The research produced the following findings:
- The percentage of automatically placed orders has increased for all commodity futures markets;
- Automated orders are smaller in size than manual orders and their resting times are shorter than the resting times of orders placed manually;
- Automated orders are almost always limit orders; and
- Although the level of automation increased steadily each year, historical volatility of end-of-day prices did not exhibit the same trend.
MIB’s role is to analyze and communicate current and emerging market issues to CFTC leadership and the public and assist the CFTC in making informed policy. MIB periodically publishes reports of its findings at CFTC Staff Reports.