A simple cost reduction strategy for small liquidity traders: Trade at the opening

We extend the market microstructure literature by examining trading strategies of a small discretionary liquidity trader in call and continuous markets. Our investigation of trading strategies uses intraday market and limit orders, and introduces the market-at-open order as an alternative strategy for a small liquidity trader. We find that a small trader can reduce transaction costs by trading at the opening. Using tick-by-tick transaction data, we demonstrate that the market-at-open order consistently produces better prices than market and limit orders executed during the trading day.