Definitions
Block Liquidity – as referenced, refers to the ability of institutional traders to identify and trade large orders of a particular equity.
Fall Downs – fall downs occur when a counter-party engages in a trade negotiation and then backs away after capturing trade data and the intent of the offering party.
Hybrid Order – requires trader to commit to a minimum block quantity order, plus provides the option to negotiate for increased order size.
Buy-side Firm – Institutional Investors such as mutual funds, pension funds, insurance firms, that tend to buy large portions of securities (blocks), for money management purposes.
NBBO – National Best Bid and Offer – The best (lowest) available ask price and the best (highest) available bid price to investors when they buy and sell securities. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation NMS requires that brokers must guarantee customers this price.