PDQ receives an order from a Liquidity Seeking subscriber (LS). At the secure PDQ processing center, the order is paused for 1-20 milliseconds(ms) and generates a Request for Trade ("RFT"). The RFT is simulcast to all algorithms residing at PDQ that are interested in responding with contra liquidity. The spawned liquidity from these algorithms is matched on a " first-to-respond first-to-match basis" within the 20 ms window. The residual order is routed out or cancelled based on the order type.

PDQ has two types of subscribers: Liquidity Providers (LP) and Liquidity Seekers (LS). LP's use PDQ to algorithmically respond to and interact with live order flow, thereby eliminating their risk of adverse selection and allowing them to make markets of larger size. LS's sending orders to PDQ will be given the opportunity to discover contra liquidity and potential price improvement generated by LP proprietary algorithms hosted within the PDQ facility.

PDQ Schematic