Catching up with futures trading

[thefrasers]

I had to take a (long) illness-enforced break from trading. One of the major changes that I've noticed has been the transformation in futures markets from pit-based trading to electronic trading. In the light of this I have a question - do 'locals' still exist? I have read of the existence of 'e'-locals, but do these still perform the same role as the pre-eminent liquidity providers, or are they simply scratching around speculating?

Regards,
Fat Man :?:

 

[Directional]

many London ex-floor locals moved from the floor to the screen with the advent of trading arcades & prop futures shops. traders at these firms all call themselves "locals".

these screen locals are responsible for 50% of all electronic volume, according to TT which is the platform of choice for the pro trader.

in terms of liquidity provision, probably a large majority of the depth you see in the DOM at any time during the trading day is made up by locals doing various forms of intra/inter-market spreading either manually or using TT's autospreader. Same in the calendars for derivatives such as Euribor.