Jesus quiet here; just to give some support I will post something;
1. Been adding a few hybrids to my smsf (better than TD and thought might be a bargain or 3 in these low vol periods). Well "they" are alive and well even in this market where most "shares" are about $100 and often 50c + spreads occur. A few things I have seen: If you put an offer in at the lower end of the spread "they" will sell you just a few shares to try and trap you into the purchase; they will immediately overbid you by say 10c in a 50 c spread (probs fake buy order); & on market close today I tried to "mop up" a parcel I was building and willing to pay 30c more than my buy .... Comsec refused to accept my buy first time; tried again and it was accepted but guess what .... a sale went thru at the mo' of my first order and my buy just sits there overnight as a "new high bid" .... dirty pool IMHO. Reminds me again that the retail buyer is playing against forces that pay NO brokerage, who know your trades & it is therefor truly NOT an even playing surface.
2. C&P'd the following as a follow up to the options discussion pre Xmas. Really getting my head around the Implied Vol (IV) stuff. IV is an ESTIMATE of future volatility for an individual stocks or group of stocks. Whereas implied volatility is very likely to increase as the market falls, there is no reason for beta to change unless it independently becomes more volatile than it used to be. Beta could decline if the individual stock moved less that its customary percentage of the index against which it is being measured. When IV rises on a market decline, it is a fact that market participants believe that the market will be riskier tomorrow. The evidence is clear and overwhelming. Traders pay higher prices for options – and those option prices are what determines the implied volatility. Why do they pay those higher prices? Because they are afraid that tomorrow will bring more downside. They may be wrong, but that is the expectation. And IV is a measure of expectations. Traders buy options when they want to insure a position. They buy options when afraid. They buy options when speculating. Whatever the individual reason, the 'marketplace' buys options in anticipation of something bad happening. That makes IV higher. Remember when markets fall, they sometimes fall hard. That's why people expect tomorrow to be riskier after a big decline. I see nothing wrong with that idea. Sure it's okay to fade the down move and sell a bunch of puts into a big decline. You are getting a pumped price, but you are selling to the buyers who are far more afraid than you. I have no reason to believe they are any smarter, but it does take courage to fade the crowd when selling into a falling market. That's why there is a higher reward for option sellers who are willing to take the risk.
(20min delay)