Wireless Revolution on the Trading Floor: American Stock Exchange Adopts Symbol Technologies' Spectrum24

Strategic Insights -

For the first time in its history, options brokers will issue buy-and-sell orders electronically, eliminating traditional hand signals and slips of paper. The American Stock Exchange (AMEX) has standardized on Spectrum24, a high-capacity local area network (LAN) from Symbol Technologies, to bring real-time information exchange directly to the trading floor. This move initially impacts options traders, but equities trading will also be conducted on the wireless network in the future.

Key Takeaways:

  • The American Stock Exchange (AMEX) has standardized on Spectrum24, a high-capacity local area network (LAN) from Symbol Technologies, to facilitate real-time information exchange on the trading floor.
  • The system uses small, industry-standard hand-held computers to access information, make "buy" and "sell" decisions, and execute trades via radio frequency signals.
  • Individual brokerage firms are free to select from among hand-held computers from a range of manufacturers, as the Spectrum24 radio is an industry-standard, one-piece PC card complete with antenna.
  • AMEX Trading Floor personnel will be equipped with Symbol PPT 4100 hand-held pen terminals, which will be made available to traders with a suite of business-specific applications developed for the lightweight and compact Symbol computer.
  • Cone Software, Inc. is developing and integrating a fully redundant gateway software system to manage and govern information transmitted via the Spectrum24 network.
  • William Strauss, senior executive, vice president, and chief financial officer of the American Stock Exchange, stated, "This is a new era for the AMEX. Traders have instant position management and real-time access to their back office."
  • Dr. Jerome Swartz, chairman and chief executive officer, Symbol Technologies, said, "We are pleased the American Stock Exchange has selected our Spectrum24 network for the very core of its business."
  • Spectrum24 operates on the global 2.4 GHz frequency standard, functions as a full wireless local area network, and supports open hardware and software standards for easy integration with existing systems.
  • Based on a bridge architecture, Spectrum24 provides a transparent connection to an Ethernet LAN through multiple access points.
  • Since 1983, Cone Software, based in Boothwyn, Pa., has delivered pen-based and wireless application systems for Fortune 100 companies in various industries.

Statistics:

  • Three million scanners and portable computer terminals have been installed globally by Symbol Technologies.
  • The IEEE 802.11 committee has established standards for interoperability, which Spectrum24 will support.
  • The AMEX has adopted this technology as a significant change in operation since electronic order processing was adopted in the late 1960s.
  • Symbol Technologies is the world leader in bar code-driven data transaction systems.

Sources:

  • "Edge: Work-Group Computing Report" (Monday, September 25, 1995)
  • Symbol Technologies
  • American Stock Exchange (AMEX)
  • Cone Software, Inc.
  • IEEE 802.11 committee