Jul. 12, 2025
I am an individual investor & a trader of options. There is no doubt, after years of trading experience, studying finance, or watching market behavior, PFOF Brokers and Wholesalers (major players) do not represent my interests. For sure, just to trade properly, standard brokerage software is not enough. Why do I say this? The major players force the small trader (swing trader in my case). Dark pool order flow is out of hand. Holding a position a second longer than necessary is risky. These major players (Citadel, Jane St, Susquahana, and more almost too many market makers and wholesalers and brokers) are market manipulators. It is secret among long time (small traders like myself) that Citadel has a many page "FINRA rap sheet"... over 100+ pages of malfeasance in the market. That's just one player. If we look at another Jane Street, we can see they have been busted for market manipulation (via shares & options) in the Indian stock market only days ago. If a trader, in my mind, does not use TradingView software (or similar), order flow software, and dark pool flow software, which cost me over $2k+ yearly) to monitor the PFOF brokers & the Wholesalers, that trader is a rookie & gambler. The market is so controled by these major players that to have those same players indicate they have my interests at heart is very odd ! No way do PFOF Brokers & all these Wholesalers care about anything but profit & market manipulation. They break rules every day and get away with it. If anything traders NEED a strong FINRA & a strong SEC keep the playing field level & fair. If that same trader I mentioned above thinks the market is "free and fair" > that trader is naive. Fact is : the major players (brokers & wholesalers) must be watched so carefully that, as an options player its not only the greeks that matter. If I could get anything from the SEC it definitely WOULD BE more monitoring & pushed data from the brokers & wholesalers. Traders need to see there involvement in the market to make sound decisions. Oddly the last few years I have taken a day trading approach to swing trading using all kinds of "pay for" data. In my opinion, FINRA & the SEC should provide small trader with ALL the necessary data & transparency to trade against these major players that make the market we play & then trade that same market. JB (The Useless Trader, Discord) New Jersey Resident