granted the trend is towards electronic. Most pit traded futures still have the depth (further months) and volume. FCM Brokers take electronic orders and execute them via the desk on the floor. So why there are no broker reviews or any mention of this on ET? Refco and Alaron are the two mentioned. Refco is demised and mainly Forex branch mentioned and Alaron has Zero review (probably due to it's lack of focus on the small trader and minimum fee charged to dormant accounts) Not focusing on these markets is unwise, especially while the e-Mini market catches up with all delivery months and all markets in volume and institutional use. The main reason - there is no way to trade futures spreads electronically via IB or other e-Futures brokers without seriously limiting yourself in markets to trade!
Any your point would be? You might be "preaching to the converted" in this 'Misc. Futures' category. I think most of us in here mainly trade the pits - there just isn't a category elsewhere for us pit traders. Nothing wrong with the e-markets IMHO - just ain't enough of 'em yet. I cover up to 20 markets on any given day and put through over 4,000 pit trades last year - the currency and bond trades were electronic, the rest were pit. Refco have gone bye-bye as you mentioned. I've heard good things about Alaron. Personally I use Open E Cry and am very happy with them. I also have accounts with IB and TradeStation for running automatic trading programs and for backups. My guess is that a lot of the e-markets traders focus on the eminis index because they are appealing to the novice.
Well it would be nice to have some coverage of futures brokers on ET... Does Open E Cry handle pit trades?
Have you looked at their web site? Have you looked at the reviews under the Broker Review section in ET. If that is too much trouble - the answer is yes.