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> However, one common "complaint" was that the
> opportunity for making big bucks trading in the pits is
> coming to an end. Profits were being squeezed out by
> computerized trades, and ever decreasing spreads.
That wasn't my experience in the ND pit. Spreads INcreased from 2-3
pts in 1999 to 5-10pts in mid-late 2000. That's $500-$1000 per
contract, folks, equivalent to 2-4 handles in the big SP. You could
make a nice living flipping those a few times a day.
I finally got sick of it and moved my trading to minis. Now my fills
are near-instant, the spreads are usually a point or less, I know
almost exactly where the market is, I can move stops at will without
worrying about my floor broker throwing a hissy fit, and I don't have
to deal with the aggravation of getting raped by the thieves in the
ND pit. (And no, this isn't the whining of somebody who doesn't know
how the pit is "supposed" to work. My *broker* regularly chewed out
the floor guys for screwing me so badly.)
I'd happily pay 5x the commission for that service. But I don't have
to, because electronic execution has driven the price down. I pay
maybe 2-3x what I'd pay for big-ND execution at my old broker, and I
come out WAY ahead.
I'm with Mr. "--". The pit boys brought this on themselves. They
bled their customers dry, and the customers decided to go elsewhere.
May the pit die a rapid and painful death.
Gary
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