From dhenwood at panix.com Thu May 27 10:09:43 1999
>How can that be bad?
Because in general the more people trade, the worse they do.
Oh, I didn't think I was talking about why it might be 'bad' for retail customers; I think 6.5 hours is plenty of time on a daily basis for people to lose as much money as they want. But those losers will make the markets more efficient in general, and maybe it'll discourage them.
Why any nonprofessional would want to trade at 6 AM or 11 PM is
beyond me. Delusions of grandeur, I guess.
Er ... why the US-centric view?
Moving to 24x7 stock markets is not the same as keeping the Las Vega$ casinos open 24 hours: access to US markets from overseas (including by US investors being managed from foreign offices) will benefit the most from this move, just as currency traders in Singapore 'pass the book' when New York 'closes' and then on to London, I'm sure we'll see some natural 'down times' -- but not the same kind of abrupt 4pm whack to the head we have now.
I can see one clear benefit scenario for US-based retail investors: if an 'off hours' news item drives a price in foreign-listed stocks, the US-based investor has to wait for the NY open to take advantage/cut a loss; managed accounts or even standing stop-loss or limit orders can be used in a 24x7 environment. Why should UK-based investors scalp someone just because they have backward technology?
/jordan