REMINISCENCES OF A SOES BANDIT

En SOES BANDIT är ett amerikanskt slang-uttryck för en så kallad daytrader på börsen. SOES banditerna var pionjärer inom daytrading iom att marknaden inte ville att den enskilda lilla individen skulle handla själv på börsen. Bankerna hade en gigantisk spread mellan köp och sälj kurs och när börsen rasade 1987 så fanns det ingen market maker som svarade i telefon när du ville sälja dina aktier.

NASDAQ införde ett nytt system som kallades för SOES (Small Order Execution System), där alla var lika mycket värda oavsett storlek eller kapital. En market maker som fick sin köp eller sin sälj position fylld var tvungen att "reloada" eller förnya sin position inom 10 sek på börsen. Det var ett av grundkraven för att få vara market maker. Daytradarna spenderade hela dagarna med att lägga in köp och sälj ordrar innanför de stora aktörernas spread som oftast var orimligt stora.

Det resulterade givetvis att spreaden minskade vilket gagnade alla aktieplacerare på marknaden, men bankernas market makers som fick se sina fina bonusar och vinster minskade tyckte att alla SOES-traders var banditer :-)



What Does SOES BANDIT Mean ?
A slang term for traders who make rapid buy and sell orders, using the SOES system, in order to make a profit from small price changes.

So what is a SOES BANDIT ?
SOES bandits are individual investors who day-trade primarily through Nasdaq's Small Order Execution System (SOES). They attempt to predict short-term price movements of Nasdaq stocks by observing trades and changes in market maker quotes. We find that they usually hold positions for only a few minutes and usually trade profitably.

They do not exploit single market makers who have failed to update quotes, but usually trade before the majority of dealers change quotes. It is interesting that SOES bandits trade profitably against dealers who have as much or more information. We attribute this to the greater incentives of the bandits. Market makers are trading with the firm's money while SOES bandits are trading with their own.

Day traders were described in the preliminary prospectus for All-Tech (filed in 1998) as those who engage in the buying and selling of securities many times during the course of a day based on short-term price volatility. They typically close out open positions by the end of trading day in order to manage risk when the markets are closed. Positions are sometimes closed within minutes of the initial purchase or sale.