NDD Glossary

About the NDD Glossary

The definitive open encyclopedia of No Dealing Desk execution, order routing, and trading infrastructure transparency.

Our Mission

The NDD Glossary exists to close the information gap between retail traders and the institutional world of order execution. Most educational resources about trading focus on chart patterns and indicators. Almost none explain how orders are actually routed, priced, and executed once you click the button.

We build structured, verifiable, and navigable reference material on execution models, routing logic, liquidity infrastructure, and the metrics that reveal whether a broker is operating transparently. Our audience is anyone who wants to understand what happens between the moment they place a trade and the moment it fills.

What This Is and Is Not

This Is

  • An educational reference on NDD execution and trading infrastructure
  • A structured glossary with 60+ terms, topic hubs, comparisons, and diagrams
  • A transparency tool to help evaluate broker execution models
  • Free, open, and publicly accessible

This Is Not

  • Investment advice or a broker recommendation service
  • A comparison or ranking site for brokers
  • Affiliated with or sponsored by any specific broker
  • A substitute for professional financial or legal advice

Core Values

Accuracy Over Volume

We would rather have 60 deeply researched, rigorously verified terms than 600 shallow definitions copied from other sources. Every entry must withstand scrutiny.

Transparency as a Standard

We apply the same transparency we advocate for in broker execution to our own editorial process. Our methodology, sources, editorial policy, and changelog are all public.

Education, Not Promotion

The knowledge base exists to inform, not to sell. When proprietary products are described, they are clearly labeled. We never recommend specific brokers or investment decisions.

How to Use This Resource

New to NDD?

Start with the Beginner-level terms and the Execution Models topic hub. Use the A-Z dictionary to browse at your own pace.

Evaluating a broker?

Check the Comparisons section and the Examples section on public metrics. Use the per-term Checklists to formulate specific questions.

Building execution infrastructure?

Explore Pro-level terms, the Diagrams section, and protocol-specific entries like FIX Protocol and SOR.

Doing research?

Review our Sources page for authoritative references. Use the See Also links to navigate between related concepts.