Algorithmic trading in the U.S. futures industry is well past its infancy, with a host of tools available for use in a wide range of markets. Traders and vendors are now increasingly looking for ways to sharpen their edge, either by making their already fast trading engines interact with the market even more rapidly, or by tailoring their algorithms ever more closely to the specific characteristics of individual futures markets. In fact, there are signs that some traders are beginning to design algorithms that prey on other algorithms, or hide their presence from other algorithms behind a flurry of order messages never meant to be executed.
