MEB Options has joined forces with the International Securities Exchange to make available a service that helps traders locate the various legs in their multi-leg trades.
The service, developed by MEB, an institutional brokerage based in Chicago, is called “Spread Crawler.”
The crawler scans the complex order books of six exchanges, including NYSE Amex, NYSE Arca Chicago Board Options Exchange, C2, ISE, and Nasdaq OMX Phlx. The object is to locate quotes appropriate for the trader, on each leg.
That saves traders time in sifting through the large number of unusable orders on these books, according to Jason Stamer, a manager in MEB’s business development department.
“This manages the market data for the complex order books out there,” Stamer explained.
The subscription service went live in September and is being managed and marketed by ISE.
Users log onto the service on ISE’s website, fill out a trading wish list and then wait for an instant message with quotes.
Once they receive the data, they can then trade where they choose. They don’t have to trade with MEB or at the ISE. Spread Crawler is strictly an information service.
MEB customers have been using it for the past three years. The ISE will market the service to its customers and handle the billing.
“We thought this would be a fantastic way to grow the pie of complex orders by giving more people the ability to filter the information,” said Boris Ilyevsky, managing director, ISE Options Exchange, “and enhance our presence and relationships with our customers.”
ISE has one of the largest complex order books among the exchanges, routinely trading 40 percent of its volume on the book, according to Ilyevsky.
Complex, or multi-leg, orders have been one of the fastest growing sectors of the options business in recent years, according to industry executives.
