Orc Algorithmic Trading

Challenge:

Senior traders at a large US investment bank wanted to deploy latency sensitive futures strategies. The IT department was busy working on core infrastructure and a decision was therefore made to try an ISV provided solution.

Solution:

Orc Algorithmic Trading was deployed and connected to CME and CBOT. A tech savvy trader wrote the strategies. The Orc solution proved considerably faster than the in-house solution.

Why did it work:

• Orc Algorithmic Trading provided the fast solution they were looking for
• Rapid deployment time allowed the firm to take advantage of the opportunity
• Orc Algorithmic Trading was able to handle the complexity of the strategies

Challenge:

Traders at a Chicago hedge fund were primarily click trading. In order to expand they wanted to automate part of their business without having to hire new traders or build a large IT department.

Solution:

Orc Algorithmic Trading was deployed globally with hundreds of strategies and connections to the Hong Kong Futures Exchange, Singapore Exchange, Osaka Stock Exchange, Tokyo Stock Exchange (Cash & Derivatives), Taiwan Futures Exchange, CBOT and CME. All trading goes through local clearing firms utilizing Orc native connectivity to the above exchanges. Orc Algorithmic Trading servers were co-located with local clearing firms, but position keeping/risk management was centralized in Chicago. Futures and options strategies were deployed.

Why did it work:

• The ability to handle thousands of instruments on multiple markets
• Low-latency
• Centralized risk management
• Global native connectivity
• Integration with the Orc Trader front end for manual trading

Problem:

Lack of an adequate technology platform was the main obstacle for further expansion of the profitable Covered Warrants business. Native connectivity to a number of European exchanges and capability to continuously quote thousands of instruments with a wide range of underlyings were the main requirements from the business.

Solution:

Liquidator was deployed and connected to Euronext, SeDeX, Euwax, CATS and TLX. Quoting modules were designed to fit the traders’ strategies and market rules. Integration with Orc real time pricing models and risk components required just a few days of effort. Within weeks the bank started to price and quote thousands of instruments in a multi-market setup.

Why did it work?

• With Liquidator it was very easy to implement quoting strategies and quickly adapt them to meet further changes in requirements
• Plug-and-play market connections and pricing models reduced integration efforts to a minimum
• Liquidator client makes it easy to control thousands of instruments at the same time

Problem:

• A group of traders were primarily using screen-based trading for their fund
• Traders needed to automate part of their business to take advantage of new trading opportunities
• Firm did not want to expand their trading team or their IT department

Solution:

• Liquidator servers were deployed globally with hundreds of strategies
• Connections to Hong Kong Futures Exchange, Singapore Exchange, Osaka Stock Exchange, Tokyo Stock Exchange (Cash & Derivatives), Taiwan Futures Exchange, CBOT and CME
• All trading is through local clearing firms utilizing Orc native connectivity to the above exchanges
• Liquidator servers were co-located with local clearing firms, but position keeping/risk management was centralized in Chicago
• Futures and options strategies were deployed

Results:

• Able to handle thousands of instruments on multiple markets
• Low latency connections allow them to capture opportunities before their competition
• Centralized risk management provides higher quality risk management that meets the demands of the firm
• Orc Trader is used for screen-based trading as needed and utilizes the same robust infrastructure as Liquidator for simplicity and ease of use.

Problem:

• Had very low latency sensitive strategies that needed to be deployed
• Strategies were tested on in-house systems and failed because of latency
• IT had limited bandwidth and resources to create a faster system

Solution:

• Liquidator was deployed and connected to CME and CBOT for an ultra low latency solution
• A single tech savvy trader wrote strategies for Liquidator

Results

• Liquidator proved fast enough to execute their strategies and generate profit from their trading strategy
• Deployment time was short allowing them to take advantage of the opportunity which may only last for a short time

Problem

This client is a proprietary trading firm in Chicago, IL.  They are market makers on the CBOE and had several specific needs in a new solution:

• Needed to scale business and be able to quote hundreds of instruments
• Have a proprietary system for options pricing that needed to be integrated into the quoting solution
• Required technological expertise for market making on CBOE
• Required execution through a broker

Solution

• Use Liquidator to publish and manages quotes to the CBOE
• Implement the CBOE CMi market adapter for an ultra-low latency connection to the CBOE
• Calculated values pushed into Liquidator via an open protocol

Results

• Able to make markets for 100 instruments using a single instance of Orc Liquidator
• Successfully quoting markets in an ultra-low latency environment – they are winning trades!
• Looking to add hundreds more instruments and become one of the leading market makers on the CBOE