김형래의 개구리운동장

혹시 영화 "The Specialist"에 나오는 폭파 전문가를 떠올리지는 않으셨는지요?
영화 내용은 "어릴 때 쿠바계 범죄 조직에 의해 부모를 잃은 메이(May Munro: 샤론 스톤 분)는 전직 CIA요원 출신의 폭파 전문가인 레이(Ray Quick: 실베스타 스탤론 분)에게 부모의 원수를 갚아 달라고 요청한다. 레이는 거절 끝에 이를 승낙하고 메이의 부모를 살해한 범인들을 하나씩 해치워나가며 메이와 사랑을 느낀다. 하지만 CIA 시절의 상관이었으나 범죄와 무관한 어린이를 죽게한 일 때문에 견원지간이 된 네드(Ned Trent: 제임스 우즈 분)가 메이의 배후에 있음을 알게 된다. 그리고 메이의 부모를 살해하도록 명령을 내린 자는 메이가 복수를 위하여 의도적으로 접근하였던 토마스(Tomas Leon: 에릭 로버츠 분)가 아니라 그의 아버지인 조(Joe Leon: 로드 스타이거 분)라는 사실도 밝혀진다. 결국 경찰을 등에 업은 네드는 레이가 사는 곳을 찾아내고 레이와 네드, 두 사람의 최후 대결이 시작된다." 뭐 이런 내용이었을 것으로 생각됩니다.

Specialists
A specialist is a member of a stock exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange, who performs several functions. Specialists must make a market in the stock they trade by displaying their best bid and asked prices to the market during trading hours. They also are required to maintain a "fair and orderly market" in the stocks they trade. They do this by stepping in with their own capital to provide liquidity to help reduce market volatility when there are not sufficient buyers or sellers. The rules of the exchange prohibit specialists from trading ahead of investors who have placed orders to buy or sell a security at the same price. The number of stocks a specialist trades depends on how active the stock trades, but most specialists trade between five to ten stocks.

For more information about what specialist do and their responsibilities, you can visit the website of the New York Stock Exchange and go to its Glossary under "Specialist."

http://www.sec.gov/answers/specialist.htm

Specialist
A market professional who manages the two-way auction market trading in the specific securities he or she has been assigned. He or she works for a specialist firm, which is an independent company in the business of trading listed securities. A specialist performs four essential functions:

Auctioneer
The specialist continually shows the best bids and offers throughout the trading day. These quotes are disseminated electronically through the NYSE quote and other market-data systems that transmit the information instantly worldwide. The specialist maintains order in the crowd and interacts with other agents representing customers. Specialists make sure all marketable orders are executed regardless of their size. Specialists generally do not determine a stock’s price; rather, it’s determined by public bids and offers and the interaction of supply and demand. Specialists also ensure that stocks open as close to the opening bell as possible, and that openings and reopenings following trading halts are timely, fair, orderly and appropriately reflect market conditions at the time. Unusual situations, such as large order imbalances, require tape indications—or public notification to the trading crowd and the investing public of the range within which the stock is expected to open—to be disseminated under a floor official’s supervision.

Agent
The specialist accepts limit orders from investors, either electronically or via a broker, and executes trades on their behalf when the share price reaches the investor's limit. As agent, a specialist assumes the same fiduciary responsibility as a broker.

Catalyst
The specialist is the contact point between brokers with buy orders and brokers with sell orders. Specialists bring together buyers and sellers when necessary. For example, if a buy or sell order can't be matched with other orders, the specialist will alert investors who were recently active in the stock to see if they can be brought into that transaction.

Principal
The specialist must buy and sell stock against the market trend to cushion temporary imbalances and avoid unreasonable price variations—committing capital to add liquidity when it is needed. If buy orders temporarily outpace sell orders in a specialist's assigned stocks -- or if sell orders outpace buy orders -- the specialist is required to use their firm's own capital to minimize the imbalance. This is done by buying or selling against the trend of the market, until a price is reached at which public supply and demand are once again in balance. Specialists, however, cannot trade ahead of public orders. The NYSE operates under strict public-order priority that always puts the customer first.