We consider the case of trading in an environment of autonomous compon
ents. Trading is the process of matching a service request with the of
fers to support that particular service made by potential servers. In
the case of multiple matching offers a selection of the most suitable
server can be made according to the properties of the server. Among th
e possible selection policies we concentrate on those taking into acco
unt the actual load of the server. The selection process can be delega
ted to components of a special type. called traders. Various aspects i
nfluence the performance of the server selection process, including th
e delay of the load information. the selection strategy, the use or no
n-use of traders, and the number of concurrent traders, if any. We inv
estigate several trading strategies in a scenario where the load infor
mation is broadcast periodically. and where multiple traders may opera
te concurrently.