I don't know a single broker or sales-trader who would intentionally reject orders from a well-meaning customer. Brokerages make money on commissions and order flow when customers trade. The author of this Bloomberg opinion article has a kind of wisenheimer sense of humor and is playing fast and loose with his comments, in an attempt to make a point about the nature of panic.
Failure in moments of market stress is the worst way for a brokerage to protect its position in the broader industry, because downtime damages customer confidence (long-term income) in addition to reducing order flow (short-term income).
Order flow is more valuable in moments of extreme volatility because spreads widen when the market goes nuts.
>I don't know a single broker or sales-trader who would intentionally reject orders from a well-meaning customer.
It happened aplenty in 2008, when banks were rushing to offload toxic crap that they owned on to the market FIRST, and only THEN were they willing to help their customers do the same.
Failure in moments of market stress is the worst way for a brokerage to protect its position in the broader industry, because downtime damages customer confidence (long-term income) in addition to reducing order flow (short-term income).
Order flow is more valuable in moments of extreme volatility because spreads widen when the market goes nuts.