For the past several weeks, I and the traders in my group have had to deal with abominable software conditions. These problems are all with Genesis' Laser software. We're inundated with multiple levels of stuck quotes on almost every ECN and gateway there is. I know other companies are having trouble with the Edge ECN, but Genesis and Genesis alone is showing unacceptably slow, lagged, stuck, and crossed quotes on the following ECNs: ARCA 80% of the time NYSE 70% of the time BATS 50% of the time INET 10% of the time I don't even bother calling in to complain anymore. We daily get Laser messages in red text saying, "Block the view of ARCA etc. in the Hidden Market Makers tab to prevent stuck quotes." Listen up Genesis: I should not need to block an ECN that I'm paying you a monthly fee in order to use, because you can't provide me with stable, timely quotes that clear once the tape from another company's software shows those shares have printed long, long ago. If I were to block every ECN I had a problem with today, my screen would have showed an empty level II with absolutely no quotes in it. Needless to say, this is the exact opposite of what I would like for my style of trading. What happened to the days when Laser worked flawlessly, and it was all the other companies that had these problems? I left SwiftTrade several years ago for Laser because they had severe quote display problems, and Genesis didn't. Now it appears that Genesis has grown too large for the low-quality software used to process and distribute quote data to its users. I've used a lot of trading platforms of varying degrees of quality, and I have some idea of what it will take to fix a problem like this. I am also certain Genesis is not making the effort required. Face it, you guys are going to have to hire some solid software engineers to help overhaul the quote distribution framework. The guys you've got are fantastic, but the job is too big for them to handle when they've already spent two months jockeying phones, saying: "Yes, we know ARCA, Edge, NYSE, and INET quotes are slow/stuck/lagged. Yes, we're working on it." If you were working on it, it would be fixed already. Gone are the days when I would call Genesis with a problem and watch it become fixed on my screen before I heard the phone ring twice. Two of the traders in my group have just moved elsewhere, directly because of these Laser issues. I am making arrangements to take my subgroup elsewhere. If I can arrange a deal that's good enough, I'll go up the ladder and extend it to my ENTIRE group. That's dozens of traders who really, really miss the good days of Laser trading and are ready to jump ship. C'mon Genesis, deal with the growing pains and hire some more crack software engineers so I can start bragging about Laser again, instead of being embarrassed to be going broke from using it.
I think by now I've used almost every major software there is. A lot of them start out good, but as they get more costumers they all crap out. I really wish the was someone who would recommend something really stable (someone with more then 5 years experience trading on their platform) thanks
This sounds like what's happening with Genesis. Eventually you reach a point where the corners you cut at the beginning out of necessity didn't affect performance, but once the company's big, they're ruining the entire system. It's an expensive overhaul, but it's the only way to go forward.
I have been trading with Genesis (Laser software) for a few years now. When I first started, the software was great. Lately however it just seems to be getting progressively worse and worse. As Singer mentioned in his post it is an ongoing battle with stuck quotes , you can only hide so many ECN's before you have a blank Level 2. Genesis needs to step up to the plate and admit the mistakes and make it a priority to get this software in top shape. Trading is a challenging enough activity without added and unpredictable technical issues. It really is inexcusable to keep having these problems recur. Genesis needs to take action and get their techincians working to solve these issues or get techicians that can. I am embarrased by this software. I have a business associate out in California who has connections to get many more traders on board with using Laser however there is no way in the world he will recommend the software like this. He tested it out and used it and reverted back to his other software and told me he would not proceed to recommend this Laser software to anyone. What can I say, I do not blame him one bit. I am very frustrated with its performance and the sheer lack of action and communication by Genesis itself. If you have no intentions of repairing this software please tell us and stop wasting our time, this is very poor business and you will continue to lose traders. I would like to remain using the platform, and if you eliminate the technical problems it is a very good platform but until you can get things working as they should you will continue losing traders and possibly I will be following them out as well very soon
Without getting into a flame war here.... When will traders realize that commissions are NOT the most important reason for choosing a firm? Everyone wants absolute cut-throat commission deals, but then they complain when their firm's technology begins to crumble. Can't have it both ways. You get what you pay for. Hope everything works out for you guys. Best of luck.
What you're saying makes perfect sense, but I don't think it's as simple as that. Lower commissions don't automatically mean lower income for a company (and then lower company resources to fix system problems when they crop up). In fact the low commissions at Genesis attract a lot of scalpers, off whom Genesis still rakes in plenty. So in this case we're paying plenty, and simply not getting it. It seems like the guy right at the top is apprehensive about the extensive time and cost of repairing these problems. Hopefully he's reading this thread and realizing that if he maintains the status quo, he'll lose the 40% of traders that do 90% of Genesis' volume. The company will cripple itself back down to the level of the smallest players. I would rather not see that happen...
Okay Admin I have no choice as this problem is getting worse and worse. Likely the worst I have seen it since I have been there. The answer to all traders each day from Admin is please block EDGX book, ARCA book, and friday we added BATS book. You guys tell us this like it is no big deal that 80% of the entire volume of the day is off the screen. Like we all trade from charts or automated and don't care to see bids and offers. If I wanted that kind of crappy software I would trade my 3 million shares a day at Etrade or Scottrade. I understand EDGX is crap as I have backup accounts and EDGX has issues but when ARCA and BATS run flawless every day it is a cause for concern. I know these guys have responded to issues like this in the past and I am hoping they will again. It can't always be "2 more weeks" after 6 weeks of this. It is reminding me of another outfit that is slowly killing itself and will be lucky if they can survive the year in North America. Guys when you go from the best software to only having 1 of 4 ECN's quoting properly it scares me. Please do something to help us out sooner rather than later. Oh and thanks to whoever started this thread as I to have been told it was just me a couple times and I can promise you that it wasn't. MM
I think Laser Platform is getting worst and wost everyday I fell bad cause it is a very good platform and one thing a trader need,s to know is that the quotes are very important to a trader
The abominable performance continues today. ARCA quotes are sticking 100% of the time, NYSE quotes are continuously 10-20 seconds old. It makes for some frustrating slippage. PLEASE READ THIS THREAD AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, GENESIS.