DETERMINING LARGER NUMBERS

Maybe you can help me understand something about share volumes. I hear the volume levels are around three to four billion shares on a daily basis. How is this calculated? Do they count a buy and a sell as two separate transactions? The New York Stock Exchange only trades about a half billion, according to my platform. How do they determine these larger numbers? I can understand adding NASDAQ, but is there a way to show the total shares each day? — techtrdr39

Good question, and I had to check a couple of sources to get a reasonable response. First off, a buy and a sell make a single transaction. Historically, the NASDAQ used each side as a trade, but it hasn’t for a long time. You can start by going to www.nyxdata.com/Data-Products/National-Market-VolumeSummary. It will show volume by listed stock and the various market centers.

REBATE TRADING REVISITED

A couple of years ago, you said you thought rebate trading was coming to an end. I read lately where you are now applauding some changes that make rebate trading valuable again. I trade a medium-sized account at a large retail firm, and I don’t seem to be able to determine if I’m paying extra or collecting some sort of rebate. When I call them, they only say that they have something like all-inclusive pricing. I’m a little upset and really confused. Can you help me? —Jake Ali

First off, please don’t be upset until you have a handle on all the costs involved in trading stocks with your firm. At that point, if you feel you can get better pricing treatment elsewhere, please make a change.

PREP FOR THE TRADING DAY

I enjoy your articles and hope you can help me. I am not a newbie trader, and I have been doing okay for the last three years. I have friends who tell me they spend more than two hours each morning before the market opens getting ready for the session. I daytrade some and swing trade some, and I spend time on research. Mostly I look at fundamentals and technicals, and seek breakouts and other anomalies. I rarely spend more than two hours per week at this. Is there something I’m missing? What do your traders spend their prep time doing? Any help would be appreciated. — evolution4

THE OPENING PLAY

I was wondering if you could help with a couple of things. You have written about your opening play a couple of times. Now that we seem to have 24-hour trading, with electronic communications networks (ECNs) and so on, is that play still working? Are there any major changes you can address that I may not know about? In addition, if you have time and space, could you please explain again how you see the end-of-day shares that are being bought or sold ahead of time? How can I get this information? Is this a special privilege? Is it something that has to be paid for? Thank you. — eqtyguy2008