Throw Those Surgar and OJ Floor Brokers In Jail!

[Brian Massey <bnm03@xxxxxxx>]

Jay,

I had a similar situation happen to me in the Surgar market a few days ago. 
 I placed an order to buy back several contracts of Surgar at the market. 
 At the time I placed my order, Surgar was trading at 9.41.  My order went 
in 2 seconds later.  About 15 minutes later the market traded at the high 
of the day 9.48.  Within 3 minutes of placing my order, the market traded 
at a high of 9.44.  When I got my fill back about 1/2 hour after placing 
the order, the fill was at, guess where, 9.48.  I was livid!  I called my 
broker (Alaron) and they said that the rules of the exchange mandate that 
the broker must fill your order within 3 minutes of receiving it.  My 
brokerage firm was sympathetic to my plea and after talking to the broker 
on the floor, agreed to cash adjust my account back to 9.44.  This was 
still BS in my opinion because it represented 2 ticks away from where I 
should have been filled at 9.42.

But I didn't argue.  It sounds to me like the same thing happened to you 
except that your broker and the floor broker are in cahoots.  You need to 
demand a time and price review which will show when your order went to the 
floor, was filled and the prices at those times.  If the fill is outside 
the highest price within 3 minutes after you placed the order, then you are 
entitled by the laws of the exchange to a better fill.  Verify the time and 
price with a real time feed.

Placing market orders in a thin market like OJ can be hazardous to your 
account.  I will whenever possible use limit orders in the Surgar (and OJ) 
market from now on.  There's too much opportunity in those markets not to 
trade them.

Thanks,
Brian.

-----Original Message-----
From:	janderson3 [SMTP:janderson3.at.CSOMSTUDENT@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent:	Monday, April 20, 1998 8:46 PM
To:	omega-list@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject:	New York Markets-Comments

     Hello all,

     This is in response to a thread on this list about a month ago
     regarding the honesty (or lack thereof) of floor brokers and traders
     on the New York exchanges.

     Last week, I received a terrible fill in OJ.  I was attempting to sell 
     5 JON8 at 98.00 on a stop, but was filled at 96.40.  Of course, I
     complained to my broker, who will remain anonymous.  The broker was
     sympathetic, but refused my request for credit, and attributed the
     large slippage to the "New York markets."  Specifically, the manager
     of the particular firm with which I trade stated that he always
     recommends to customers that they "steer clear of the NY markets, as
     they are full of crooks!"  That is quite an endorsement, I must say.

     I hope that others will find these comments interesting, especially in 
     light of the comments last month on the same subject.

     Jay Anderson