I need a solution for options as well as listed stocks. Is there a plan for Orc or Actant to allow automated trading access to NYSE or Nasdaq stocks?
I must not understand your question. Are you asking if ORC supports routing to the stock ECNs and if you can script trading strategies in ORC for equities? I will warn you, ORC liquidator is $20k/M plus they charge per exchange that you want to route orders to and get market data from. The ORC that is like $4k/M doesn't really have the capicity to do much, although you could through something called OP (Orc Protocol) generate your signals outside of this "cheap" ORC, and then using this communications protocol "pump" your values into ORC, which will then allow you to use ORC connectivity and other tools.
Orc Liq is the standard here, and Citadel, Ronin and SUSQ are just a few who run Orc. The barrier to entry in this space is tremendous, so it would seem that the best one can do at this point is pick up the scraps or take vol-bets.
Or write your own mass quoter. My MQ is already certified to mass quote into the CBOE using FIX (not CMI). A couple of other important features and it is good to go. It has the key important feature, it is client server and is distributable. It will be much faster than ORC. Don't forget that the software is only part of the cost of MMing. Leasing a seat is required to quote into an options exchange. CBOE seat lease is at the time of this writting another $10K/M. Then you need a datafeed, and connectivity into the CBOE or other exchanges quote engines... So in order to break even as an options MMer using ORC Liq, you have to make ~35K/M. With my MQ that break even goes down to $15k/M at the CBOE.
I was looking at Orc for automatic spread quoting. Fees of 20K/M can be done if the software is as advertised.
So, equities spread trading, FOREX spread trading, bond spread trading, etc? Do you want to be able to spread based on two symbols, or the ability to spread on n-symbols? Does it need to be able to spread symbols in different asset classes, for example, Single Stock Future against stocks?
Ok, good. One last question, do you need this to work with a specific broker, FIX, or DMA (Direct Market Access, in other words, direct connections to the ECN/Exchange matching engine) ? For the options quoting, there is no choice, you have to lease a seat and you will be quoting into the options exch quoting engine, but for the equities and futures that is not necessary.
I guess I need to wake up to reality. I have an automated strategy that can produce 10K to 20K per month using Orc, that's why I even considered using it. I wonder if any of Orc's customers would consider leasing a connection. I'd pay to have access to that kind of automated trading power. Most of the time I trade a basket of individual stocks vs. etfs or a basket of stocks vs. futures, with some options thrown in for hedging. Too bad TT doesn't have access to stock exchanges. I also do a lot of stocks pairs trading. TT's autospreader is good for futures, not stocks. Help!
I am 99% sure you can do this in ORC from the standpoint of writing the system in it's language (Java for ORC liquidator). The last question I asked above is important because unless ORC supports the way you need to execute the orders, just being able to generate the theoretical values within ORC will do you no good unless the those theoretical values can be turned into order(s) either to your broker or directly to an exchange. If the order(s) are infrequent, you can do it by hand by entering in the order in whatever front end you use right now. As soon as you start autoquoting with any frequency you have to have connections to exchanges and/or broker API, and knowing that is the crux of my last question. See, ORC or any software for that matter does not support every conceivable API to route orders to an exchange. You may be confusing being able to program a model (for spreads of whatever), and being able to get the orders that are generated by that model into an exchange automatically. The former is almost certainly possible in ORC, the latter is what is in question in your case. If you said to me, I have an IB account, I would say we have to see if ORC has an IB adapter. If you said, I have direct access to the ECNs and Globex, I would say, ORC will work out the box. Etc. Even if ORC did not do it out of the box, it could be amended by custom sofware that would get you the rest of the way. I have built a simple software (autospreader) that does exactly what you want (I have models that trade in "identical" ways to yours), but it is not commercial software in that it is easy to use by an end user. It is meant to be used by a programmer. Even in ORC, you would be required to know some Java, or hire someone that does.