can a broker rip you off?

Lets say i want to buy shares in m&S, the broker gets a quote of £5 but what stops the broker quoting me £5.10 (making £0.10 extar plus commision)? is it all based on trust.

Also, lets say i go to two different brokers at the same time and but share in the same company at the same amount ( assuming i do not go over the "Normal buyins size"), would i get the same price? if not, why not?

thanks

I think they are obliged to obtain "deal @ best" for the client ,ethics and all that, assuming a good broker wants to supply a good repeat service to the client , I remember years back using Waters Lunnis execution only and sometimes they did the deal at the quote there and then but on occassion they did pool orders from various clients and managed to get a fill below the quote of when I phoned at a time later in the session.. so getting a "Best" fill on occassion. acting as "agent" and not "principal" So i can see how some may "work" on your behalf a bit harder and obtain better or different prices from firm to firm.... not sure what laws tie them into what level of service maybe theres a broker here who might shed some light.

However I also had a shock when I went into the local office and enquired about the recent earnings forecast in the "Estimate Directory" the young lady thubmed through and spat out the figures I asked how recent the directory was and was informed that its 6 months old.... I left thinking you really do know Phuck All.

Excuse my french there but just trying to punctuate a point , some brokers are Shhit hot others ignorant, as always I suspect down to "Calibre of Individual" in firms I guess. I mean if i was a broker I'd expect to look through and at least offer

"Alrighty consensus figures for next set of annual 18.10 giving us prospective PE of 8.5 , yeeh haaa, dropping to 6.5 the year after phuck me, Rollin, rollin, rollin,
Though the streams are swollen. Keep them doggies rollin’ Rawhide! Move ‘em on, head ‘em up. Head ‘em up, move ‘em on. Move ‘em on, head ‘em up Rawhide
Churn ‘em in, Churn ‘em out. Fill yer boots ‘, Ramp ‘em up. Churn ‘em in, Dump ‘em out RAWHIDE ! thats 20,000 TwAts, bought @ 55.5 Hows that billy boy? yeaaah, yeaahh, yeaaahhh !. "

I mean ya know.........

All the best bullboy8

Fx. hmmmm

sorry fxmarkets, i don't quite understand your reply. thanks the reply. i understand the first paragraph but not the rest. thanks once again

no worries bullyboy, just having a rant....... best with it.

cheers

fx.

bullboy

all direct access brokers should show the current quotes on all the actual exchanges on their trading platform, rather than their own quotes, then it's just up to you to choose your order route. These quotes may be from many different market makers, although order execution is quite another story.

CFD or spreadbetting brokers will make their own market ie give you their own quotes, typically bracketed around the inside prices at the exchanges, although there will be differences, usually temporary. Rather go direct access if you can afford it, IMO.

gl

rog1111

thanks rog1111, but if direct access brokers should show the current quotes on all the actual exchanges on their trading platform isn't level two required-to see the order books? i always thought you need to obtain a live price which is valid for say 20sec's to decide whether or not you want the buy/sell.

what do you mean "choose your order route"?

thanks

Deals done by an agency broker generate an electronic transaction report which is sent overnight to FSA and LSE. One of the manadatory matching field is the execution price of the deal which has to be input and matched by both the market maker and the agenecy broker. It would be very difficult for an agency broker to take a hidden turn. In most settlement systems the generation of the contract note also generates the transaction report.

For most private client deals in normal size in liquid stocks eg FTSE 100 agency brokers will normally deal via an RSP which effectively automates the dealing and directs the deal to the best quote. In most large settlement centres the deal will be totally automated and the dealers will not be directly involved in the transaction. Both FSA and LSE are preety hot at monitoring best execution and certainly for stocks such as M&S the market price is known at any one time and thus 'best execution' can be readily monitored. If you reckon you have received the wrong price in my experience it is likely to be as a result of a delay in dealing where an order taker has not promptly actioned your deal; your agency broker is required by FSA rules to record both the time an order has been received and the time of execution - the times should be on the contract note or available upon request.

bullboy

sorry I was referring to US exchanges, I'm not sure how the UK works, as I don't trade it.

Here's a screenshot showing a bunch of Microsoft quotes on an IB (brokerage) platform. You can see all the exchanges. On the right there is a small window showing the Island book (INet). You don't need Level 2 to see any of this. You can choose to route your order to any of the exchanges displayed, or use "smart" and the system goes through them in a pre-determined sequence in which case you should receive the best price at the time without getting ripped off, although this may depend on which exchange you hit, it's worth doing some research

rog1111

hi guys i was hoping someone can help me out. I bought some shares through benjamin-fisher the summer before last and due to them doing a runner am now stuck with share certificates with restricted ledgers on (stupid idea to buy i know). Does anyone know how I can have these removed so that I can sell them through my normal broker? They are in Atlantic wine agency and distributed diagnostic, inc. Also does anyone know anything about either of these companies? I have been able to follow Atlantic wine through the NASDAQ but distributed diagnostic inc I have lost track of.
Thank you