[brownsfan019]

That is interesting Cooter.

As for the dissection of this futures trading 'pyramid', my understanding is that you basically have:
1) The exchanges that provide the marketplace.
2) The firms that clear there.
3) The FCM's that either clear and/or work with the firms in #2.
4) IB's are marketing co's of FCM's. They simply provide the customer service to you and market their own name, but all back office is handled elsewhere.

You'll find some FCM's that only deal with IB's and they focus on the back office items. You'll also find some FCM's that market themselves and/or work with IB's.

The most important part of this equation is that the more firms and people involved, the more costs that must be passed on somewhere... I sometimes get broker prospecting calls and when I tell them my rate is under $4/round trip and that they need to beat it or we can end the conversation, many retail brokers don't even understand how rates can be that low. Well, the more hands in the pot require higher costs. I recently had a guy pitching me $25/round trip. :rolleyes: I just laughed....