Customer Order Routing Report for Q1 2012
SEC-Required Report on Routing of Customer Orders for Quarter Ending March 31, 2012
Firstrade Securities Inc. ("Firstrade") has prepared this report pursuant to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule requiring all brokerage firms to make publicly available quarterly reports on their order routing practices. The report provides information on the routing of "non-directed orders" - any order that the customer has not specifically instructed to be routed to a particular venue for execution. For these non-directed orders, Firstrade has selected the execution venue on behalf of its customers.
The report is divided into four sections: one for securities listed on the New York Stock Exchange, one for securities listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market, one for securities listed on the American Stock Exchange and regional exchanges, and one for exchange-listed options. For each section, this report identifies the venues most often selected by Firstrade, sets forth the percentage of various types of orders routed to the venues, and discusses the material aspects of Firstrade's relationship with the venues.
Securities Listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
Summary Statistics:
| Non-directed orders as percentage of total customer orders |
100% |
| Market orders as percentage of total non-directed orders |
20.1% |
| Limit orders as percentage of total non-directed orders |
76.7% |
| Other orders as percentage of total non-directed orders |
3.2% |
Venues Receiving Significant Percentage of Total Non-Directed Orders:
| 1. Knight Capital Markets |
0.8% |
| 2. Penson Financial Services, Inc. |
99.2% |
Information Concerning Significant Venues:
1. Knight Capital Markets
Types of Orders Routed to Venue:
| Market orders as percentage of total market orders |
1.0% |
| Limit orders as percentage of total limit orders |
0.8% |
| Other orders as percentage of total other orders |
0.6% |
Material Aspects of Relationship with Venue:
Firstrade Securities receives a rebate for executed orders routed to Knight Capital Markets based upon the rebate schedule listed below:
| For orders up to 2,000 shares: |
No payment is received |
For orders from 2,001 - 50,000 shares:
| S & P 100 Stocks: |
10% of spread up to $.0225 per share* |
| S & P 500 Stocks: |
10% of spread up to $.0175 per share* |
| Other NYSE Stocks: |
5% of spread up to $.01 per share* |
*Eligible orders that are price improved or marketable limit orders will receive only 50% of the above rates. Additionally, the following types of orders are not eligible for rebate; non-marketable limit orders, pre-opening orders, Market on Close (MOC) orders, securities executed under $5, and Manning executions.
2. Penson Financial Services, Inc.
Types of Orders Routed to Venue:
| Market orders as percentage of total market orders |
99.0% |
| Limit orders as percentage of total limit orders |
99.2% |
| Other orders as percentage of total other orders |
99.4% |
Material Aspects of Relationship with Venue: NONE
Securities Listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market
Summary Statistics:
| Non-directed orders as percentage of total customer orders |
100% |
| Market orders as percentage of total non-directed orders |
15.8% |
| Limit orders as percentage of total non-directed orders |
81.1% |
| Other orders as percentage of total non-directed orders |
3.1% |
Venues Receiving Significant Percentage of Total Non-Directed Orders:
| 1. Knight Securities |
1.0% |
| 2. Penson Financial Services, Inc. |
99.0% |
Information Concerning Significant Venues:
1. Knight Securities
Types of Orders Routed to Venue:
| Market orders as percentage of total market orders |
0.9% |
| Limit orders as percentage of total limit orders |
1.0% |
| Other orders as percentage of total other orders |
0.5% |
Material Aspects of Relationship with Venue: NONE
2. Penson Financial Services, Inc.
Types of Orders Routed to Venue:
| Market orders as percentage of total market orders |
99.1% |
| Limit orders as percentage of total limit orders |
99.0% |
| Other orders as percentage of total other orders |
99.5% |
Material Aspects of Relationship with Venue: NONE
Securities Listed on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX)
Summary Statistics:
| Non-directed orders as percentage of total customer orders |
100% |
| Market orders as percentage of total non-directed orders |
15.2% |
| Limit orders as percentage of total non-directed orders |
83.3% |
| Other orders as percentage of total non-directed orders |
1.6% |
Venues Receiving Significant Percentage of Total Non-Directed Orders:
| 1. Knight Capital Markets |
0.8% |
| 2. Penson Financial Services, Inc. |
99.2% |
Information Concerning Significant Venues:
1. Knight Capital Markets
Types of Orders Routed to Venue:
| Market orders as percentage of total market orders |
0.5% |
| Limit orders as percentage of total limit orders |
0.9% |
| Other orders as percentage of total other orders |
2.1% |
Material Aspects of Relationship with Venue:
Firstrade Securities receives a rebate for executed orders routed to Knight Capital Markets based upon the rebate schedule listed below:
| For orders up to 2,000 shares: |
No payment is received |
For orders from 2,001 - 50,000 shares:
| AMEX Index Products: |
10% of spread up to $.0175 per share* |
| Other AMEX Products: |
5% of spread up to $.01 per share* |
*Eligible orders that are price improved or marketable limit orders will receive only 50% of the above rates. Additionally, the following types of orders are not eligible for rebate; non-marketable limit orders, pre-opening orders, Market on Close (MOC) orders, securities executed under $5, and Manning executions.
2. Penson Financial Services, Inc.
Types of Orders Routed to Venue:
| Market orders as percentage of total market orders |
99.5% |
| Limit orders as percentage of total limit orders |
99.1% |
| Other orders as percentage of total other orders |
97.9% |
Material Aspects of Relationship with Venue: NONE
Exchanged-Listed Options
Summary Statistics:
| Non-directed orders as percentage of total customer orders |
100% |
| Market orders as percentage of total non-directed orders |
7.0% |
| Limit orders as percentage of total non-directed orders |
93.0% |
| Other orders as percentage of total non-directed orders |
0.0% |
Venues Receiving Significant Percentage of Total Non-Directed Orders:
| 1. Penson Financial Services, Inc. |
99.7% |
| 2. ATD, a CITI Company |
0.2% |
Information Concerning Significant Venues:
1. Penson Financial Services, Inc.
Types of Orders Routed to Venue:
| Market orders as percentage of total market orders |
99.7% |
| Limit orders as percentage of total limit orders |
99.7% |
| Material Aspects of Relationship with Venue: |
N/A |
2. ATD, a CITI Company
Types of Orders Routed to Venue:
| Market orders as percentage of total market orders |
0.3% |
| Limit orders as percentage of total limit orders |
0.2% |
| Material Aspects of Relationship with Venue: |
N/A |
A written copy of this report will be furnished upon request. In addition, information regarding the specific routing or any orders executed for your account for the previous six (6) months will be furnished upon request. Please contact our Customer Service Dept.
