| Developer(s) | Reuters |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1999 |
| Stable release | 5.1 / 2007 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Type | Technical analysis software Electronic trading platform |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | http://thomsonreuters.com |
Reuters 3000 Xtra is an electronic trading platform typically used by professional traders and investment analysts in trading rooms. It provides real time streaming price date on exchange traded stocks, warrants, options, futures, indices, bonds, commodities and currencies as well streaming news and comprehensive economic indicators and financial data. Originally designed as an information system, later versions also introduced trading functions allowing orders to be placed on a number of electronic exchanges and with other dealing desks.
The client software connects to the Reuters servers over a dedicated link via a one of the proprietary feed servers, such as Reuters Market Data System (RMDS) or Triarch.[1] One of the early attractions for dealers was the integration with Microsoft Excel and the instant messaging facility for sending messages to other dealing desks.
It went on to became the de-facto platform on traders desks in banks and financial institutions due to the breadth of the information available despite the significant cost and dedicated infrastructure that is required. Its main rival was the Bloomberg Terminal although both systems were often put side by side on traders desks.
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The 3000 Xtra system was first released in 1999, but in many ways was a continuation of previous Reuters products that included Equities 2000 (released in 1987), Dealing 2000-2 (released in 1992) and 3000 Series (released in 1996). It inherited a lot of design features such as much of the user interface from those earlier systems that were developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The system was designed to use private network links to Reuters to get live prices from global stock, commodity, futures, derivative and bond markets as well as foreign exchange price makers. The client terminal would connect to a local server typically hosted on site by the financial institution run on a Unix operating system. The server would have dedicated links back to Reuters global network. The client software was a Windows based application. Live connection to Excel spreadsheets was provided via the Reuters Power Plus Pro utility. The system was enhanced through a number of different versions over the years and from version 5 onwards it was qualified for Citrix thin client delivery which became a common way to access the software.