Sometimes there may be confusion regarding the LME Bid and Ask prices displayed in MyDesk. To clarify, while MyDesk shows these prices, it does not indicate the presence of an open order available for trading.

The client mentioned: “We make our calculations based on the Fastmarkets screen, then we call one of our brokers.” This suggests a misunderstanding that MyDesk reflects an active order book, which it does not.

When the client compares the prices they see on MyDesk, with prices that they are getting from their broker there are at 3 reasons why this comparison cannot be made : 

1. To increase the liquidity of the prices we show, we show all prices reported to us for LME Cash, 3M and C-3 spreads, but in addition, given any two of those, we can imply a price for the third. Not all market data vendors do this. It would not be helpful for a broker to do that, for example, but for a customer that's simply interested in price movements, it is useful. 
2. MyDesk always reports the latest prices quoted from the LME, whereas a broker will report the best open orders on their order book. Often these can be the same, but not always.
3. MyDesk is a price reporting platform, not a trading platform. It reflects the data recieved from the LME, including implied prices. For example the LME can imply a carry for Cash to 3M even if there are no trades, this is based on the last Cash and last 3M price. This can mean that sometimes the spreads look misaligned with the market, though we are receiving them from the LME.