Jul. 12, 2025
I am an individual investor & trader of options there is no doubt, after years of trading experience, studying finance, & watching market behavior, that PFOF Brokers and Wholesalers (Major Players) do not represent the interests of any small trader. For sure, just to trade properly in this day and age, standard brokerage software is not powerful enough. Why do I say this? The Major Players force the small trader (swing trader in my case) to go to great lengths to follow their movements in the market. These major players have an insane powerful pull on market dynamics. Dark pool order flow, for just SPY, or even the entire market (micro & macro dark pool) is out of hand. Holding a position (the last few years especially) a second longer than necessary is so risky. These major players (Citadel, Jane St, Susquahana, and more)(almost too many market makers and wholesalers and brokers) are nothing more than market manipulators. It is NO secret among long-time traders (small traders like myself) that Citadel has a many page "FINRA rap sheet" with over 100+ pages of malfeasance in the market over years & years. That's just one player. If we look at another Jane Street, we can see this Major Player has 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 (all of which cost me over $2k+ yearly) to monitor the PFOF brokers & the Wholesalers, that trader is a rookie & gambler. The market is so controlled by these Major Players > that to have those same players indicate they have my trading interests at heart is very odd & in no way true! PFOF Brokers & all these Wholesalers care about profit & market manipulation. They want the SEC and FINRA to look the other way when these Major Players break rules. If anything, traders NEED a strong FINRA & a strong SEC to 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, it is not only the Greeks that matter. If I could get anything from the SEC it definitely WOULD BE more monitoring & more published & more IMMEDIATELY pushed REAL DATA from the Brokers & Wholesalers to places where ALL traders can see it. Traders need to see the involvement of Major Players in the market to make sound trading decisions. Oddly the last few years, I have taken a day trading-like approach to swing trading using all kinds of "pay for" data. In my opinion, FINRA & the SEC should provide small traders with ALL the necessary data & transparency to trade against these Major Players that make the market we play & then the Major Players trade that same market with huge advantages. JB (The Useless Trader, Discord) New Jersey Resident