In all my time on Market Structure Twitter I have seen next to nothing about the OTC market for US equities, which has exploded in activity since COVID began. Here's my primer on this wild & decades-old corner of market structure:
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We all know the classic US equities market, where lit exchanges like the NYSE & Nasdaq compete with a litany of dark pools, wholesalers & off-exchange venues for market share. Consolidated market volumes consistently reach ~$60-$75 trillion per year:pic.twitter.com/lePiezdLrQ
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For companies to list on the classic equity market they must meet strict requirements around size, trading volume & consistent SEC filings. They must also pay exchanges hefty annual listing fees. If companies don't comply, they get delisted.
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Where do delisted companies go? The OTC market, the land of penny stocks & Pink Sheets. OTC volumes are *much* smaller than the lit exchanges with ~$3 trillion in annual notional traded per year. There are more companies listed OTC than any other major exchange:pic.twitter.com/k8tdWMwNkf
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The characteristics of much these OTC firms mirror the Wild West nature of the crypto market. Median Market Cap = ~$16 million Average Listing Period = ~9 years Average Total Returns = negative Average Volatility = extremely high
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Liquidity in the OTC market is incredibly thin. A stunning 25% of OTC equities see no volume on 95% of trading days. Only the top 5-10% of OTC names see serious volume on a daily basis.
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How does liquidity form in the OTC market? There is no central exchange for OTC trading. A network of broker dealers execute trades bilaterally & post quotes on OTC Link ATS. Think of OTC Link ATS as a pricing hub, not a true trading hub.pic.twitter.com/MysaUrtguW
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There are no IPOs in the OTC market - trading for a security begins when brokers decide to quote prices for it. This is another similarity with the crypto market - DeFi exchanges don't "list" new coins, trading begins when users decide to make a market.
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After COVID retail risk appetite exploded across all accessible markets, and OTC stocks were no exception. 2021 has seen volumes surge by 5x-10x inline with the options & crypto bonanza. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-14/one-trillion-off-exchange-shares-traded-is-latest-froth-marker …
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Because no one talks about the OTC market, no one talks about its only legitimate exchange - OTC Markets Group. OTCM has connected this large network of brokers & illiquid stocks together for decades. They'll be the topic of my next paid post.https://frontmonth.substack.com/
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Replying to @HideNotSlide
Very nice. I used to be an otc pink sheet MM. Being the most "manual"of the equity markets I actually think this would be the most natural market for a protocol like Solana to try and disrupt. The SEC has killed alot of the rigs but ethe/gbtc and a ton of adrs/ords trade there.
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