Introduction
A deck is the number of open orders a broker is working with at one given point of time. It is also known as the broker's deck. A broker has to find buyers and sellers to trade for his deck. A deck can have different securities listed on different stock exchanges. A trader works with orders received from clients requesting some securities be bought and sold. While the clients work for one of the various stock exchanges, the traders work on the accounts that they have secured.
A floor trader works on decks, i.e. the orders received from clients requesting certain securities be bought or sold. While they work for one of the several stock exchanges, floor traders work only on the accounts they have secured for themselves. Floor traders must make a high level of interaction with various parties that are interested in the trade. They must also make a significant research regarding each order currently held in the deck.
Understanding Deck
A larger deck means that the broker is managing a higher number of orders. Higher demand may make it difficult to secure the best deals for every open order available at the broker's hand and may make tracking transactions less efficient. Based on the availability of certain securities on multiple exchanges and the growing dependency on technology in the trading arena, a broker with a large deck may experience more missed opportunities in the event a technical issue shuts down an exchange.
Factors you must understand about a deck: 1. A broker who is having a large deck should efficiently find sellers and buyers for the securities otherwise, there are chances of cancellation of orders. 2. It requires a high level of interaction with the parties interested in trading the securities from the deck. 3. The brokers having large decks have to significantly research about the securities held in the deck. 4. It is sometimes difficult for the brokers to get the best deals for every open order of the deck.
