As of last fall, the NFA registered 976 guaranteed IBs and 400 independent outfits. This is a relatively straight forward designation. A floor broker is similar to a discount broker in that he executes trades for the purchase or sale of any commodity futures or options contract for someone else. In other words, if you call your broker on the floor, he'll execute the trade in the pit for you. This is not to be confused with a floor trader, who simply trades for his own account.
Most floor brokers work for larger firms to process customer orders.
If the broker is at an office off the floor, the order will be routed to a desk at the exchange and then sent onto the pit to be filled by a floor broker. In either case, the floor broker is simply filling your order. One of the first partners you'll ever have in trading is your broker. Have a personal meeting 3. Check experience 4.