This is why Wall Street gives its IT people 100k+ bonuses...

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

High-frequency trading ... is suddenly one of the most talked-about and mysterious forces in the markets.

Powerful computers, some housed right next to the machines that drive marketplaces like the New York Stock Exchange, enable high-frequency traders to transmit millions of orders at lightning speed and, their detractors contend, reap billions at everyone else’s expense.

These systems are so fast they can outsmart or outrun other investors, humans and computers alike. And after growing in the shadows for years, they are generating lots of talk.

Nearly everyone on Wall Street is wondering how hedge funds and large banks like Goldman Sachs are making so much money so soon after the financial system nearly collapsed. High-frequency trading is one answer.

...

Goldman acknowledges that it profits from high-frequency trading, but disputes that it has an unfair advantage.

Yet high-frequency specialists clearly have an edge over typical traders, let alone ordinary investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission says it is examining certain aspects of the strategy.

“This is where all the money is getting made,” said William H. Donaldson, former chairman and chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange and today an adviser to a big hedge fund. “If an individual investor doesn’t have the means to keep up, they’re at a huge disadvantage.”

...

High-frequency traders often confound other investors by issuing and then canceling orders almost simultaneously. Loopholes in market rules give high-speed investors an early glance at how others are trading. And their computers can essentially bully slower investors into giving up profits — and then disappear before anyone even knows they were there.

...

“It’s become a technological arms race, and what separates winners and losers is how fast they can move,” said Joseph M. Mecane of NYSE Euronext, which operates the New York Stock Exchange.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/business/24trading.html

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Interesting and depressing at the same time.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Interesting and depressing at the same time.

What's so depressing about it?

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Interesting and depressing at the same time.

What's so depressing about it?

If you point out Wall Streeter's are money grubbing scum suckers you are somehow anti-capitalist. Yet, what possible good, beyond wealth generation for it's own sake, and at the expense of the majority, is the practice of high frequency trading?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Yet, what possible good, beyond wealth generation for it's own sake, and at the expense of the majority, is the practice of high frequency trading?

It's good for their employees, who they reward handsomely. It's good for their shareholders, who in this 401k era is not the elite group you may imagine it is. And it's good for the local economy cuz those guys know how to spend.

Unlike most of you, I want to see Wall Street prosper. They are the engine of growth in my region and what's good for them is good for all of us.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Yet, what possible good, beyond wealth generation for it's own sake, and at the expense of the majority, is the practice of high frequency trading?

It's good for their employees, who they reward handsomely. It's good for their shareholders, who in this 401k era is not the elite group you may imagine it is. And it's good for the local economy cuz those guys know how to spend.

Unlike most of you, I want to see Wall Street prosper. They are the engine of growth in my region and what's good for them is good for all of us.

This is America, and you can proudly feel the way you do. Even if it is wrong.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Interesting and depressing at the same time.

What's so depressing about it?

Because this is a story of how money is made without any value being added.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Yet, what possible good, beyond wealth generation for it's own sake, and at the expense of the majority, is the practice of high frequency trading?

It's good for their employees, who they reward handsomely. It's good for their shareholders, who in this 401k era is not the elite group you may imagine it is. And it's good for the local economy cuz those guys know how to spend.

Unlike most of you, I want to see Wall Street prosper. They are the engine of growth in my region and what's good for them is good for all of us.

This is America, and you can proudly feel the way you do. Even if it is wrong.

GFY.

[mawilson 2,133]

I know man.... everyone wants low-latency execution. First it was milliseconds, now it's microseconds...

Sustainable growth of trading volumes critically depends on technological innovations.

One example:

NYSE Technologies Launches Market Data Platform V5

New York, NY - 24 June 2009

NYSE Technologies, today announced the launch of its next generation market data infrastructure, NYSE Technologies’ Market Data

Platform V5. This revolutionary ticker plant technology is designed specifically for high-volume and latency sensitive markets, delivering data in microseconds rather than milliseconds. It offers 10 times the overall performance of previous generation market data platforms while allowing customers to reduce their hardware footprint by as much as 80%.

The accelerated Market Data Platform V5 has been carefully engineered to deliver extremely high throughput and low latency market data delivery, providing significant value for co-location solutions, high frequency trading and enterprise ticker plant deployments. It is built on NYSE Technologies’ Data Fabric middleware, a proven technology that drives the most advanced ultra-low latency infrastructure in the marketplace.

“NYSE Technologies’ Market Data Platform V5 is game-changing. It represents a quantum leap forward in nearly every aspect of market data distribution,” said Stanley Young, CEO, NYSE Technologies and co-global CIO, NYSE Euronext. “Through this accelerated new system we offer microsecond message processing at peak rates and single-server application, enabling our clients to benefit from a significant reduction in hardware investment and operation costs. When multiplied across high-availability and disaster recovery sites, the cost savings can be exponential. We are very excited to demonstrate the astonishing potential of this integrated platform to our customers, particularly in tandem with the complete NYSE Technologies market data product suite.”

NYSE Technologies’ performance benchmarks, certified by Intel Fastlab, confirm that Market Data Platform V5 offers continuous throughput of 500,000 messages per second on a single CPU core, with a mean latency of less than 40 microseconds over Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) and an ultra-low latency range of 10-20 microseconds over Local Direct Memory Access (LDMA) – ideal for co-location servers.

Stephen S. Pawlowski, Intel Senior Fellow, Digital Enterprise Group Chief Technology Officer, Digital Enterprise Group and General Manager, Architecture and Planning said, “NYSE Technologies' Market Data Platform V5 with Data Fabric takes advantage of Intel Xeon processor 5500 series-based servers with Intel Quick Path Interconnect. The scalability and low latency of Market Data Platform V5 combined with the performance of the Intel Xeon processor further increases its capabilities as a market data platform. Together, Market Data Platform V5 dramatically reduces the server footprint in the data center to create a cost effective solution on industry standard hardware."

NYSE Technologies’ Market Data Platform V5 supports a wide range of integration options, (including LDMA, RDMA, TCP ) and is vendor neutral allowing deployment on any hardware platform that supports Linux. This flexibility ensures that this accelerated platform can be incorporated easily into virtually any environment. It can run on existing or new hardware and it can interoperate with legacy infrastructure. Market Data Platform V5 is designed to scale with ease from a single server installation, where the feed handlers, Market Access Gateways (MAGs) and client applications run on the same machine, up to larger distributed enterprise ticker plants with sophisticated message distribution requirements.

Designed to have the lowest total cost of ownership possible, Market Data Platform V5 combines cost effectiveness with the unparalleled speed and processing power that has made NYSE Technologies the market data technology vendor of choice for the top 10 global financial institutions. The platform supports all high-volume US markets and is currently being rolled out to other latency-sensitive markets in the US and Europe Market Data Platform V5 is cross-compatible with NYSE Technologies’ market-leading Feed Handler Suite which offers more than 160 feed handlers for extensive global market coverage. Firms interested in reducing the hardware footprint of this global ticker plant solution can pair the platform with the Data Fabric middleware.

[Ban Hammer 13,677]

Interesting and depressing at the same time.

What's so depressing about it?

Because this is a story of how money is made without any value being added.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

You guys are socialist scum.

[Ban Hammer 13,677]

You guys are socialist scum.

need i remind you of a few comments you made that were similar in scope about realtors?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

You guys are socialist scum.

need i remind you of a few comments you made that were similar in scope about realtors?

** realtors. they don't do me any good

[mawilson 2,133]

Interesting and depressing at the same time.

What's so depressing about it?

Because this is a story of how money is made without any value being added.

I wouldn't say that. Wall Street drives technological innovation to make low-latency high-volume trading possible.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Interesting and depressing at the same time.

What's so depressing about it?

Because this is a story of how money is made without any value being added.

I wouldn't say that. Wall Street drives technological innovation to make low-latency high-volume trading possible.

The Che-worshippers will always diss what they do not understand.