Source Data: Compuware Corporation (www.compuware.com)
Compuware’s Brokerage Generate Order Transaction measures the time it takes to perform / simulate a trade. It calculates the time it takes a customer to access the home page, login to an account, access the trade page and then enter a test order for one share of stock, toggle to the preview page to display the real-time order, toggle back to the trade page, where said order is canceled, and finally – log out – which is the last phase tested.
Trade execution speed is measured from the time Scottrade routes your order to the marketplace until the time your order is executed at the trading center. Trade execution speed does not include the time it takes for the order to be reported back to Scottrade and you.
Trade execution statistics are provided by VistaOne Solutions, which is not affiliated with Scottrade. Statistics are based on trades in NASDAQ 100 and S&P 500 stocks for market orders of 100 to 499 shares in size. Statistics exclude trades outside of the regular trading session, orders received during locked or crossed markets and trades that, in Scottrade's discretion, occur in extreme market conditions or other unusual circumstances. Market volatility, volume, and system availability may impact trade execution quality. This information is updated monthly with the average trade execution speed calculated using a 12 month rolling average. You will always receive the price at which your order was executed at the trading center even though the execution report that Scottrade receives may be delayed (or “late”) from the trading center. A “late report” refers to when a timely execution is not received from a trading center.
Scottrade monitors the execution quality of all the trading centers to assess whether the trading center is providing our customers best execution*. Scottrade uses various monitoring methods. These methods include a daily order-by-order exception report analysis. They also include a post trade date regular and rigorous review of execution quality. We perform this regular and rigorous review by analyzing statistics from VistaOne Solutions and by reviewing the output of our patented algorithm, the Scottrade Best-Execution Index or SBI™.
* defined in SEC rule 605