Institute of Intermediation and 24 Coffee LoversWhen the market is efficient, the most efficient strategy will yield zero financial return for the investor. Therefore, firstly, it is necessary to strive to find inefficiencies in the market itself to apply a strategy that will be effective for it.
What creates market inefficiency? First, there are delays in disseminating important information about the company, such as the approval of a contract with a major customer or an accident at a plant. If current and potential investors do not receive this information immediately, the market becomes inefficient at the time such an event occurs. In other words, objective reality is not considered by market participants. This makes the stock price obsolete.
Secondly, the market becomes inefficient during periods of high volatility. I would describe it this way: when uncertainty hits everyone, emotions become the main force influencing prices. At such times, the market value of a company can change significantly within a single day. Investors have too many different assessments of what is happening to find the necessary balance. Volatility can be triggered by the bankruptcy of a systemically important company (for example, as happened with Lehman Brothers), the outbreak of military action, or a natural disaster.
Third, there is the massive action of large players in a limited market - a "bull in a china shop" situation. A great example is the story of 2021, when the Reddit community drove up the price of GameStop shares, forcing hedge funds to cover their short positions at sky-high prices.
Fourthly, these are ineffective strategies of the market participants themselves. On August 1, 2012, American stock market trading company Knight Capital caused abnormal volatility in more than 100 stocks by sending millions of orders to the exchange over a 45-minute period. For example, Wizzard Software Corporation shares rose from $3.50 to $14.76. This behavior was caused by a bug in the code that Knight Capital used for algorithmic trading.
The combination of these and other factors creates inefficiencies that are exploited by trained traders or investors to make a profit. However, there are market participants who receive their income in any market. They are above the fray and are engaged in supporting and developing the infrastructure itself.
In mathematics, there is a concept called a “zero-sum game”. This is any game where the sum of the possible gains is equal to the sum of the losses. For example, the derivatives market is a perfect embodiment of a zero-sum game. If someone makes a profit on a futures contract, he always has a partner with a similar loss. However, if you dive deeper, you will realize that this is a negative-sum game, since in addition to profit and loss, there are commissions that you pay to the infrastructure: brokers, exchanges, regulators, etc.
To understand the value of these market participants and that you are paying them well, imagine a modern world without them. There is only a company issuing shares and investors in them.
Such a company has its own software, and you connect to it via the Internet to buy or sell shares. The company offers you a quote for buying and selling shares ( bid-ask spread ). The asking price ( ask ) will be influenced by the company's desire to offer a price that will help it not lose control over the company, consider all expected income, dividends, etc. The purchase price ( bid ) will be influenced by the company's desire to preserve the cash received in the capital market, as well as to earn money on its own shares by offering a lower price. In general, in such a situation, you will most likely get a huge difference between the purchase and sale prices - a wide bid-ask spread .
Of course, the company understands that the wider the bid-ask spread , the less interest investors have in participating in such trading. Therefore, it would be advisable to allow investors to participate in the formation of quotes. In other words, a company can open its order book to anyone who wants to participate. Under such conditions, the bid-ask spread will be narrowed by bids from a wide range of investors.
As a result, we will get a situation where each company will have its own order book and its own software to connect to it. From a portfolio investor's perspective, this would be a real nightmare. In such a world, investing in not one, but several companies would require managing multiple applications and accounts for each company at the same time. This will create a demand from investors for one app and one account to manage investments in multiple companies. Such a request will also be supported by the company issuing the shares, as it will allow it to attract investors from other companies. This is where the broker comes in.
Now everything is much better and more convenient. Investors get the opportunity to invest in multiple companies through one account and one application, and companies get investors from each other. However, the stock market will still be segmented, as not all brokers will support cooperation with individual companies, for technical or other reasons. The market will be fragmented among many brokerage companies.
The logical solution would be to create another market participant that would have contracts with each of the companies and universal software for trading their shares. The only thing is that it will be brokers, not investors, who will connect to such a system. You may have already guessed that this is an exchange.
On the one hand, the exchange registers shares of companies, on the other hand, it provides access to trading them through brokers who are its members. Of course, the modern structure of the stock market is more complex: it involves clearing, depository companies, registrars of rights to shares, etc.* The formation of such institutions and their licensing is handled by a regulator, for example, the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States ( SEC ). As a rule, the regulator is responsible for legislative initiatives in the field of the securities market, licensing of market participants, monitoring violations in the market and supporting its efficiency, protecting investors from unfair manipulation.
*Clearing services are activities to determine, control and fulfill obligations under transactions of financial market participants. Depository services - services for the storage of securities and the recording of rights to them.
Thus, by making a transaction on the exchange, we contribute to the maintenance of this necessary infrastructure. Despite the fashion for decentralization, it is still difficult to imagine how one can ensure speed, convenience and access to a wide range of assets due to the absence of an intermediary institution. The other side of the coin of this institution is infrastructure risk. You can show phenomenal results in the market, but if your broker goes bankrupt, all your efforts will be nullified.
Therefore, before choosing an intermediary, it is useful to conduct a mental survey of the person you will be dealing with. Below you will find different types of intermediaries, which I have arranged according to their distance from the central elements of the infrastructure (exchanges, clearing houses, depositories).
Prime broker
Exchange Membership: mandatory
License: mandatory
Acceptance and accounting of your funds/shares: mandatory
Order execution: mandatory
Clearing and depository services: mandatory
Marginal services: mandatory
Remuneration: commission income from trades, clearing, depository and margin services
This category includes well-known financial houses with history and high capitalization. They are easily verified through lists of exchange members, clearing and depository companies. They provide services not only to individuals, but also to banks, funds and next-level brokers.
Broker
Exchange membership: mandatory
License: mandatory
Acceptance and accounting of your funds/shares: mandatory
Order execution: mandatory
Clearing and depository services: on the prime broker side
Margin services: on the prime broker side or own
Remuneration: commission income from trades and margin services
This category includes intermediaries with a focus on order routing. They delegate participation in depository and clearing services to a prime broker. However, such brokers can also be easily verified in the lists of exchange members.
Sub-broker
Exchange Membership: no
License: mandatory
Acceptance and accounting of your funds/shares: mandatory
Order execution: on the broker or prime broker side
Clearing and depository services: on the prime broker side
Margin services: on the broker or prime broker side
Remuneration: commission income from trades
This category includes brokers who have a brokerage license in their country, but do not have membership in foreign exchanges. To provide trading services on these exchanges, they enter into agreements with brokers or prime brokers from another country. They can be easily verified by license on the website of the regulator of the country of registration.
Introducing Broker
Exchange Membership: no
License: optional, depending on the country of regulation
Acceptance and accounting of your funds / shares: no
Order execution: on the side of the sub-broker, broker or prime broker
Clearing and depository services: on the prime broker side
Margin services: on the broker or prime broker side
Remuneration: commission income for the attracted client and/or a share of the commissions paid by them
This category includes companies that are not members of the exchange. Their activities may not require a license, since they do not accept funds from clients, but only assist in opening an account with one of the top-tier brokers. This is a less transparent level, since such an intermediary cannot be verified through the exchange and regulator’s website (unless licensing is required). Therefore, if an intermediary of this level asks you to transfer some money to his account, most likely you are dealing with a fraudster.
All four categories of participants are typical for the stock market. Its advantage over the over-the-counter market is that you can always check the financial instrument on the exchange website, as well as those who provide services for its trading (membership - on the exchange website, license - on the regulator's website).
Pay attention to the country of origin of the broker's license. You will receive maximum protection in the country where you have citizenship. In case of any claims against the broker, communication with the regulator of another country may be difficult.
As for the over-the-counter market, this segment typically trades shares of small-cap companies (not listed on the exchange), complex derivatives and contracts for difference ( CFD ). This is a market where dealers rule, not brokers and exchanges. Unlike a broker, they sell you their open position, often with a lot of leverage. Therefore, trading with a dealer is a priori a more significant risk.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the institution of intermediation plays a key role in the development of the stock market. It arose as a natural need of its participants for concentration of supply and demand, greater speed and security of financial transactions. To get a feel for this, let me tell you a story.
New Amsterdam, 1640s
A warm wind from the Hudson brought the smell of salt and freshly cut wood. The damp logs of the palisade, dug into the ground along the northern boundary of the settlement, smelled of resin and new hopes. Here, on the edge of civilization, where Dutch colonists were reclaiming their homes and future fortunes from the wild forest, everything was built quickly, but with a view to lasting for centuries.
The wooden wall built around the northern border of the town was not only a defense against raids, but also a symbol. A symbol of the border between order and chaos, between the ambitions of European settlers and the freedom of these lands. Over the years, the fortification evolved into a real fortification: by 1653, Peter Stuyvesant, appointed governor of New Netherland by the West India Company, ordered the wall to be reinforced with a palisade. It was now twelve feet high, and armed sentries stood on guard towers.
But even the strongest walls do not last forever. Half a century after their construction, in 1685, a road was built along the powerful palisade. The street received a simple and logical name - Wall Street. It soon became a bustling commercial artery for the growing city. In 1699, when the English authorities had already established themselves here finally, the wall was dismantled. She disappeared, but Wall Street remained.
A century has passed
Now, at the end of the 18th century, there were no walls or guard towers on this street. Instead, a plane tree grew here - a large, spreading one, the only witness to the times when the Dutch still owned this city. Traders, dealers, and sea captains met under its shadow. Opposite the buttonwood tree stood the Tontine Coffee House, a place where not just respectable people gathered, but those who understood that money makes this world go round.
They exchanged securities right on the pavement, negotiated over a cup of steaming coffee, and discussed deals that could change someone's fate. Decisions were made quickly - a word, backed up by a handshake, was enough. It was a time when honor was worth more than gold.
But the world was changing. The volume of trades grew, and chaos demanded rules.
May 17, 1792
That spring day turned out to be decisive. Under the branches of an old buttonwood tree, 24 New York brokers gathered to start a new order. The paper they signed contained only two points: trades are made only between their own, without auctioneers, and the commission is fixed at 0.25%.
The document was short but historic. It was called the Buttonwood Agreement, after the tree under which it was signed.
Here, amid the smell of fresh coffee and ink, the New York Stock Exchange was born.
Soon, deals were being concluded under the new rules. The first papers to be traded were those of The Bank of New York , whose headquarters were just a few steps away at 1 Wall Street. Thus, under the shade of an old tree, the history of Wall Street began. A story that will one day change the whole world.
Buttonwood Agreement. A fresco by an unknown artist who adorns the walls of the New York Stock Exchange.
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