This paper deals with a novel problem of price search in a world where futures markets play an important role. In the absence of the futures market, customers are unable to tell whether a high spot quote reflects a fundamental change in market conditions or whether they have run into a...

Customers carrying out a costly search among dealers for the best bid or offer are unable to tell whether an unfavorable quote reflects a change in market fundamentals or whether they have met a high margin dealer. The optimal search strategy in the presence of a futures market is shown to have...