Imagination TV Inc. (IMTV)

[10452km2]

ARCA is not a market maker

You need to read the wikipedia article you yourself linked to. "NYSE Arca, previously known as ArcaEx, an abbreviation of Archipelago Exchange, is a securities exchange .... ¶Arca is the second largest Electronic Communication Network ...." Securities exchanges and ECNs are not market makers. They are forums in which buyers and sellers trade directly with each other for a fee.

When ARCA appears on a list of market participants, often loosely titled "Market Makers", there is almost always a code (MP Code) displayed, often "E", which identifies it as a different kind of entity from a market maker (almost always, "M").

http://www.allstocks.com/markets/SI/MM_A_s/mm_a_s.html

http://www.alphatrade.com/techSupport/marketMakers.html?page=a

I'm not sure why this has become so important to some. The important thing to remember is that, when you trade on any electronic exchange, there is no one (specialist of market maker) promising to support a price or supply shares. You will have only whatever slim protection is afforded by the "trade-through" rule (which I find to be questionable at best, particularly on small-cap stocks). You will also usually pay an additional fee for using the exchange, since there is no one collecting a bid/ask spread, but only other traders making their bids and offers.


http://www.investorvillage.com/mbthread.asp?mb=16085&nhValue=4951&nmValue=4975&sync=1&tid=9821578&showall=1