Many investors who answered the Greenwich Associates survey also said that they thought penny spreads give specialists more opportunities to front-run trades, or profit by buying or selling ahead of customers whose orders they hold.
It was as clear 20 years ago as it is now -- high-frequency traders competing against one another for penny spreads serve the interests of institutional traders and their retail clients.
Studies indicate that the lion's share of the 24 cents per share is staying in the pocket of investors and that high-frequency trader profits are derived almost exclusively from 1 penny spreads.
The iShares gold bullion fund (ticker: IAU) typically trades at a one-penny spread.
In Sydney the stock does 2.7 million shares a day at a one-penny spread.
Meanwhile, the tradition of exchanging Valentine cards anonymously commenced when the penny post spread uniformly across the British Isles in 1840, and saved shy admirers from having to deliver their tokens of affection in person.
The "penny lunches" spread to more parts of the city and even other cities.
Called Incaparina — the name was taken from Incap, the acronym for his institute, and the Spanish word for flour, harina — it cost a penny a glass and spread throughout Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
