[cwsiggy]

Most of my comparisons were based on my experience making markets on the Nasdaq, not the floor which probably has very, very different rules. Sorry for the confusion. I will admit I know nothing of the intricate rules of the floor trading. My point is that as a market maker On the Nasdaq, at least 3 years ago, you had an unbelievable edge in using your order book as protection. Floor traders have the same. If I got a sell order for say 10,000 shares at market or even a limit price of say 10.00 and I know my book is filled with buys at 9.92, 9.93 - I know I can take that position with minimul or at least quantified risk - but you know this! Yes, the customer can cancel those, yes you need to be careful not to piss off the salestraders by going bid above a recent order, but your advantage is huge. Being a market maker is like being the House in Vegas. You almost can't lose. All I was saying is that straight out order flow trading is easy on the Nasdaq. Of course any market maker can take a positon, add to it, take on more risk and that takes skill, but not as much as straight position trading/investing - those people don't have books and order flow to constantly bail them out!!!!! So many times we had positions that made us nervous and the salestrader covering Smith Barney would call over and say "don't worry, he's got a lot more this week" or "My guys done - do what you want with the position" Imagine playing poker, and instead of 9 outs to make your flush you have say 12! I still think that the comparison between poker and market making is weaker than the comparison between poker and position trading. Poker and "Investing" are games of incomplete information, market making less so.