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To help "nonsense" from fact, here are some facts....
TOPS really has nothing to do with electronic trading per se in the way that
Globex2 or the FIX API do. TOPS is the Trading Order Processing System owned
jointly by the CME and CBOT. It is a routing system for orders to all
exchanges, of which the large majority are open outcry. The order is called
to the broker who then enters it into the TOPS system and it is routed and
fills are routed back automatically. It has in the past been able to connect
to the FIX API for e-trading in the nas mini and sp e-mini. However any firm
not far behind the technology curve, has already switched away from TOPS for
access to the FIX API. In terms of e-trading, if a firm is still using ORAPI
(Order Routing API ) instead of FIX API they are behind the technology
curve.
The FIX API is exclusive to the CME and is specific to e-trading. It is an
interface that allows brokerage firms or independant software companies like
PATS to access the CME electronic OM's (Order Managers). The OM's hold all
MIT and STOP orders until they are triggered. Unlike open outcry markets
they must be triggered by an actual trade, not just a bid or ask price.
Orders sent through TOPS are stored on the TOPS OM, NOT the FIX API OM.
Where it gets tricky, and where you really need someone from the CME to tell
you, and I am not sure they would, is that each firm has one or more servers
that store that firms order book for globex2. They all connect to the actual
trade execution platform. Where the tricky part is, is how each server's
orders are executed as they are sent to the execution platform. Is one
server faster? Does checking the orders against prices to see if the stop is
executed take enough time that new market orders jump ahead of it? I am not
sure.
And to be honest, I think its a red herring. Save a disaster of technology
malfunction, e-trading is nirvana compared to the pits. I use it extensively
everyday, and have never had a bad fill.
----- Original Message -----
From: DH <catapult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <realtraders@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2001 10:24 PM
Subject: Re: [Fwd: Re:[RT] Market - OEX astro]
> Nonsense. Few brokers are using FIX now and, while interesting reading,
> what will or may happen someday in the future is irrelevant to the
> health of our accounts RIGHT NOW. I, for one, appreciate John's efforts
> to clarify the current mess.
>
> So, I'll ask again. Which stop order will get filled first, even if the
> difference is only milliseconds? One entered through FIX or one entered
> through TOPS?
>
> --
> Dennis
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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>
>
>
>
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