Hi Mike
I'll likely about to start a firestorm with what i'm about to say, but why not... here goes.
If it trades in a pit, forget it! Those floor traders are nothing but a crew of pirates that you need not associate yourself with. Why needlessly put yourself in harms way with execution risk? Why even allow them to make a dollar from your business? Those people will sell their grandmothers on the street if they thought they could make a dollar at it.
Gee, I wonder why every other country on the planet has done away with trading pits... ???
The closest thing to "fair" is direct access electronic trading...period.
If you aren't having our trades filled inside of one second, you're getting hosed.
There are so many trading opportunities out there (most of them)why even bother trading pit traded instruments? If they're not bending you over on the fills, they're robbing you blind on commissions!
I don't even trade "commodities" for that very reason. As soon as TRUE electronic trading begins in commodities, I'm in. But not one second before.
Trading is risky enough, why on earth would I pile on the additional risk of some jerk skidding me in a pit?
With trading, as with any business, the whole idea is to minimize risks, and bring costs down as much as possible... trading in a pit INCREASES risk and INCREASES costs!!! From a business standpoint, pits are obsolete, ineffective, and outrageously risky and expensive. They're finished.
Rob