May 18, 2004
As an individual investor Im concerned about the possible rule changes concerning the trading of securities. I remember when trading NASDAQ listed securities in the 1970s and 1980s best price didnt guaranty a fill of my order and I eventually limited this area of securities trading. After the price fixing scandel of the 1990s on NASDAQ rules were put into place that leveled the playing field. It was safe to trade NASDAQ stocks again. If we allow brokerage firms to circumvent the trade through rule the small investor will once again be put at a disadvantage. The major firms will once again try to use order flow to their advantage at the expence of the investor. Payment for order flow will be commonplace again. I cant imagine why an investor would not always want the best price. Its my feeling that the parties who most want the rule change are the ones who are most likely to trade against the order flow at the individual investors expence.