CATS (Computer Assisted Trading System) is an automated exchange system developped for the Toronto Stock Exchange in the late 1970s. CATS was one of the first technologies allowing for a full automation of the price-setting process in a stock exchange. This technology was implemented in several other stock exchanges in the 1980s. In some cases, it was used as a assistance to open-outcry, but in others it allowed for a full dismantlement of the open-outcry insititution. The Paris Bourse purchased this system in the early 1980s and implemented it as CAC (Cotation Assistée en Continu). TSX logo The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is Canadas largest stock exchange, North Americas third largest stock exchange, and the sixth largest in the world. ...

CATS functioned handled the process of order matching and price setting through a "double auction" algorithm. It is credited for having been the first system to allow for a full automation of the price setting process in a centralized, order-driven stock market. Double auction is a type of auctions in which both sellers and buyers submit bids which are then ranked highest to lowest to generate demand and supply profiles. ... Flowcharts are often used to represent algorithms. ... Automation (ancient Greek: = self dictated) or industrial automation or numerical control is the use of control systems (e. ...

References

Domowitz, I. 1990 "The Mechanics of Automated Trade Execution Systems", Journal of Financial Intermediation 1(2): 167-194.

Domowitz, I. and Wang, J. 1994 "Auctions as Algorithms: Computerized Trade Execution and Price Discovery", Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 18(1): 29-60.