Automated Trading Desk Introduces Its Pioneering Execution Technology for Retail Orderflow.

Business Editors

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 2003

Proven Automated Trading Technology Available to Order Sending

Firms Through Two Trading Venues, Automated Trading Desk Specialists

on the CHX and AUTO, an Upstairs Orderflow Execution Platform

In a move that brings greater speed and efficiency to equity trading execution and an ability to customize retail orderflow executions, Automated Trading Desk (ATD) today announced the launch of two highly anticipated initiatives which should have significant impact on the retail orderflow execution business - the implementation of ATD's execution technology on the floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX), through its subsidiary Automated Trading Desk Specialists (ATDS) and the launch of its "upstairs" retail orderflow execution platform - Automated Trading Desk Financial Services (AUTO). The introduction of this technology in both trading venues brings the same intelligent automation to conventional market making and retail order execution that the firm brought to limit-order trading and institutional executions.

"We are very excited about our advancements at both ATDS and AUTO," stated Steve Swanson, President and CEO of ATD. "Through the automation of certain aspects of the specialist function we are establishing ourselves as the leader in the use of technology in the specialist community. The implementation of our technology by ATDS on the floor of the CHX and the launch of AUTO has attracted significant interest from major order sending firms around the country."

ATD's execution technology is expected to be fully implemented by the end of September 2003 coinciding with the launch of the CHX's Remote Facility Pricing (RFP) system. The combination of these new systems should allow ATDS to customize the various aspects of order execution for each order sending firm - ATDS' direct customers. "The order sending firms have been requesting that we develop this ability for a considerable period of time," said Tom Lavery, President of ATDS. "We are thrilled to be able to meet their demands and deliver customized service to each of these firms."

ATD led the effort for SEC approval of the systems at the CHX. The approval should allow ATDS and other specialists on the CHX floor to increase their volumes, overall marketshare and profitability.

The launch of AUTO establishes a classic "upstairs" trading platform for the execution of orderflow from retail brokerage firms, thereby providing another significant source of liquidity to the marketplace. The same order-sending firms that work with ATDS on the floor of the CHX will now be able to also send business "upstairs" to AUTO. AUTO will execute customer trades in approximately 2000 listed and over-the-counter names, in its characteristic, totally automated fashion. In the first phase of implementation, AUTO successfully executed its first customer trade on April 11, 2003 and executed 7 million shares of volume for the first time on September 2, 2003.

AUTO is fully customizable for each customer. "With retail order flow, customization is a crucial consideration because firms differentiate amongst the various components of best execution, some focusing on speed, while others need access to a guaranteed amount of liquidity or price improvement," said Jeff Martin, President of AUTO. "With AUTO, firms will get an engine tailored to accommodate their definitions of best execution."

In executing retail orderflow, both ATDS and AUTO are fully independent and rely on the same infrastructure technology that guides ATD's limit-order and institutional trading models - a proprietary pricing algorithm coupled with an advanced expert system that emulates a human trader's action in various trading scenarios.

"Through our technology, we expect to bring new levels of service to the order sending community and new levels of profitability to the industry, at a time when many of our competitors are de-emphasizing the wholesale retail execution business or abandoning it altogether. We expect both of these execution platforms, ATDS and AUTO, to grow significantly over the next year," concluded Swanson.

About Automated Trading Desk, LLC (ATD)

ATD is a technology company specializing in automated trading and customized execution services for its customers. Founded in 1988 and based in Mt. Pleasant, SC, ATD provides significant liquidity to the public markets through limit-order placements on its own behalf and on behalf of its customers through its brokerage subsidiaries ATD Brokerage Services, LLC (ATDB), and ATD Financial Services, LLC (AUTO), both NASD and SIPC members, and ATD Specialists, LLC (ATDS), a member of the Chicago Stock Exchange/Member SIPC.

ATD's proprietary expert system captures and analyzes vast amounts of market data, and through the use of algorithms, predicts very-short-term price movements in individual stocks. ATD's technology prices, places, monitors, cancels and handles execution of orders. The company accounts for 2-3 percent of daily Nasdaq volume and approximately 1% of listed volume, and in 2002 had its first 100+ million-share day. For more information, please visit www.atdesk.com .