by Electronic trading is easy: Log in to your account. Select the security you wish to buy or sell. Click the mouse or tap your screen, and the transaction takes place. From an investor’s perspective, it’s simple and easy. But behind the scenes, it is a complex process backed by an impressive array of technology. What was once associated with shouting traders and wild hand gestures has now become more closely associated with statisticians and computer programmers.
First Step: Open an Account
The first step is to open an account with a brokerage firm. This can be done electronically or by completing and mailing the appropriate forms. You will need to provide personal information, such as your name and address, that enables the firm to identify you, along with a bit of information about your investing experience level. Then the brokerage firm can evaluate whether the account you are seeking is appropriate. For example, if you have no experience trading stocks but wish to open an account that lets you trade using borrowed money (a margin account), your application may be denied.
The account-opening process also enables you to designate electronic pathways between your bank account and brokerage account so that money can move in either direction. Should you wish to add more money to your investable pool, you can move it from your bank account to your brokerage account simply by logging in to your account. Similarly, if your investments have generated gains and you need that money to pay bills, you can move from your brokerage account to your bank without making any phone calls. If you don’t have a bank account, you can set up a money market account with the brokerage firm and use it in a manner similar to a bank account.
These electronic conveniences require computer equipment, such as servers, and human oversight to make sure everything is set up properly and works as planned. The technological requirements become even more complex when you are ready to trade.
Research before Trading
Before you place an order, you will likely want to learn about the security you are considering for purchase. Most brokerage websites offer access to research reports that will help you make your decision and real-time quotes that tell how much the security is trading for at any given time. The research reports are updated periodically and loaded to the website when you access them. The quotes are a far more complex issue, as the technology must keep track of thousands of data points relating to stock prices and deliver that data to you instantly upon request.
When you actually place an order, the infrastructure level required to support the process increases. Programming and technology must facilitate order entry and the variety of choices that it entails.
First, you have the option to select your choice of order types. Market orders execute immediately. Limit orders can be set to execute only at a certain price, within a certain time limit ranging from immediately to anytime within a period of months. These choices are available simultaneously to all investors using the system and must work in real-time.
The purchase price and share quantity requested must be conveyed to the marketplace, which requires the computer system at the brokerage firm where the order was placed to interact with computer systems on the securities exchange where the shares will be purchased. The systems at the exchange must instantly and simultaneously interact with the systems at all of the brokerage firms, either offering shares for sale or seeking to purchase shares.
To complicate matters further, the electronic interface must include all exchanges (Nasdaq, NYSE, etc.) from which an investor may choose to purchase a security. The interaction between systems must execute transactions and deliver the best price for the trade. To prove to regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the trade was executed in a timely and cost-effective fashion, the systems must maintain a record of the transaction.
The computerized matching engine must perform a high volume of transactions every minute the market is open for business and do so instantly and flawlessly. Backup systems are necessary to make sure investors have access to their accounts and can trade every minute the markets are open. Security industry regulators, such as the SEC, also need access to the information contained in investors’ accounts.
How Information Is Protected?
That data is held at the Depository Trust Company, which is a recordkeeper responsible for maintaining details for all shareholders in the United States. The DTCC is a holding company consisting of five clearing corporations and one depository, making it the world’s largest financial services corporation dealing in post-trade transactions. This central repository serves as a backstop, enabling investors to recover account information in the event the brokerage firm responsible for facilitating the investor’s trades goes out of business.
Once the trade has been made, the transaction must be confirmed with both buyer and seller. The data must be sent back out to the systems that collect and display pricing to other market participants to facilitate trading in the broader marketplace.
Trading Records Kept
A record of the transaction must be stored, so that data is available for client statements and for clients to access online when they log into their brokerage accounts. On an ongoing basis, the system must capture data for corporate actions like dividends and capital gains, not only to keep the investor’s account balance up to date and accurate but also to facilitate tax reporting. Enormous volumes of data must continually be tracked, captured and transmitted.
The system must also be able to facilitate both periodic and regularly scheduled recurring transactions. Everything from transfers to and from the investor’s personal bank account to ongoing transfers between accounts for account funding, bill payment, estate settlement and a variety of other transactions must be supported.
Risks
Electronic trading is integral to the financial markets. Everything from technological glitches to outright fraud can impair the smooth and efficient functioning of those markets, costing brokerage firms money and calling into question the credibility of the financial system. Even minor glitches, such as the “flash crash” of May 6, 2010, can wreak havoc. The flash crash was a brief trading glitch that caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to plunge 998.5 points in just 20 minutes. More than $1 trillion in market value disappeared. To rectify the situation and make investors whole, 21,000 trades were canceled—all because of a single glitch, triggered by an order placed in the futures market on a brokerage firm’s computer system, which caused panic trading to spill over to the equity markets.
Electronic trading is amazingly complex and extraordinarily fast. It offers instant access to an impressive array of securities and markets. The data support includes all the reporting functions an investor needs and all the data that regulators require. It includes a secure environment for personal account details and an industrywide repository designed to ensure no data is lost. Despite the high trading volume, the system is incredibly reliable. It’s a modern technological marvel, and it’s available to you to use for just a few dollars per trade.
- Electronic trading involves setting up an account with a brokerage of your choice, including providing your contact and financial information to facilitate electronic transfers between your bank and the brokerage.
- When you place an order, the complex technology enables the brokerage to interact with all the securities exchanges looking to execute trades, while those exchanges simultaneously interact with all the brokerages.
- A computerized matching engine performs a high volume of trades each minute, and all work is backed up and accessible to be reviewed by investors, market makers and government regulators.
- All information is protected and stored by the Depository Trust Company, a recordkeeper of all financial transactions made by U.S. shareholders, therefore guaranteeing that no information is lost.
Online share Trading Advantages
Convenience: In order to become a successful online trader or investor, all you need to do is to open a trading account on a reliable brokerage platform. So long as you have a reliable internet connection, you are not bound by time or place. You can transact successfully and make money from your home, office or your child’s annual theatre performance. Online share trading or investment does not force you to take time away from your other obligations. Hence, online trading offers greater convenience, accessibility and comfort. Additionally, it enables you to save time that would have been otherwise wasted in traveling to brick-and-mortar brokerage offices.
Affordability: In online share trading, the fee charged by the share-brokers is lower than the commission expected by traditional brokerages. Additionally, if you trade in a substantial volume of stocks, you can even negotiate the broker’s fees. Thus, the above reasons make online trading or investing more affordable than the traditional method.
Ease of monitoring: Online share trading offers investors advanced interfaces through which they can remotely monitor how their money is doing throughout the day. They can trade, invest, buy and sell shares at their leisure and can use their phone or computer to evaluate their profit or loss. Online trading ensures that investors never have to leave their money unsupervised on the market and it allows the trading process to be continuous and uninterrupted.
Faster: Online trading is faster and more efficient than traditional methods of trading. This is because online transactions are almost instantaneous and stocks can be bought and sold at a moment’s notice over the internet. Online traders can trade whenever they want to, instead of being hamstrung until they are able to contact their brokers and the broker is able to place their order. Additionally, when working online, investors can easily review all their options and make independent choices instead of being completely dependent on the broker to tell them where to invest their money. As a result, online investors have greater control over their own money and can transact at higher speeds than their traditional counterparts. Due to the nature of the stock-market, this speed can be of vital importance to a trader.
