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Size is your friend, with an edge.

Are you hitting them at the same time, or legging into them over an extended time frame, i.e., greater than 30 seconds, betting on direction for a mispriced leg?

I agree that the DPMs are not using the same pricing model, but there lies the problem. They are pretty good at exploiting the crossed/locked rules; If the futures are moving they pump the volatility up in the model causing them to be out of line with each other, typically crossing or locking...

On the CME's web site there is part about FIX connections; if you look hard enough there is or used to be a on going report of outages. In summary, more than you think.

End of day option quotes are meaningless.

If the futures are moving that fast you are not going to get execution on the options as a hedge or they are going to hold your order and fill it @ the turn, very ugly. Paper trading options and using the results as a basis to hedge is extremely risky, you can not gauge execution, and...

In addition, doing flys for a credit is an old game; if you want to find them today you need: 1) $5,000 month data feed; 2) $3,000 month in T1s; 3) institutional commission rates, factors lower than rates discussed in any public forum; 4) lots of capital; 5) stamina...

You need to read up on this and get a very good understanding of the basics; I would suggest not trying what you are proposing because you will be slaughtered.

No.

def, Regarding options, do you mean OPRA or the exchanges directly?

dlincke, Could you tell me exactly how many keystrokes or mouse clicks are required to send the order? If it is not too much trouble I would appreciate if you could take a screen shot of the "confirmation window" and either post it/or PM me. Thanks

The holy grail.

One other point, non-directional strategies can be used by any trader. The margin on a spread is a fraction of a naked contract and certain arbitrage opportunities don't require a significant amount of capital; the time in a trade is very, very short allowing a trader multiple round turns a day.

Traderkay, The question asked was what strategies do floor traders use, or for that manner, institutional traders; not what the average trader does. The answers address that. In response to your points: 1) true 2) the most important 3) not necessarily, but it doesn't hurt 4)...

Trading a spread is a hedged position, long March short June, not a pure directional play; trading 5 minis against 1 big is an arb, they are fungible.

Scalping the spread, arbing the full contract against the mini and spreading.

You can call us traders or typists, for all I care, as long as at the end of the week we are net positive and can wire money out of our clearing firms to meet the payroll. The real point to Funster was that there are different ways to get an edge, i.e., faster/accurate data, faster/reliable...

Traderkay, Is that what you really think floor traders, market makers, trading firms such as Timber Hill, IB's parent do?

Funster, Why don't you try something else. There are a lot of games in this business, and most professional traders I know, don't make their money on pure directional trading, that is suicide. Find a group to teach you spreading or arbitrage; put in a couple of years not months and you will...

Would appreaciate a copy, me@lastatlantis.com. Thanks