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One of the main attractions of your trading system should be access to multiple Level II Nasdaq quotes in a very user friendly format. The number of quotes and the quantity of other information you can see are limited only by the size of your computer screen. With the Pentium computers of today it is easy to set up multiple windows on your computer screen. Your trading system gives you the ability to have an order formatted and sent to the primary market by a click of a mouse and have your execution report back almost instantly.
The need for a conventional broker relationship is gone. In fact, Time magazine said it best when it ran an article entitled "Bypassing the Brokers." Brokers used to be regarded as professionals in the same hierarchy as doctors, lawyers, and accountants. Today, brokers are too often disdainfully treated like used-car salespeople, because they are often pushing stocks that the firm has underwritten or that the trading department is unloading for the firm's institutional clients.
I was amazed at how many experienced brokers working for major brokerage houses for years had never even seen a Nasdaq Level II screen. It seems like the real Nasdaq market is deliberately kept hidden from the typical broker. If the brokers are not allowed to see these quotations, how is it possible for the brokers to look out for their customers?
While other exchanges have order entry systems such as the DOT system on the NYSE, AMEX on the American Stock Exchange, and MAX on the Chicago Stock Exchange, these are order routing systems, which route or electronically direct the order to the appropriate specialist on the floor. While they work well, I have found that there are still too many idiosyncrasies and delays for my liking. The automatic execution of SOES affords a greater benefit to a trader. This, in conjunction with being able to possibly identify the emerging market trends in hundreds of Nasdaq stocks, is the mechanism of Direct Access Electronic Trading I currently prefer.
Actually, many DAET traders routinely deal in listed securities, and I look forward to leading the trend to fully automate the NYSE and become able to compete directly with the

 
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