Links for March 23, 2007

By: Ray Pellecchia

File Under: NYSE

• 1 Comments
• Email Entry

Human Beings Still Important at Citigroup: Human beings still handle more than 50 percent of Citigroup's institutional order flow. Another 22 percent is executed through program trades, and the rest through algorithms and direct market access. "You won't find four times the daily liquidity by going through an algorithm," said Tim Reilly, managing director and head of North America electronic execution sales at Citigroup, speaking at a conference. (Traders via Crossing Wall Street via DealBreaker)

Options Penny Pilot May Expand, Fuel Rivalry, Exchange CEOs Say -- A test program that quotes prices for 13 classes of options in pennies may be expanded by regulators to include more contracts and spur U.S. exchanges to cut transaction fees. Since February, about 17 percent of the roughly 10 million contracts that change hands daily have been quoted in 1-cent increments instead of nickels and dimes. Before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission started the six-month trial, exchanges and brokerages expressed concern that a flood of quotes would overwhelm their computer systems. (Bloomberg)

DinosaurTrader writes: "Ray, Hi, I've been reading your blog for some time and find it very informative. I would love to hear from other traders about how they are managing to control risk in the hybrid market. I have dedicated a post on my blog today to this very topic. I've noticed that you don't normally delve into trading strategies on your blog so I was hoping to get some feedback from other traders. Since I feel it's an issue very specific to the mechanics of the hybrid market I hope you can somehow help to get this question answered. I appreciate the work you do, Thanks, DT" Good luck, Dino!

Short Selling: Big Board Shorting Jumps 9.5% to Record: Short-selling activity soared to a record on the New York Stock Exchange in the latest monthly reporting period, which included the market's sharp one-day drop in late February when bearish investors profited handsomely. For the monthly period ended March 15, the number of short-selling positions not yet closed out at NYSE -- so-called short interest -- jumped 9.5% to 10,510,404,017 shares from 9,595,242,421 shares in mid-February. Marketwide, the short ratio, or number of days' average volume represented by outstanding short positions at the exchange, fell to 6.1 from 6.2. (Wall Street Journal Online/subscription)

A Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead: Video parody. Hey, it's Friday.

Tags: New York Stock Exchange, Hybrid Market, NYSE, NYSE Group, NYX, trading, stock market