A simple test for dealing-desk behaviour

[Amanhasnoname]

Nobody needs a leaked document to get a rough idea of how a broker handles orders. Three cheap checks give a decent picture.

First, price comparison. Run the broker's terminal next to a feed from another source during a calm hour and a busy one. Spreads that are consistently a bit wider, or prices that lag, are worth noting, though differences alone prove nothing because feeds are built differently.

Second, the stop-hunt question. When a stop is hit, check whether the price on the broker's own chart touched the level and whether other feeds show the same spike. A one-off is noise. A pattern of spikes that exist only on one feed, near round numbers, in thin hours, is a pattern.

Third, the symmetry test from fills: buys and sells, winners and losers, how often is slippage positive versus negative, and how long does a fill take when the market is moving towards you.

None of these returns a verdict. Together they give a profile, and the profile is what lets a trader decide whether the costs are acceptable for the style. Plenty of dealing-desk brokers are fine for slow trading and terrible for scalping, and the reverse is rare.

Which of the three checks has given the clearest result in your experience?