Attention Traders,
Beginning May 1, 2020, the CME Group is requiring data providers (Rithmic, CQG, TT, T4, etc.) to report the number of concurrent logins. What does this mean? This means that if you are logged in to different frontends (platform), or using the same platform simultaneously on different computers, your data access will be counted and reported. Also, on April 1st, 2020, the CME changed its pricing for each exchange from $5 to $10 while the bundle went from $15 to $30.
Optimus Futures has faced many questions about how to save on data costs and still retain the platform connectivity options.
We ask that you read the post below in detail. We made our best efforts to cover all the points related to Futures retail traders. If you have any questions, please register here on our community forum and ask us below. I have instructed my staff to direct all CME data inquiries here. We believe that many of the questions and/or concerns will be the same, and we want to turn our conversations into a database of answers. We appreciate your understanding.
Let us begin.
If you are using one platform, and need the CME bundle, your fees will be $30 for CME market data fees. If you just need one market to trade, the good news is that you can reduce the costs to as low as $1 per month depending on your trading. Please read here how to save on Market data fees:
The rest of the post will address traders that may use two software, platforms, and use concurrent logins. Also, our discussions will be related to Rithmic because they have allowed in the past concurrent logins using one set of username and password. We believe their customers will be impacted the most, but Rithmic has taken substantial steps to help anyone affected.
Beginning May 1st, 2020, the CME Group is requiring that market data distributors such as Rithmic report the number of concurrent logins each market data subscriber is using to access CME Data. In other words, CME Group will be charging for each concurrent login session for your Rithmic User ID. So, any User IDs with more than 1 Max Session Count will be charged CME market data multiplied by the Max Session Count.
Monthly Market Data Charges = Market Data Charges X Max Market Data Session Count
This means that if you are using two platforms, and use the CME bundle, you will be charged $60= $30 Per Bundle X 2 Data Sessions.
If you are using more than TWO sessions, you will be considered a professional. This means that each exchange will be $105, and the bundle will be $420 Per EACH Market data Session. If you have three platforms logged at the same time, it will be $420 X 3.
To help traders with the transition, Optimus Futures will limit the max session count for Market Data for all Rithmic users to 1 and set the Max Session Count for Order Routing to 5. This means that you could use your Rithmic credentials on up to 5 separate devices, but not at the same time.
Again, you will not be able to login to two separate platforms using the same Rithmic User ID at the same time. UNLESS you request us to increase the session counts for market data and agree to the additional fees! Each FCM that we work with is handling this procedure differently, but in the event that you do need additional order routing sessions on concurrent sessions enabled on your account, this is available on request.
(Note: We have made best efforts to discuss this with the FCMs; however, only FCMs control the resetting of this option, and if you want us to check on your status, please send us an email.)
However, we realize that many of you may want to use several platforms at the same time. To avoid any additional fees and to avoid being charged as a professional market data subscriber, Rithmic is implementing changes to its R | Trader Pro platform so that it can act as a “central hub” for your Rithmic login. Rithmic will be modifying R | Trader Pro to accept plug-ins and will be modifying Rithmic’s R | API+ and R | Protocol API to connect to R | Trader Pro, provided that apps that connect to R | Trader Pro run on the same machine as R | Trader Pro.
We’ve created a video and post about this and described the entire process at length, including how to use R | Trader Pro as a plug-in to avoid concurrent login charges and professional fees:
Another thing to consider related to concurrent sessions is paper trading accounts. If you are a current Rithmic user with a paper trading account that you use for practice or testing, we can Disable market Data on your LIVE connection (you will use your LIVE connection for Order Routing Only) and we will enable market data on your Paper Trading User (the market data on your paper trading user is required in order to execute Paper Trade Orders). This will allow you to use both LIVE & PAPER trading with only 1 Market Data user (non-professional market data subscribers status - 1 Billable Exchange Data user). As mentioned before, each FCM that we work with is handling this procedure differently, but in the event that you do need a paper trading account in addition to your live trading, this is available on request and we can configure your account using the method mentioned above.)
The following platforms have successfully implemented the configuration changes required to connect to R | Trader Pro™ for market data:
- Bookmap
- Jigsaw
- Motive Wave
- ATAS
- Investor/RT
- MultiCharts
- Photon Trader
- Agena Trader and
- Medved Trader
- Optimus Flow - Our platform will be supporting R Trader Pro as a plug-in for exchange data. Our highest priority at this point is to add this feature to the platform in order to give our users access to concurrent sessions and avoid additional data feeds. You can expect this feature to be added within the upcoming weeks.
Additional Resources:
More on CME Market Data Fees on our Support Portal
Note: We have gathered all the data from sources that we believe are reliable. But, we cannot take responsibility for any inaccuracies because we are not data providers or set market data sessions. The ultimate responsibility is yours to become familiar with CME laws and apply them to your trading. Optimus will not credit any professional or non-professional fees as a result of CME changes. We “Optimus Futures” do not share data fees with the CME.
Once again, these new changes will begin to affect all CME market data subscribers and drastically change Rithmic’s previous infrastructure starting on the 1st of May, so we wanted to inform you now so you are aware and can adjust accordingly. If you have any questions about these new changes, don’t hesitate to reach out and we will gladly explain them to you!
Thanks for your time and prompt attention to these matters,
Jake
Optimus Futures 