Do you prefer to route your options trades to a specific exchange? After voting in the poll, do post any comments as to why.
Here ia a negative, PHLX sucks. I remember from my InteractiveBroker days, cancel orders to PHLX would sit forever (or at least it felt that way).
ISE - very liquid - often fills between Bid/Ask, sometimes even fills orders buying @ Bid or Selling @ Ask. Fast cancels, cancel/replaces. BOX - second to ISE - offers penny executions (through IB), just as good as ISE for liquid options - slightly worse for illiquid ones. Fast cancels, cancel/replaces. CBOE - do not expect any fills between Bid/Ask. Does have the most liquidity of the remaining exchanges though. Moderate speed to cancel, cancel/replace. PHLX, PSE, AMEX - Never, never send any order there. Very little liquidity. It will NEVER fill between Bid/Ask, sometimes take long time to cancel orders. Slow to cancel/replace orders.
Most of my trading was to the BOX and I was pip'ed so often that it nearly covered all of my IB commissions....
Market share statistics: http://www.iseoptions.com/marketplace/statistics/volume_share.asp ISE has the best liquidity (for reasons unknown), but is <b>not</b> the 'best exchange'. ISE has a history of leading the charge to implement anti-trader policies- and to add insult to injury, also blatantly lying about their reasons for doing so. Here's a classic example: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51874&highlight=ise
wonder what case can ib make to justify its preference to route orders to philly... traders best interests?
THAT list is not complete, and shows only the worst Options-exchanges in the world.... For the best Options exchanges you have to go out-side America...look at LIFFE-FTA (Amsterdam-model) and KOSPI....that are the best exchanges a trader can dream of... No protective MarkerMaker models...No request-for-quotes...no empty screens...etc, etc. Maybe sometime in future, the American-exchanges implement the Amsterdam-model as well...but I doubt it will be soon (the MarketMarkers will not allow it).
Hoi: Intriguing. Do any of the direct access brokers reviewed at elite trader give us access to LIFFE-FTA or KOSPI? I'd also like to see is penny pricing, but I think PSE dropped that after they got bought, and BOX is as close as it gets. Surely the US Market Makers hate the idea too, even though they're totally computerized. IB was hemming and hawing against it too as I recall from a press release.