Competition Heats Up Among Euro ATSs
August 15, 2008 @ 01:07 PM | By Cristina McEachernElectronic trading is heating up in Europe this summer as Turquoise officially went live with trading in 10 initial stocks and Chi-X Europe’s market share in FTSE 100 stocks climbed to 20 percent.
Chi-X may have the head start in the ATS race, but several new ATS are lining up and readying for launch this year and into next year.
Competition is only going to increase with Bats Trading, Equiduct and the Nasdaq OMX Europe platform being the next in line to launch in Europe.
As more ATSs enter the market and competition ramps up, the London Stock Exchange has said it will cut trading fees and has plans for liquidity provider incentives to garner more algorithmic trading flow.
Equiduct, the Borse Berlin ATS, announced it was moving to a maker/taker model in an effort to reward liquidity providers as it prepares for an upcoming platform launch.
Liquidity is the name of the game for these ATSs and whether or not they can build momentum will be based on not only their pricing structure, but many are also looking to their backers to get things moving in the right direction.
As more ATSs enter the market and trading off-exchange continues to grow in Europe, time and volume will tell which will be successful and what impact that will have on the traditional exchange model.
In an effort to track electronic trading across the growing number of venues, Xtrakter, a fixed income market utility, has begun to track liquidity in the European markets.
Below are the results for transactions processed by Xtrakter during the month of June for equities and fixed income. According to Xtrakter, the results do not include data relating to systematic internalisers (SIs) or data for trades conducted on the LSE stock exchange trading system (SETS).
Equities (over the counter 20.75%)
1. Euronext Paris – 17.87%
2. Chi-X Europe - 9.41%
3. Deusche Kassenverein - 8.99%
4. London Stock Exchange – 7.05%
5. Electronic Share Market – 6.83%
6. Deutsche Borse – 6.14%
7. NYSE Euronext Amsterdam – 6.06%
8. Nasdaq (USA) – 3.35%
9. Virt-X – 2.91%
10. Other venues – 10.64%
Fixed Income (over the counter – 88.3%)
1. Tradeweb (Europe) – 1.8%
2. MTS SPA – 1.66%
3. ICAP Electronic (Europe) – 1.64%
4. Bondvision – 0.66%
5. Euro Global MTS – 0.6%
6. NYSE Euronext (Amsterdam) – 0.59%
7. London Stock Exchange – 0.53%
8. ICAP Electronic (USA) – 0.46%
9. Euro MTS – 0.43%
10. Other venues – 2.40%
Topics: Exchanges
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Are Institutions in the Dark About Anti-Gaming?
August 14, 2008 @ 11:55 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenEvery major broker dealer says it has the best anti-gaming technology to prevent information leakage in dark pools. However, institutional traders I spoke to recently seemed skeptical of whether sell-side firms would police their dark liquidity pools,suggesting that the independent firms (ITG, Liquidnet and Pipeline) were more likely to expel participants that were sniffing out institutional orders or trying to manipulate prices.
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Sybase Working on Hedge Fund Analytics Solution
August 07, 2008 @ 11:48 AM | By Kerry MassaroYesterday I was invited to lunch with John Chen, CEO, Chairman and President of Sybase. Greg MacSweeney, Editor in Chief of Wall Street & Technology and I, dined with him downtown at Harry’s, where we spent a good hour and a half discussing Sybase’s plans for the financial services vertical.
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Career Opportunities Emerge Out of the Credit Crisis
August 05, 2008 @ 05:25 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenWhile the credit crisis has meant bad news for traders on the job front, some capital markets firms actually see this as an opportunity to expand into new areas of equity trading and risk management. Take Pali Capital, the U.S. broker- dealer subsidiary of Pali Holdings Inc., recently lifted a portfolio trading and risk management team from CIBC World Markets to expand its offerings in equities and execution.
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The West Coast Trading View
August 01, 2008 @ 11:28 AM | By Cristina McEachernI recently got back from a great trip to the West Coast. I traveled out west specifically to visit three trading floors, three very different trading floors that are great examples of operations both big and small on the opposite side of the country.
While New York City may be the center of financial trading activity, the West Coast is not a bad spot to set up shop. Although traders typically start their days much earlier, they are done earlier in the afternoon. Many traders I spoke with enjoyed being able to spend time at with their families, on the golf course or even at the beach while it’s still sunny and nice outside.
Having grown up in Southern California I had a soft spot for the first trading floor I visited out West – JonesTrading. A family business started more than 30 years ago, JonesTrading epitomizes West Coast cool. The Westlake Village offices look over a man-made lake where kids are learning to sail and the upstairs offices have balconies where meetings often take place.
As for the trading floor, there are surfboards hung on the walls and the busy floor could easily be in a New York City office building, except for the lake outside and the distinctly West Coast vibe.
Next I headed south to San Diego to check out Nicholas Applegate Capital Management. Again, the views were spectacular. The firm is located on a top floor in downtown San Diego with an elevated row of traders that look directly over the bay. Not a bad place to have to start your day at 5 in the morning.
Then I hopped a quick flight up to Tacoma, Washington to visit Russell Investments. I’m sure the weather is not always as picture-perfect as the day of my visit, but the views of Mt. Rainier from just outside the office were spectacular.
Maybe I was in awe of the views because I’ve been in the concrete jungle of New York City for too long, but these trading floors were definitely great examples of the advantage of being away from the big city.
Russell is a larger operation with a big trading floor and a very open office plan with traders and portfolio managers, analysts and IT all sitting together for better communication and interaction.
All three trading floors were unique to the firm’s goals and trading style and I think that’s why Advanced Trading readers enjoy hearing about and viewing other trading floors in our Anatomy of a Trading floor section both online and in print.
So not to worry these three trading floors will be featured in upcoming months in the Anatomy of a Trading floor section. Hopefully the photos have captured the views as well as the range of trading technology and applications that each trading floor relies on.
If you’re interesting in having your trading floor featured in Anatomy of a Trading floor please email me at cmceachern@techweb.com.
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The Buy-Side Values Short-Trade Ideas
July 30, 2008 @ 12:52 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenWhen the Securities and Exchange Commission posted an order last night extending the temporary restrictions it placed on short selling in 19 financial stocks until Aug. 12, 2008, the SEC may have allayed the concerns of asset managers that rely upon short-trade ideas in their strategies.
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Why is the Buy-Side Silent on CCAs?
July 21, 2008 @ 02:53 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenI wrote a story about the buy-side expanding the CCAs from U.S. equities to execute in international equities and across multiple asset classes. The story is getting some traction. Integrity Research summarized the story in its blog, “CCAs for Fixed Income.”
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Muriel Siebert Passionate About Short Selling Rules
July 16, 2008 @ 05:59 PM | By Kerry MassaroWhen the news about the SEC’s emergency order to stop “naked short selling” started leaking out yesterday, I was on the phone with Muriel (Mickie) Siebert discussing the Short Sale Uptick Rule that was lifted one year ago. I definitely had the right person on the phone at the right time. Siebert, renowned for being the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and also for founding the discount brokerage Siebert Financial Corp., was against the removal of the Uptick Rule last year. She believed then that it stripped companies of protection against short sellers and still believes it should be put back in place. [The Uptick Rule said you could not short a stock until there was an uptick in its price, preventing a free-for-all downward spiral of the stock.]
Continue reading "Muriel Siebert Passionate About Short Selling Rules..."Topics: Regulations
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Will LSE and Lehman’s Dark Pool Weather Latest Sale Rumors?
July 01, 2008 @ 05:52 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenThe London Stock Exchange Group plc's plans to form a Pan European dark liquidity pool with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. as its joint venture partner could be overshadowed by the potential sale of the firm.
Continue reading "Will LSE and Lehman’s Dark Pool Weather Latest Sale Rumors?..."Topics: dark pools
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Bear Stearns Hedge Fund Manager Ralph Cioffi Arrested
June 19, 2008 @ 01:06 PM | By Kerry MassaroWell the other shoe has finally dropped. Two Bear Stearns hedge fund executives, one that was quoted often in Advanced Trading, have been arrested. Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin were arrested today and charged with securities fraud. The two hedge funds they managed: high Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund,and the High Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund collapsed in August and were the earliest signs that the greater credit crisis was about to make itself known.
Continue reading "Bear Stearns Hedge Fund Manager Ralph Cioffi Arrested..."Topics: credit derivatives
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NYSE Says Good Bye to Specialists; Hello DMMs
June 19, 2008 @ 12:37 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenChange is brewing again at the New York Stock Exchange. Last Friday, the exchange proposed rules that would eliminate the traditional function of a specialist and replace them with designated market makers or DMMs. Is this a good move? How will it impact the Hybrid Market?
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CBOE and 3-D Markets Bring the GWAP to Options
June 02, 2008 @ 06:36 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenThe idea of creating a dark pool in options has not been easy because options trades are not permitted to occur off-exchange. But a recent deal between the Chicago Board Options Exchange and 3-D Markets, a block-crossing network, suggests that exchanges and liquidity pools can cooperate on crossing institutional orders based on benchmark prices.
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A New Era of Change at the NYSE
May 30, 2008 @ 10:15 AM | By Cristina McEachernLarry Leibowitz, executive vice president, head of U.S. markets and global technology at NYSE Euronext Group, was a refreshing keynote at this year’s TowerGroup Financial Services Business & Technology Conference in Boston.
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Is Open Source Threatening the Status Quo?
May 20, 2008 @ 02:01 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenA new software upstart Marketcetera contends that its open source platform for building automated trading systems is an alternative to the likes of EMS providers Portware and Flextrade. Marketcetera's CEO Graham Miller (who previously worked at hedge funds where he developed automated trading systems) regards these platforms as proprietary and calls them restrictive and inflexible as well as expensive.
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Five Keys to Running a Successful Global ATS
May 20, 2008 @ 11:45 AM | By Cristina McEachernRecently I sat down with Instinet’s Co-CEOs Fumiki Kondo and Anthony Abenante to get an update on their first year on the job and what Instinet has coming down the pipeline.
But I was also interested in finding out their vision for the global ATS or MTF market. With the success of Instinet subsidiary Chi-X Europe and the expansion into other global markets—Chi-X Canada and Chi-X ATS Australia already announced—we wanted to know their thoughts on what it takes to successfully build and run a global trading platform.
The consensus puts the European market about seven years behind the U.S. space so ATS are beginning to gather steam and attract trading flow in post-MiFID Europe. For the first quarter of 2008 Chi-X Europe reported over 6.6 million trades and saw peak market volume climb to over 13 percent of total trading in FTSE 100 stocks on March 13, 2008.
As other ATS prepare to launch in Europe and beyond, Kondo and Abenante share their five keys to running a successful global ATS.
Instinet Co-CEOs Anthony Abenante (left) and Fumiki Kondo (right)
Photo by Stephen Aviano
#1 Add Value
Attracting order flow by adding value is also key, according to Abenante. “At the end of the day we’re bringing together people who hopefully will find an opportunity to trade stocks,” he says. “This is a market structure business, the way you add value is making markets more efficient. Whether that’s being faster, or smarter or cheaper—all of those are important. “
He adds that making Chi-X Europe's back end technology cheaper, relying on partner Fortis was a good way to add value for the end user ultimately. “Fortis provides our back end solution, which is about 70 percent cheaper than the incumbent solution. That should generate more volume as costs come down and markets become more efficient it should bring in more trading. At the end of the day more stock you trade within the spread, the spread tightens and that’s good for markets,” notes Abenante.
#2 Provide a Consistent Experience
The success of an ATS is in large part due to the technology and therefore speed and cost, but Abenante also points to the customer experience as an important factor. “Providing a consistent experience for clients from an API standpoint globally—how they interface to the exchange should be consistent and the same types or order controls should be there,” he says. “It’s also important to minimize the burden on people to interface with you and make it as easy as possible for them to come in.”
#3 Know the Market
Anyone who has tried to enter a new market is all too familiar with the advantage having a local presence affords. “We’ve been on the ground in Europe since the 80s and in Asia since the 90s. We have relationships with the regulators and know what they’re looking for and we know the process,” says Abenante.
He also says that bringing in outside investors often helps further this local knowledge and helps enter new foreign markets. “It’s not just brining in trading flow and capital, it’s the intellectual capital, the knowledge of the regulators and how these markets exist,” explains Abenante. “That gives more of the color and helps us figure out how to navigate in these markets. It’s tough walking in to a country and saying ‘we want to be an alternative to the national exchange,’ you really have to tread lightly.”
#4 Make it Transparent
Obviously transparency is something all clients are looking for in their trading destinations and something ATS should keep in mind. “We definitely bring a general philosophy of openness. If you’re trying to sell a more efficient market, to not be transparent is a bit hypocritical,” says Abenante.
Kondo adds, “It’s important that everyone can come and play openly.”
#5 Emphasize Uniqueness
Kondo says that Instinet’s agency model is one way the firm differentiates its ATS offerings. “We don’t have any proprietary flow for example in our ATS’, its all natural flow,” he explains. “That’s one key of ours to differentiate the ATS – the agency model.”
Topics: Exchanges
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Equity Markets Play the Rebate Game to Win Market Share
May 06, 2008 @ 02:35 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenIt's getting hard to keep up with the changes in fee structures emanating from U.S. stock exchanges and ECNs. Equity market players are changing their transaction prices left and right, offering higher rebates to liquidity providers or lower take-fees to those firms that remove liquidity.
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Derivatives Exchanges On a Tear
May 05, 2008 @ 12:26 PM | By Cristina McEachernAs equities exchanges face growing fragmentation and competition from alternative trading venues, the derivatives exchanges are seeing trading volumes jump as electronic trading permeates into these markets.
For the first quarter of 2008, many of the derivatives exchanges reported significant profit growth and volume increases as volatility hit the markets and risk management continues to be at the forefront.
The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) reported net profit of $92.3 million with its futures exchanges seeing an increase of 39% in profit over the previous year. The ISE futures exchanges saw 62.5 million in contracts traded in the first quarter.
NYMEX also credited exponential growth in electronic trading for driving its profits for the quarter. NYMEX saw net profits reach $72.1 million, almost 30 percent more than the same period last year thanks for average daily volumes reaching 1.9 million contracts.
On the options front, big jumps were also evident as volatility continued to plague the markets. The International Securities Exchange (ISE) saw its average daily volume for options hit 4 million contracts for the month of April, almost 50 percent growth over the same period last year.
At the CBOE Futures Exchange, volume reached over 100,000 contracts traded for the month of April, up almost 150% over the same time last year.
The CME Group saw options volumes increase 16 percent to 1.8 million contracts per day as electronic options trading grew 23 percent, reaching an average of 275,000 contracts per day.
NYSE Arca Options saw daily volumes grow 36% in April. While derivatives trading at NYSE Euronext's Liffe saw a 34% increase in contracts traded so far this year compared to the same period last year. During April, more than 97 million futures and options contracts were traded, up 33 percent over the previous year.
At Advanced Trading we’re covering electronic trading in the derivatives markets more and more and this month we are seeking out providers of Futures Algorithms for our next Directory. If you offer algorithms for futures please be sure to fill out the online form at:
http://advancedtrading.com/directories/futures-algorithms/entry/
Continue reading "Derivatives Exchanges On a Tear ..."Topics: Exchanges
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A Rare Look Inside Morgan Stanley Investment Management
April 16, 2008 @ 03:23 PM | By Cristina McEachernIt’s very rare that a big buy side firm wants to talk about their trading technology projects, let alone grant full access to an entire team of people working on a large-scale trading renovation.
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Time to End Wall Street IT's Boom and Bust Cycle?
April 14, 2008 @ 12:59 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenWith investment banks reporting layoffs and tightening their belts in light of the economic downturn, one of the major themes emerging in IT circles is sustainable cost reduction. “The industry does carry a lot of cost,” says Bob Gach, global managing director capital markets at Accenture in New York. “The industry hasn’t had the courage or need to attack these costs,” says Gach.
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Treasury's Plan for Regulatory Overhaul Annoints the Fed As Wall Street's Supercop
April 08, 2008 @ 01:49 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenAs Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s plan to overhaul financial market regulation makes its way through Washington, the question is how could this impact broker dealers, asset managers and hedge funds. Would there be less regulation for the sake of global competitiveness as some opponents contend? And which entity would oversee the opaque world of OTC derivatives?
Continue reading "Treasury's Plan for Regulatory Overhaul Annoints the Fed As Wall Street's Supercop..."Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Clash of the Cultures
March 24, 2008 @ 10:19 AM | By Cristina McEachernThe announcement that JP Morgan would be bailing out Bear Stearns with a deal to purchase the company at $2 per share sent shockwaves across Wall Street last week.
Continue reading "Clash of the Cultures ..."Topics: News
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Are Exchanges Converging with Dark Pools?
March 20, 2008 @ 02:16 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenThe lines between exchanges and dark liquidity pools are blurring. Last week NYSE Euronext announced that clients of NYSE Arca’s electronic trading system would have access to non-displayed liquidity pools through participating broker-dealers and alternative trading systems.
Continue reading "Are Exchanges Converging with Dark Pools?..."Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Remembering Barings
March 11, 2008 @ 08:28 PM | By Kerry MassaroI clearly remember reading about Nick Leeson and the fall of Barings Bank in 1995. I was just a few years out of college in a foot-in-the-door position that wasn't all that exciting. To counter my boredom, I started reading my boss' Wall Street Journal before he got in. The news was interesting, but not thrilling - until I got to the Leeson scandal.
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Santayana New Sales Head at Credit Suisse AES
February 13, 2008 @ 11:04 AM | By Cristina McEachernAs the newly appointed Head of Advanced Execution Services (AES) Global Sales at Credit Suisse, Manny Santayana is already working hard to foster the group’s global, multi-asset focus.
Continue reading "Santayana New Sales Head at Credit Suisse AES..."Topics: Algorithms
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NYSE MatchPoint Offers Free Internalization to Sell-Side DMA Providers
February 12, 2008 @ 05:35 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenNYSE MatchPoint is talking to several of the largest broker dealer members of the exchange about connecting their direct market access (DMA) trading systems up to the new portfolio-based crossing system.
Continue reading "NYSE MatchPoint Offers Free Internalization to Sell-Side DMA Providers ..."Topics: dark pools
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Citi Brings Together ATD and Citi Liquidity with Launch of Citi Match
February 06, 2008 @ 03:22 PM | By Kerry MassaroCiti has quietly launched Citi Match, an anonymous crossing network that brings together the order flow of Automated Trading Desk and Citi. Tim Reilly, Managing Director and Head of Electronic Sales, says, "This is a game changer. One of the biggest challenges for any of the bulge bracket firms is to create a single point of access to their consolidated liquidity. There is a short list of firms that can offer one stop shopping for their non displayed liquidity." He explains that although most of the broker-dealers have matching networks, they don’t have the critical mass that he expects Citi Match to have, nor do they pull together all liquidity types. "We have the three legs of the stool, which is unique," noting that Citi Match pulls together institutional, broker-dealer and retail order flow. He says, "This is very different from simply pulling flow together from an algo, cash and program trading desk and calling it a crossing engine."
Continue reading "Citi Brings Together ATD and Citi Liquidity with Launch of Citi Match..."Topics: dark pools
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LongView Integrates With NYFIX
February 06, 2008 @ 01:54 PM | By Cristina McEachernLinedata announced its LongView trade order management system (OMS) will now offer integrated access to NYFIX Millennium dark pool and NEXAS, NYFIX’s algorithm suite.
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BIDS Trading Integrates with Fidessa LatentZero
February 05, 2008 @ 02:01 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenBIDS Trading, an alternative trading system (ATS) focusing on U.S. equity block trading, has now connected to the Fidessa Latent Zero’s buy-side order execution management system (OEMS), called Minerva. Both companies announced the systems connectivity today, reflecting the need to provide institutions with access to new trading venues that are proliferating in the U.S. equity trading space.
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ISE Teams with Eurex to Develop New Options Trading System, Replacing OMX by 2011
January 30, 2008 @ 01:45 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenThe International Securities Exchange (ISE) and Eurex, the derivatives marketplace owned by Deutsche Borse, will jointly develop a new options trading system for the ISE that will replace the OMX Click trading system currently in operation. This step is the first initiative following the completion of the $2.8 billion merger of ISE and Eurex on Dec. 19, 2007.
Continue reading "ISE Teams with Eurex to Develop New Options Trading System, Replacing OMX by 2011..."Topics: Exchanges
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Fidessa LatentZero and Pipeline Partner on Leak-Proof Integration
January 29, 2008 @ 10:53 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenFidessa LatentZero’s partnership with Pipeline Trading Systems LLC will give buy-side traders the ability to match up large block trading opportunities in Pipeline ATS with orders on their blotter without risking information leakage.
Continue reading "Fidessa LatentZero and Pipeline Partner on Leak-Proof Integration..."Topics: EMS/OMS
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Aite Group's Bailey Heads to Knight Capital Group
January 29, 2008 @ 04:42 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenBrad Bailey, senior analyst at Aite Group, is moving to Knight Capital Group as a director in the business corporate development area. Bailey will focus on strategic initiatives to grow the sell-side firm’s business.
Continue reading "Aite Group's Bailey Heads to Knight Capital Group..."Topics: people
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Turquoise Taps Apama and Detica to Build Market Surveillance System
January 28, 2008 @ 05:48 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenTurquoise, the high-profile multilateral trading system (MTF) in Europe founded by nine investment banks to compete with the London Stock Exchange and other traditional exchanges, has hired Progress Software and Detica to develop a real-time market surveillance system.
Continue reading "Turquoise Taps Apama and Detica to Build Market Surveillance System..."Topics: ECNs
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Updating Record Volumes
January 24, 2008 @ 06:30 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenWith volatility back in the stock market, institutional investors are routing orders with a vengeance and boosting the volumes at some of the newer equity trading venues.
Here’s an update on the volume records that occurred this week.
Topics:
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Rogue Trader Rocks SocGen
January 24, 2008 @ 10:59 AM | By Cristina McEachernSociete Generale announced today that a rogue trader had undertaken “exceptional fraud” resulting in losses of $7.14 billion.
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ITG Releases Triton in Asia Pac
January 24, 2008 @ 10:38 AM | By Cristina McEachernInvestment Technology Group (ITG) has launched its Triton execution management system (EMS) for the Asia Pacific region. Buy side traders will have access to more then 30,000 equities across the Asia Pacific markets.
Continue reading "ITG Releases Triton in Asia Pac..."Topics: EMS/OMS
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Turquoise Update
January 23, 2008 @ 11:06 AM | By Cristina McEachernDespite recent delays to its planned launch, Project Turquoise, the multilateral Pan European trading facility established by a consortium of banks, is on its way to a 2008 launch with its CEO and CTO in place and two new partners.
Continue reading "Turquoise Update..."Topics: Exchanges
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Market Tumult Lifts Volume at Liquidnet and Pipeline
January 22, 2008 @ 07:07 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenFears of a U.S. recession that sparked a global sell-off in European and Asian stocks over the past two days, led to a rocky day in U.S. stock trading and an aggressive rate cut by the Federal Reserve, But the jittery behavior of institutional investors and hedge funds could be good for alternative trading systems (ATSs) judging from the recent highs in dark pools. Two of the dark pools, Liquidnet and Pipeline, announced record high volumes last week.
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Progress Releases Smart Order Router Accelerator
January 22, 2008 @ 10:20 AM | By Cristina McEachernProgress Software has released its Progress Apama Smart Order Router (SOR) Accelerator to help traders quickly and effectively create and deploy smart order routing strategies.
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NYSE Euronext Buys Amex to Snare Options Jewel
January 18, 2008 @ 02:36 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenNYSE Euronext is on a shopping spree to consolidate the global exchange landscape and last night it agreed to acquire the American Stock Exchange for $260 million in its own common stock, to boost its options business and multi-asset class product range.
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Aqua ATS Joins Tradeware Network to Access Block Liquidity
January 16, 2008 @ 12:45 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenAqua, a new alternative trading system that is trying to solve the block liquidity problem for the buy side and mid-tier brokers, has joined Tradeware Global Corp.’s FIXLink, global connectivity network.
“Tradeware has a platform that is used by a lot of brokers,” says Kevin Foley, president and CEO of Aqua, a new electronic trading platform for block liquidity that is backed by Cantor Fitzgerald and eSpeed. Aqua did its first trades in December. “People aren’t going to trade unless it’s seamless and paperless. You’ve got to integrate where the source is and where the liquidity is,” says Foley.
Continue reading "Aqua ATS Joins Tradeware Network to Access Block Liquidity..."Topics: dark pools
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Is NYSE’s Purchase of Wombat a Response to Nasdaq-OMX?
January 15, 2008 @ 04:04 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenYesterday’s agreement by NYSE Euronext to acquire Wombat Financial Software is another sign that the arms race between exchanges to buy up technology infrastructure companies is heating up. The NYSE deal to acquire Wombat for $200 million in cash falls on the heels of Nasdaq acquiring Stockholm’s OMX Group, a leading commercial supplier of exchange technology.
Continue reading "Is NYSE’s Purchase of Wombat a Response to Nasdaq-OMX?..."Topics:
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Portware Connects to NYSE MatchPoint
January 15, 2008 @ 12:39 PM | By Cristina McEachernIn preparation for the January 22nd launch of NYSE MatchPoint, Portware announced it has integrated with the portfolio-based point-in-time electronic trading facility. Portware’s buy- and sell-side clients will have full access to the centralized matching environment.
Continue reading "Portware Connects to NYSE MatchPoint ..."Topics: dark pools
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Goldman Launches Two New Options Algos
January 11, 2008 @ 01:19 PM | By Cristina McEachernGoldman Sachs Electronic Trading has launched two new algorithms for U.S. Listed Options. The new Iceberg and Delta Adjusted algorithms are available to users on Goldman’s RediPlus platform as well as its FIX offering.
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Consortium Buys into Chi-X Europe
January 10, 2008 @ 12:52 PM | By Cristina McEachernInstinet announced a consortium of 13 banks and trading firms have taken a minority equity stake in its Chi-X Europe multilateral trading facility (MTF).
Continue reading "Consortium Buys into Chi-X Europe..."Topics: Exchanges
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Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Invest in BATS Trading
January 08, 2008 @ 02:05 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenDeutsche Bank and JPMorgan have each invested in BATS Trading, operator of BATS ECN, acquiring a minority stake in the fast growing alternative market center in U.S. equity securities. Financial terms were not disclosed. This brings the number of sell-side investors in Kansas City-based BATS up to 10.
BATS ECN has grabbed the attention of the industry with its high-speed trading platform that appeals to high frequency and algorithmic traders and with its aggressive rates for adding and removing liquidity, which have turned up the heat on the NYSE and Nasdaq.
Continue reading "Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Invest in BATS Trading ..."Topics: ECNs
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NYSE MatchPoint Set for Launch
January 07, 2008 @ 11:24 AM | By Cristina McEachernThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the rules for NYSE Euronext’s MatchPoint crossing network. MatchPoint is expected to officially begin trading on January 22, 2008.
Continue reading "NYSE MatchPoint Set for Launch..."Topics: Exchanges
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RealTick Links to On Point’s Options Smart Routing
January 07, 2008 @ 10:18 AM | By Cristina McEachernOn Point Execution’s Sting smart order router for options is now an execution destination available on Townsend Analytics’ RealTick Execution Management System (EMS).
Continue reading "RealTick Links to On Point’s Options Smart Routing ..."Topics: derivatives
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Fortis Launches 24-Hour Futures Desk
January 04, 2008 @ 12:17 PM | By Cristina McEachernFortis Clearing Americas will launch its 24-hour futures execution desk on January 14th to service commodity trading advisor (CTA) and hedge fund clients. Gerard Colagrossi and Eli Tullis Jr. have been appointed senior vice presidents and will lead the new Chicago-based desk.
Continue reading "Fortis Launches 24-Hour Futures Desk ..."Topics: derivatives
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Empire Financial to Donate Day's Profits to Cancer Center
December 12, 2007 @ 09:15 PM | By Kerry MassaroWe might all think that one day we’ll make a difference. One day after this or that, we will put aside our personal needs and do something that will be a step---big or small--toward making the world a better place. Most of us never do it, but Gerry Mastrianni, head of trading at Empire Financial Group, a Longwood, Florida-based firm is an exception.
Continue reading "Empire Financial to Donate Day's Profits to Cancer Center..."Topics: trading floors
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Clarifying TSX's Electronic Market Share and Alpha Trading Systems
December 12, 2007 @ 05:35 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenIn yesterday's story about the TSX Group merging with Montreal Exchagne (MX), I said TSX had 90 percent market share in equities and suggested that Alpha Group was building a block trading system. Jackie Chung, president of Competitive Metrics, sent me an email this afternoon clarifying the TSX market share figures and explaining the strategy behind Alpha Group (now known as Alpha Trading Systems).
Continue reading "Clarifying TSX's Electronic Market Share and Alpha Trading Systems..."Topics: Exchanges
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How Will the TSX/ Montreal Merger Affect Spreads?
December 12, 2007 @ 11:08 AM | By Kerry MassaroCFA and an Advanced Trading reader, Bud Haslett of Miller Tabak & Co., emailed me the following commentary. I'd like to ask our readers the question he asked me: Do you think the
merger will result in narrower spreads and increased option volume for the combined organization?
Below is Bud's commentary:
Continue reading "How Will the TSX/ Montreal Merger Affect Spreads?..."Topics: Exchanges
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TSX Group to Merge with Montreal Exchange to Create Multi-Asset Trading Venue
December 10, 2007 @ 10:41 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenThe TSX Group has agreed to merge with the Montreal Exchange Inc. (MX) in a C$1.3 billion deal that will create an integrated, multi-asset class execution venue for equities and derivatives in Canada.
Continue reading "TSX Group to Merge with Montreal Exchange to Create Multi-Asset Trading Venue..."Topics: Exchanges
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Goldman Sachs Launches Global Signature Program to Clarify Relationships with Tech Vendors
December 10, 2007 @ 04:34 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenGoldman Sachs launched a new program last week to clarify its relationships with external vendors, brokers and service providers so as to enhance their clients trade workflow throughout the execution and clearing process.
Continue reading "Goldman Sachs Launches Global Signature Program to Clarify Relationships with Tech Vendors..."Topics: EMS/OMS
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TradingScreen and Axes Partner for Global Execution
December 03, 2007 @ 04:00 PM | By Cristina McEachernTradingScreen and Axes, a global institutional agency broker, have entered into a partnership to connect TradingScreen clients to Axes’ GEMS (Global Execution Management System).
Continue reading "TradingScreen and Axes Partner for Global Execution..."Topics: EMS/OMS
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Morgan Stanley, Trading Technologies Ink Deal
November 28, 2007 @ 02:39 PM | By Cristina McEachernUnder a new strategic agreement, Morgan Stanley’s Client Listed Derivatives group will make Trading Technologies X_Trader platform available to its customers as well as its internal trading desks on a global basis.
Continue reading "Morgan Stanley, Trading Technologies Ink Deal..."Topics: derivatives
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