Series 3: 1.3.4.3. Order Execution

1.3.4.3.  Order Execution

Once the order ticket is completed, the order is sent to the futures exchange for execution, either electronically or by telephone to the firm’s floor booth. Today most orders to buy or sell futures reach the trading post through an electronic order-routing system. Brokers on the exchange are generally used only for large orders that require special attention.

A floor broker will be sent to one of several trading pits to execute the trade. Unless the trading volume is small, each trading pit, or ring, trades only a single commodity. The pit is a hexagonal structure with three or four steps le