What are dark pools?

Dark pools are $-$Select$-$publicprivateItem $1$ stock markets that can be used by $-$Select$-$individualinstitutionalboth individual and institutionalItem $2$ investors.

How can they help investors accumulate shares?

Dark pools allow investors to accumulate a large number of shares of a particular stock at a substantially lower than market price.

Dark pools allow investors to accumulate a large number of shares of a particular stock without the public's knowledge of these trades and, therefore, without placing excessive upward pressure on the stock price.

Dark pools allow investors to accumulate a large number of shares of a particular stock more quickly and securely in contrast to the public stock markets such as the NYSE and Nasdaq.

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Why are dark pools criticized by public stock exchanges?

The public stock markets have criticized dark pools for giving individual investors more opportunities to purchase stock than institutional investors.

Dark pools are criticized as they offer bid and ask prices that are less favorable for institutional traders than what is available in the public stock markets.

The public stock markets have criticized dark pools for reducing transparency, thereby making it more difficult for investors to assess existing demand and supply conditions for a particular stock.

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