, inherent part of the basic mechanism of execution. This is not the case in electronic markets. Electronic market participants might trick you into making an unwise trade, but they can't delay, obstruct, or misprice your executions and order cancellations, or otherwise deprive you of a fair execution.
Traders, on balance, will be much better off without NYSE, because electronic markets will offer fair executions. Traders who know only how to suck at the specialist's icy cold tit will need to learn how to trade in real markets, which will include massive spikes and fake price moves, but which will offer fair executions. I understand your desire to remain with the devil you know, and your fear of change, and it may very well mean disaster for your particular trading career. Society, however, cannot afford to keep NYSE in place, in order to protect the careers of people who suck at the specialist tit. Society must smash NYSE, because society must be concerned with the general welfare, not just the welfare of people sucking the specialist tit.
You made a conscious decision to become dependent upon a corrupt system. You accepted the rewards for that decision, so that when the changes come, you must also accept that those rewards will not be permanent. You must learn anew how to trade once the specialist is gone, and you cannot expect society to hold back progress because progress is counter to your particular interests.
