Direct edge was first launched as Attain ECN which was founded in 1998. A few years into its establishment, Attain ECN was in 2005 sold to Knight Capital Group. Knight re-branded the firm to its current name and 2 years into this, Knight sold a large number of the company’s stakes. Afterwards, the firm was merged with ISE (International Securities Exchange) but retained both its management and brand. Today, the firm is owned as a partnership consisting of International securities exchange (the largest shareholder), Goldman Sachs, J.P Morgan, Citadel securities and Knight Capital. The firm is under the management of William O’Brien (the chief executive) and Bryan Harkins (the chief operating officer).
Currently, the company operates on 2 separate stock exchange platforms as EDGX and EDGA. Each platform offers distinctive features for distinctive needs and each has its own distinctive pricing. However regardless of the distinction, any client can use any of the platforms in trading and in fact, the platform used in trading by any of the firm’s clients wholly depends on the type of client’s order or rather the type of trading desired.
From its establishment, DirectEdge.com has made large strides in its development. In early 2009, the firm recorded its first ever 1 billion shares trading in a single day. Barely a month into this, the firm once again made it big on the stock exchange market to emerge in 3rd position on the entire United States stock exchange market. Later the same year in August, the firm hit the highest ever market share at around 12.9%. In July, 2010, the in trading entities; firm launched its two main trading entities; EDGX and EDGA.
Trading on the stock exchange can be quite a challenge especially for first timers. As such, it is one of those trading platforms where you can lose every bit of your investment or even make the hugest fortune you may dream of. For this reason therefore, it is important to understand various tricks and tips on trading online. As such, you need to understand various trading strategies to employ at various situations to enhance your chances of making it big on this industry. The firm is a specialize in such matters and such will provide you with among other services, routing, connectivity, market data and trading services to enhance your trading successes.