ELECTRONIC-TRADING NEWSFLASHES

InTrade Deploys AthenaTrader From Aegis Software for Proprietary Trading

InTrade, a NewYork-based proprietary-trading firm, has licensed the Athena Trader order-execution system and the Athena GatewayServer from Aegis Software. InTrade will use the software for high-speed, direct-market access to exchanges and electronic communications networks.

InTrade, which specializes in exchange-traded fund (ETF)/index and statistical arbitrage-trading, has been using Aegis products for over six months to route over four million shares per day to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Island and Archipelago Exchange, according to the release.

AthenaTrader provides a programming interface in which traders can enter customized rule and cell formulas to create their own trading strategies, or choose from canned algorithms included in the product. Designed as a portfolio trading system for equities, options and futures, AthenaTrader also comes with basket/wave facilities to support program trading.

"We initially chose AthenaTrader because of the superior capabilities afforded by its Java-based design, and we have steadily scaled up our trading as it has proven reliable and well supported," states Mark Frank, managing member of InTrade, in the release. Frank adds in the release, "There are many systems that offer FIX connectivity, but this system was one of the few that also offered us connectivity to the NYSE in their native CMS [Common Message Switch] protocol."

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TransAct Futures Names Gregory Sabatello President

TransAct Futures hired Gregory Sabatello to serve as the new president of the trading-technology vendor and futures commission merchant. Prior to joining TransAct Futures, Sabatello was a senior executive and chief information officer with Comdisco Inc, where he was responsible for that company's worldwide information technology program. Bill Noyes, TranAct Futures' current president, chief executive officer and founder, will retain the position of CEO.

A veteran futures trader at the Chicago Board Of Trade, Noyes launched the company as York Business Associates in 1998, recognizing that trading volume was rapidly shifting from trading floors to electronic platforms. The system that Noyes and his team developed was known as YesTrader, which was a joint venture between York and a technology investment firm, whose name was not disclosed in the release.

Following the launch of YesTrader platform in 2000, and the bankruptcy of York's investment partner, York reacquired the YesTrader platform in November 2001. In 2004, York renamed itself TransAct Futures, becoming an electronic FCM offering connectivity to the worlds' most active futures exchanges. At the same time, it began offering TransActAT, a free electronic-trading platform, to all active futures traders, with low commissions, the company says.

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Lava Trading Increases Equity Stake in Upstream Technologies.

Lava Trading has supplied additional investment funding to Upstream Technologies, a provider of investment management technology, to asset managers. Lava was the lead investor in Upstream's Series A round in April 2003 and is increasing its equity position, but the amount was not disclosed.

Upstream provides asset managers with Upstream IMS, an investment management system that integrates and automates the investment manager's workflow. Current customers use Upstream IMS for separately managed accounts, institutional portfolios and mutual funds.

Upstream's Chief Executive Officer Mark Hoffman, states in the release, "Currently, Lava hosts Upstream's ASP [application service provider] service in its state-of-the-art data centers, and later this year, we will be rolling out joint offerings for the asset-management marketplace."