Knight Capital Group
Knight's trading floor, built two years ago, currently accommodates 321 traders. Most of the technology used is proprietary, such as its order management system, which is a core technology for Knight's institutional business. In the photos that follow you can see how the floor is structured and who sit where, as well as some close-ups of the technology used on specific desks. Later on in the photo gallery we also take a peek at Knight's data center and describe its functions. A special thank you to Knight for allowing us access to their floor and to our talented photographer, Sacha Lecca, for his photography.

If you would like your trading floor featured, please email Kmassaro@cmp.com

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KCM Listed Trading
The highlighted area of the trading floor represents Knight Capital Group's listed trading group

Hotspot FXI
The highlighted portion of the trading floor represents Hotspot FXi institutional sales and tech support.

Broker-Dealer Nasdaq Trading

Institutional Nasdaq


Over the Counter Bulletin Board

Compliance

Program Trading

Institutional Client Services


Institutional Sales

1Special Situations

International Sales

Listed Block




Broker-Dealer Sales

Broker-Dealer Client Services

Institutional Sales
The institutional sales desk uses a variety of proprietary technology. The core technology is IOM, Internal Order Management System, which is also used by other Knight desks. IOM was built from the ground-up to facilitate Knight's institutional business.

Institutional Sales
In addition to IOM, which is open on the trader's screen (second to the left), the Institutional Sales desk uses Institutional Insight. This give sales traders intelligence to find opportunities on behalf of clients, such as internal, anonymous block crossing opportunities. Or it could alert a trader to activity in a client's holding or in a stock previoulsy traded by a client. Essentially, it gives the sales trader a good reason to contact the client. Also part of IOM is KnightWatch which is an internal message system that provides direct feeds from news sources and allows messaging between traders, sales traders, technical research and others. It includes filtering and watch/alert list capabilities. Knight Match is also part accessible through IOM. This is Knight's anonymous dark, agency only crossing system. It allows insitutions access to deep retail order flow from Knight's broker-dealer business. It also allows for institution to institution crossing. Another destination available on IOM is the DirectEdge ECN, which is an alternative destination to the exchanges. Visible on this trader's desk as well is Knight Market Watcher (screen to the far right). This allows traders to watch bid/ask activity in various different stocks. The number of windows/stocks to watch is customizable. This trader is watching nine.



Institutional Sales Trading

Institutional Sales Trading

Listed Block
The listed block desk uses the internal order management system, shown on the screen second from the left. You can see this trader has his external market data feeds coming in on the screen to the far left. The screen to the right of IOM shows Market Watcher, where this trader is watching various stocks. And the screen to the far right is his Buy/Sell Board, which is integrated into IOM. This allows the trader to show an an order internally by showing client interest. It feeds into the Institutional Insight system (described previously for Institutional Sales desk.)

Program Trading
ModeX program trading systems was adapted and enhanced internally for Knight's program trading desk


Hotspot FXI
Hotspot FXI is an ECN for trading foreign exchange. It offers a full depth of book display. It is used to enter bids and offers/buy and sells on prices streamed by banks and bids and offers from other clients. Knight Capital Group purchased Hotspot FXI on April 3, 2006.

Hotspot FXI Institutional sales and tech support

Broker-Dealer Nasdaq Trading Desk

OTC Bulletin Board
This photo showcases the Over The Counter Bulletin Board traders (the group facing the 4 TVs)


KCM Listed Trading and Institutional Nasdaq Trading
This photo is a view of a mix of Knight Capital Markets Listed Trading (back two rows) and Institutional Nasdaq Trading (front rows).


Listed Block, B-D Sales and Client Service
The Broker-Dealer Client Service group is the group of desks at the far right (forward), the Broker-Dealer Sales group (to the left of B-D Client Service) and the group of traders beyond B-D Sales are the Listed Block Group. The Listed Block traders use the firm's proprietary internal order management system, Market Watcher (to watch stocks), and a Buy and Sell Board, which allows the trader to "shop" the order internally by showing client interest.





Sales trader giving instructions to a trader



























Sales trader giving instructions to a trader

































































The Core Data Center

Core Distribution Area
All data comes out from this point and is distributed throughout the site.


Knight's Data Center
This is one aisle in Knight's data center. At the end of the row is the "core" from which all data is distrubted. To the sides down the row are servers behind perforated metal cabinet dorrs. You are looking at a cool row--in a data center, warm and cool rows alternate. This row stays cool with a perforated tile floor from which cool air flows, the server cabinets take in cool air, and hot air is pushed out the back (hence warm rows on either side).

Data Center
In the front of this photos you see where servers are connecting to swtiches. At the end of the row again you see the core. Different color cables are different connectivity.


The "Demark Room"
The "demark room," is the entrance point of all data and voice providers' circuits. It is common for a demark room to have extra security (the cage) in part because vendors will come on site and Knight wants to limit their access to other parts of the data center.

Voice Area
All IPC (the trader turret) racks, Cisco voice-over-IP, etc.






IPC Trading Turret

View under a Trading Desk
This shows cooling through grates on the floor---hot air moves up through the center. PCs would sit on those two dark gray metal shelves you see. For flexibility and speed in moving traders around the floor, all cables for the monitors, power, etc (hanging down) stay and just the equipment moves.





























































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