The Speed Traders’ Edgar Perez

On May 6^th, 2010, the U.S. stock markets experienced an unusual decline (and an immediate upswing) that temporarily erased $1 trillion in market value (the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged about 1000 points) and puzzled both actors and experts following the markets. Given the ongoing controversy about “flash orders” and its portrayed usage by high-frequency traders, this incident was quickly referred as the flash crash and just as quickly blame fell on the electronic trading industry. While it is true that some high-frequency trading firms stopped running their algorithms when the decline started (human traders stopped participating in the markets in Black Monday as well), some of them stayed in the market, and helped the markets recover just as quickly as the decline happened.

Fast forward two years and we find a twit from the Associated Press with supposedly breaking news that President Obama was injured due to explosions at the White House. That report made $136 billion in market value temporarily disappear, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average quickly dropping 150 points before swinging back.

Examples of dramatic swings can go all the way back to the origins of stock markets. We only need to take a look at Black Monday, October 19^th, 1987, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 508 points, 22.61%; by the end of October, stock markets in the United States had fallen by 22.68%, not showing any improvement for many weeks. Meanwhile, on May 6^th, the Dow Jones had regained most of the drop only twenty minutes later.

Like major technology innovations in the past, computer trading was blamed for Black Monday back in 1987; as observed by economist Richard Roll though, program trading strategies were used primarily in the United States, and not in markets such as Australia and Hong Kong where the crisis started. Therefore, it is unsurprising by now that high-frequency trading has been blamed for the flash crash, the now called Twitter crash, and mini-flash crashes of certain stocks, commodities and currencies.

As Manoj Narang, CEO, Tradeworx, says in my book The Speed Traders, no matter what regulators do, there will be times when herd-like behavior among long-term investors will all be stampeding for the exits at the same time, and simply there won’t be enough high-frequency trading to cover the demand for liquidity. That is exactly what happened on May 6^th, as described in painstaking detail in the CFTC/SEC report of September 30^th, 2010; the report made clear that a mutual fund, identified by Reuters back in May 14 as Waddell & Reed Financial Inc., initiated a program to sell a total of 75,000 E-Mini contracts (valued at approximately $4.1 billion), certainly influenced by the pessimism in the markets due to street protests in Greece, among other reasons; the computer algorithm used to trade the position in the futures markets was set to target an execution rate set to 9% of the trading volume calculated over the previous minute, but without regard to price or time. Similarly, we will always experience technology and human errors. Dave Cummings, Chairman, Tradebot, would ask about the flash crash, “Who puts in a $4.1 billion order without a limit price?” That was the catalyst that initiated the flash crash. Knight Capital Group Inc.’s $440 million trading loss in August 1^st, 2012, when the firm lost approximately $10 million per minute, is another recent example that comes to mind.

On March 7^th, 2013, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Regulation SCI (Systems Compliance and Integrity). As explained by Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar, the proposed rule would move beyond the current voluntary program and require entities to establish, maintain, and enforce written policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that its systems have adequate levels of capacity, integrity, resiliency, availability, and security to maintain the entity’s operational capability and promote the maintenance of fair and orderly markets, mandate participation in scheduled testing of the operation of the entity’s business continuity and disaster recovery plans, including backup systems, and coordinate such testing on an industry- or sector-wide basis with other entities, and finally make, keep, and preserve records relating to the matters covered by Regulation SCI, and provide them to Commission representatives upon request.

Electronic trading, like any other area of finance, should have sensible regulations imposed to promote sound trading practices and protect the average American investor from predatory behavior. If a market participant who does not use high-frequency trading believes that he or she cannot enter into fair transactions, then that individual will not invest in that market. But regulators could restore trust in the market without eliminating high-speed trading. They simply must be armed to analyze trading activity in real time.

In an area of finance predicated on speed, regulation must be as well. Real-time information would allow regulators to see everything that is occurring in the markets, no matter how quickly the order information is being posted and transactions are occurring. This would require significant commitments to invest in both human capital and information technology, but the investment is worthwhile: it is vital for regulators to level the playing field of electronic trading in general.

Real-time policing for potential malfeasance is the most efficient way to regulate high-frequency trading. Analysis of real-time data would provide for effective regulation of these trades. This in turn would provide peace of mind for market participants big and small.

Having spoken with professionals in the world’s most important financial centers, I can attest that America’s capital markets continue being the envy of the world, thanks to the innovation people like high-frequency traders, educated in the country’s top schools, bring to the markets. Let’s allow innovations like high-frequency trading to continue and regulators to police them accordingly, and not try to ban them, as vocal activists tried once with major innovations such as automobiles and derivatives.

Madeleine Albright, Edgar Perez and Condoleezza Rice @CMEGroup’s GFLC12

Cyprus is a small island in the Mediterranean Sea, located East of Greece and South of Turkey. Cyprus has always been a popular tourist destination receiving two million visitors who come to the beautiful white sand beaches to soak in the Mediterranean sun. Until a few weeks ago, Cyprus was a developed country well sought after as an offshore tax haven. As a member of the European Union, Cyprus had strict laws in place to protect the offshore financial sector. Cyprus could have been considered a low-tax haven since the country had a low tax regime in place for offshore companies and resident companies, paying just 10 percent, the lowest in the euro zone, below Ireland’s 12.5 percent and well under the 29.5 percent rate in Germany and 33.3 percent in France.

Fast forward to this Monday morning, and it was announced that the Eurogroup just reached an agreement with the Cypriot authorities on the key elements necessary for a macroeconomic adjustment program. The agreement was supported by all euro area member states (it was swiftly endorsed by euro zone finance ministers) as well as by the troika, the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission.

The program would address the exceptional challenges that Cyprus was facing and attempt to restore the viability of its financial sector, with the view of restoring sustainable growth and sound public finances over the coming years. How could they do that?

1. Laiki (the second largest bank, also known as Cyprus Popular Bank, with a history that spanned beyond 110 years) is resolved immediately, with full contribution of equity shareholders, bond holders and uninsured depositors, based on a decision by the Central Bank of Cyprus.
2. Laiki would be split into a good bank and a bad bank. The bad bank would be run down over time.
3. The good bank would be folded into Bank of Cyprus (BoC), as one of its branches in Limassol experienced an explosion produced by a home-made bomb. It would take 9bn Euros of the Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA), the support given by central banks in exceptional circumstances and on a case-by-case basis to temporarily illiquid institutions and markets. Only uninsured deposits in BoC would remain frozen until recapitalization has been effected.
4. The Governing Council of the ECB would provide liquidity to the BoC in line with applicable rules.
5. BoC would be recapitalized through a deposit/equity conversion of uninsured deposits with full contribution of equity shareholders and bond holders.
6. The conversion would be such that a capital ratio of 9 percent is secured by the end of the program.
7. All insured depositors in all banks would be fully protected in accordance with the relevant EU legislation.
8. The program money (up to 10bn Euros) would not be used to recapitalize Laiki or Bank of Cyprus.

It was expected that these measures would form the basis for restoring the viability of the financial sector. In particular, they safeguard all deposits below 100.000 Euros in accordance with EU principles, which were initially at risk based on a prior proposal. The program stressed that there would be an appropriate downsizing of the financial sector (Cypriot banks had assets equal to 750 percent of the country’s gross domestic product), with the domestic banking sector reaching the EU average by 2018 (less than half of the current ratio), while encouraging Cypriot authorities to step up efforts in the areas of fiscal consolidation, structural reforms and privatization, in addition to increasing the withholding tax on capital income and of the statutory corporate income tax rate.

What is the message that the incidents of the last week tell depositors around the world? Move your deposits out of Greece, Italy and Spain; think about outside Europe. While in the case of Cyprus a significant component came from Russian companies and individuals (an estimated $31 billion, according to Moody’s Investors Service), it is clear that the attitude of the European authorities is now to consider public deposits as the new ATM for governments, at least the uninsured deposits of 100.000 Euros or more . No matter what the authorities say to coat the pill (black money might have been present, savers have enjoyed years of high interest rates, etc.), this is a clear message that will reverberate throughout the continent: deposits are not safe anymore. The strict enforcement of the rule of law is gone, and with that the tax haven status that Cyprus worked so hard to build; Cyprus bet its future on it and lost.

Where deposits will go? America. Why? Says FDIC spokesperson David Barr: “During the current economic crisis, consumers have seen firsthand how the FDIC protects their money by swiftly making deposits available when a bank is closed. In the FDIC’s 80-year history, not a single depositor has ever lost a penny of insured money as a result of a bank failure. Our proven track record has helped prevent bank runs during some very difficult economic times.” It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that deposits will be coming to America shores to earn almost zero, courtesy of Fed Chairman Bernanke; depositors worldwide now know that earning zero is definitely better than experiencing a 40 percent haircut, too bad it is too late for Cypriot (and Russian) depositors.

Edgar Perez, Author, The Speed Traders, and Knightmare on Wall Street

Stocks in the US markets slipped on Friday, ending the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s (DJIA) longest winning streak since 1996, just after snapping a 10-day run. Data from Thomson Reuters’ Lipper service showed that investors in U.S.-based funds had poured $11.26 billion of new cash into stock funds this last week, the most since late January. The DJIA slipped 25.03 points, or 0.17 percent, to 14,514.11 at the close. Meanwhile, it was announced that the fewest workers on record were fired in January and job openings rebounded, showing employers were gaining confidence the U.S. expansion would be sustained.

According to some pundits, recent market activity is essentially driven by positive corporate earnings. The S&P500 Price/Earnings (PE) ratio is currently slightly high at 16.5, if we compare with past indicators. The median S&P500 Trailing Twelve Months (TTM) PE ratio has been about 14.5 over the last 100 years; average is around 16. It was during much of 2009 when the disconnect between price and TTM earnings was so extreme that the P/E ratio was in triple digits, as high as the 120s. Going back to the 1870’s, the average P/E ratio has been about 15; therefore, the US equity markets are not excessively valued, leaving some room for further growth.

Other pundits point to the Federal Reserve’s determination to continue stimulating the economy with increased liquidity. Mohammed Apabhai, head of Asia trading at Citigroup Global Markets, favors this train of thought. He has noted that there is a 70 percent correlation between stock market performance and liquidity, “whether it’s through the promise of lower rates, QE (Quantitative Easing) or promise of more QE.” The Federal Reserve has launched three rounds of Quantitative Easing since the financial crisis hit in 2008.

More likely, both factors are in play, very good corporate earnings and monetary policy that pushes investors to take risks in equities. So is the earnings momentum sustainable? Unfortunately, savings from the smaller share of the pie from labor, government spending and earnings coming from emerging markets (EM) outside the US are all factors that will be curtailed at some moment. Is the Fed eager to continue being the huge player in this equation? Some of its members are increasingly worried about the effectiveness of the continued QE; if the labor market recovers, as the January numbers showed, the Fed most probably might be ending its bond purchases soon.

As pointed out by James Saft, wages in the US have taken a smaller and smaller piece of the pie; now below 44pc of GDP and dropping, down several percentage points since 1999. That is in part the consequence of globalization and the offshoring of jobs. However, the labor which can be offshored largely has already been and the likely trend is for new manufacturing technologies to start pushing jobs back into the US. As has been of national knowledge as well, there is a real danger of declining government spending. A dollar spent by the government is a dollar that supports household income, and consumption, and of course corporate profits; there will be less dollars starting this month thank to the sequester, a series of spending cuts and tax increases aimed at reducing the budget deficit.

Emerging markets are looking overstretched heading into the second quarter, Barclays Capital said in a report dated March 15, pointing out that the cyclical recoveries in EM have slowed down. Consensus growth forecasts (according to Bloomberg) have been revised down by 0.75 percentage points on average since mid-2012.  EM equities have been slow to react to these developments due partly to the continued inflows into the asset class from retail clients. The correction has started recently and the performance by country year to date has been mixed, but the most pronounced selloffs have been associated with the largest revisions to GDP growth forecasts. Adding to this dire situation, the economies of emerging markets grew at a slower pace in February than the month before, according to HSBC’s monthly purchasing managers’ index. The PMI recorded a level of 52.3, down from 53.8 in January, its lowest since August. The index covers 16 leading emerging markets, including India, Brazil and China, which all saw their rate of growth fall. Investors had been questioning whether emerging markets, whose growth depends in part on exports to mature markets, could continue to expand at fast rates of almost 10% in some cases.

What the equity markets want indeed is stable and/or predictably increasing US profits and the Fed to stay in the bond markets. Saft ironically suggested that markets’ best hope might be a cut in government spending deep enough to kill job growth and indefinitely extend QE, something that nobody else would agree with. Instead, markets would be happy with a bit of positive news today followed by another bit of negative news tomorrow. Unfortunately for the markets, profits will start showing stagnation starting with first quarter results. Federal Reserve said in September 2012, when QE3 was announced, that it would start pumping $40 billion a month to purchase agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) until the labor market improves substantially. When will the Fed determine that the job market has made enough progress to reduce stimulus? The numbers for February will prove paramount in this regard. As these two important factors converge in a nightmarish scenario, equities markets should beware of the ensuing correction, coming as early as in the second quarter.

Mr. Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders and the forthcoming Knightmare on Wall Street

A who’s who of the high-frequency trading world will be joining me next week at Golden Networking’s High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum 2013 London, “Strategic and Tactical Insights for Investors, Speed Traders, Brokers and Exchanges”, March 21, forum that will provide attendees in London with the most up-to-date review of where this ever-changing industry stands through an inspiring keynote speeches and thought-provoking panels with leaders in the field:

• Professor Alex Preda, Professor of Accounting, Accountability and Financial Management, King’s College
• Ms. Arlene McCarthy, Vice Chair – Economics and Monetary Affairs Committee and Draftsperson, Market Abuse Directive, European Parliament
• Ms. Carol Clark, Sr. Policy Specialist, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
• Mr. Chris Skinner, Chairman, Financial Services Club
• Professor Daniel Beunza, Lecturer, London School of Economics
• Professor Dave Cliff, Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol
• Mr. David Mills, Sales Director EMEA, Azul Systems
• Mr. Giovanni Beliossi, Managing Partner, FGS Capital
• Mr. Hirander Misra, Chairman, Forum Trading Solutions
• Professor Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra, Lecturer, London School of Economics
• Dr. Magrino Bini, Statistical Arbitrage Portfolio Manager, Millennium Partners
• Mr. Philip Stafford, FT Trading Room Deputy Editor, Financial Times
• Professor Philip Treleaven, Director, PhD, Centre in Financial Computing, UCL
• Mr. Philippe Guillot, Executive Director of the Markets Division, Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF)
• Mr. Sam Tyfield, Partner, Vedder Price, P.C.
• Mr. Stuart Theakston, Head of Research and Automated Trading, GLC
• Dr. Tommi A. Vuorenmaa, Head of Research & Trading, Valo Research and Trading
• Mr. VJ Angelo, Director, Global Markets Exchange Group
• Professor Walter Distaso, Professor of Financial Econometrics, Imperial College London

High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum 2013, “Strategic and Tactical Insights for Investors, Speed Traders, Brokers and Exchanges” (http://www.HFT-Leaders-Forum.com) will bring insights for investors and speed traders who need to protect and refine their competitive advantage in a world dominated by algorithmic and high-frequency trading. Recognized practitioners, regulators, experts, and strategists will return to High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum 2013 to provide attendees with the information they are looking for in an open and unbiased environment, highly conducive to the most efficient and effective networking.

Topics that will be discussed at High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum 2013 (http://www.HFT-Leaders-Forum.com) include the movement toward emerging markets, every time more attuned to the use of bots, the regulatory environment, how new technologies are changing the game, including a look at the upcoming regulatory changes that no doubt will be precipitated by Knight Capital’s trading glitch.

High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum 2013 (http://www.high-frequency-trading-conference.com) is produced by Golden Networking (http://www.goldennetworking.net), the premier networking community for business executives, entrepreneurs and investors.

Yuri Milner, co-founder and chief executive officer of DST (Photo: Forbes)

In an interview at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, Yuri Milner, the Russian investor whose early bet on Mark Zuckerberg’s firm made him a billionaire, said companies like Facebook, Google and Wikipedia will still exist a century from now because their services gain momentum the more people use them. “All three have amazing network effects,” said Milner, the co-founder and chief executive officer of DST. “Chances are that those are long survivors.”

Milner has long believed that the internet would develop into a “global brain”, which is often described as an intelligent network of individuals and machines, functioning as a nervous system for the planet Earth. He also has envisaged that the advent of the Internet of things and ever increasing use of social media and participatory systems such as Twitter, Facebook, and Wikipedia would increase our collective intelligence.

Richard Foster, the Creative Destruction author referred by Forbes as The Wizard of Innovation and speaker at China Leaders Forum, was in the 80s in a search for “the excellent company”, the all-seeing, all-knowing, all-wise company that made all the right moves in advance, and that made more money for its shareholders than any of its competitors. This was the permanent outperformer stock, the really good deal, he said. Foster looked at 4,000 companies over 40 years; he concluded there was no such company, and there never had been such a company! No company had been able to outperform the market for any substantial length of time. (GE once came as close as any, but didn’t do any better than the overall market index, Foster reflects). Somehow the market, managed by nobody in particular, was performing better than all the brains on the planet.

Why is it that no company can outperform the markets for a long time? Foster thinks there are several reasons, but the most important is something called legacy cost. All companies have legacy costs, which are created the moment a company makes a commitment of time or resources to a particular course of action. And when a company is challenged to do something new, to take a new course of action, it has a hard time abandoning its legacy costs. Companies argue that the incremental cost of making a slight improvement to an existing product or service is much better than the full cost of developing something new from scratch. In doing so, the company attempts to optimize between the old and the new. This takes the decision making power away from the customer, and it’s a bad direction to go in. Markets, however, just charge on ahead with the new, because new entrants don’t have any legacy costs to deal with.

Just last week, Facebook’s new News Feed made some welcome cosmetic changes. But it didn’t go very far in addressing the social network’s deeper issues. Fortune’s Kevin Kelleher talks about the vulnerabilities Facebook is facing since it went public. Facebook is facing more powerful competitors and two important yet sometimes contradictory mandates, to create a service that will engage its users, and to make money that will satisfy investors; Facebook’s presentation played down those facts. How intrusive these ads strike users will depends on the algorithms Facebook designs to insert them in feeds.

So while Facebook’s new news feed makes some cosmetic fixes that users are likely to welcome in time, they don’t go very far in addressing rising competition from newer social networks and the uneasy balancing act between users and advertisers. Those are the legacy costs Foster refers too, which new entrants that will grow into becoming new leaders never face. Legacy costs never stopped Wikipedia and Google from dethroning leading institutions called Britannic Encyclopedia and Yahoo!

To think that new companies will take a century to remove Facebook, Wikipedia or Google from their leadership positions is no more than wishful thinking; these firms have at most 10 years to milk their cows and make the big decision: change or die. While Milner appears not to have a vested interest in Wikipedia or Google, he might as well start cashing in on his already wildly profitable Facebook bet. Somebody in some garage is already building a better mousetrap.

Edgar Perez, Author, ‘The Speed Traders’ and ‘Knightmare in Wall Street’

Beyond the memories of the recent financial crisis and doubts about the safety and fairness of the equity markets, events such as the Flash Crash of May 2010, the hugely distressing Facebook NASDAQ initial public offering and trading malfunctions at Knight Capital and Nasdaq OMX were wrongly associated with high-frequency trading (HFT) and characterized as shocks to the psyche of average investors. The around $130 billion outflows from domestic equity mutual funds in 2012 led to Joe Saluzzi, co-head of trading at Themis Trading, to say as recently as of December 2012 that “all of those events are confidence-shattering events.”

Furthermore, U.S. congressman Ed Markey tried to persuade the SEC that high-frequency trading was driving investors off the electronic trading highway completely because it was eroding confidence in U.S. markets. Congressman Markey wrote that “sophisticated trading firms can make full use of light speed HFT algorithms, while the ordinary investor day-trading his 401k remains at more terrestrial speeds. There is a real risk that algorithmic trading is making investors hesitant to re-enter the equity markets because they fear that the entire game is rigged.” Ultimately, he proposed that HFT should be curtailed immediately.

Data from Trim Tabs Investment Research appeared to support Mr. Saluzzi and Congressman Markey’s concerns. Their data show outflows from U.S. equity mutual funds in 2008 hit a record $148 billion; in 2009, confidence appeared to be stabilizing as outflows from U.S. equity mutual funds totaled just $28 billion, only to grow again in 2010 to hit $81 billion, $132 billion in 2011 and last year totaled $130 billion. So what would they say now that the Washington-based Investment Company Institute has revealed that equity mutual funds have gathered $29.9 billion in January’s first three weeks, more than for any full month since 2006? Moreover, long-term funds, which exclude money-market vehicles, attracted $64.8 billion in the first three weeks of the month. The previous record was $52.6 billion for all of May 2009.

What was the catalyst of the change in trend? Was HFT suddenly disappearing from the equity markets? As we have suspected in the past, it was the health of the economy. The dysfunctional behavior of the leadership in Washington, leading to a crisis of significant proportions in December 2012, was holding market participants from making investment decisions; when Washington still managed to temporarily solve the fiscal cliff issue, allowing the government to remove its borrowing cap and removing the terrifying prospect of sovereign default, investors rushed into stocks (and bonds too), setting the stage for the biggest month on record for deposits into U.S. mutual funds.

We are looking at forces beyond the niche of algorithmic and high-frequency trading in action here. Signs of improvement in the U.S. economy and a rising stock market (that pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 14,000 on February 1 for the first time since 2007) are now prompting Americans to step up their investments. Hiring climbed in January as well, providing further evidence that the U.S. labor market is making progress. As the economy overall makes progress, inflows will increase as more and more households and companies start to invest in the financial markets, creating a net impact in the real economy, and further reinforcing the performance of the markets. Once again, the phrase “it is the economy, stupid!” remains as valid as ever.

“高频交易”(High-frequency Trade)，是指大型投资机构利用自己的高速计算机，在极短时间内判断出有价值的信息，从而先于市场的其他投资者进行交易，这种交易的特点是大量不停地买卖。

文/新浪财经北美特约撰稿人埃德加-佩雷兹[微博]

2010年5月的“闪电崩盘”及Facebook在骑士资本和纳斯达克的IPO交易故障等事件，都被错误地与高频交易联系到一起，被描绘为对普通投资者造成灵魂冲击。但真正原因是经济健康问题。It is the economy, stupid。这个短语仍旧有效。

除了与最近一次金融危机有关的记忆以及有关股票市场安全性和公平性的疑问以外，2010年5月份的“闪电崩盘”及Facebook在骑士资本和纳斯达克市场上令人感到非常沮丧的IPO(首次公开招股)交易故障等事件都被错误地与高频交易联系到一起，被描绘为对普通投资者造成了灵魂冲击。

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JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon (Eric Piermont / AFP/Getty)

President Barack Obama’s favorite Wall Street CEO, JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon is facing more than having his pay cut in half to $11.5 million for 2012, compared with $23 million a year earlier. He is facing the prospect of seeing his reputation, cemented until now by his smart handling of the bank during the financial crisis, becoming tarnished as he has been deemed ultimate responsible for the banks’ loss of more than $6.2 billion in the first nine months of 2012 on bets by U.K. trader Bruno Iksil, nicknamed the London Whale, who operated under Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew.

The Chief Investment Office (CIO) was supposed to manage excess cash while minimizing risk using credit derivatives as part of a hedging strategy; instead, their trades became so large that the bank couldn’t easily unwind them. At the bottom of this miscalculation were blunders in the development, testing and approval of a new VaR model to measure the risk of their Synthetic Credit Portfolio.

VaR (Value at Risk) is a metric that attempts to estimate the risk of loss on a portfolio of assets. A portfolio’s VaR represents an estimate of the maximum expected mark-to-market loss over a specified time period, generally one day, at a stated confidence level, assuming historical market conditions. Through January 2012, according to the 129-page report from a task force led by Michael Cavanagh, co-head of the firm’s corporate and investment bank, the VaR for the Synthetic Credit Portfolio was calculated using a “linear sensitivity model,” also known within the Firm as the “Basel I model,” because it was used for purposes of Basel I capital calculations and for external reporting purposes. The Basel I model captured the major risk facing the Synthetic Credit Portfolio at the time, which was the potential for loss attributable to movements in credit spreads.

However, the model was limited in the manner in which it estimated correlation risk: that is, the risk that defaults of the components within the index would correlate. As the value of the tranche positions in the Synthetic Credit Portfolio increased, this limitation became more significant, as the value of these positions was driven in large part by the extent to which the positions in the index were correlated to each other. The main risk with the tranche positions was that regardless of credit risk in general, defaults might be more or less correlated.

This limitation meant that the Basel I model likely would not comply with the requirements of Basel II.5, which originally had been expected to be formally adopted in the United States at the end of 2011. One of the traders responsible for the Synthetic Credit Portfolio therefore instructed an expert in quantitative finance within the Quantitative Research team for CIO to develop a new VaR model for the Synthetic Credit Portfolio that would comply with the requirements of Basel II.5. They believed that the Basel I model was too conservative, that it was producing a higher VaR than was appropriate.

Early in the development process, CIO considered and rejected a proposal to adopt the VaR model used by the Investment Bank’s credit hybrids business for the Synthetic Credit Portfolio. Because the Investment Bank traded many customized and illiquid CDSs, its VaR model mapped individual instruments to a combination of indices and single name proxies, which CIO Market Risk viewed as less accurate for CIO’s purposes than mapping to the index as a whole. He believed that, because the Synthetic Credit Portfolio, unlike the Investment Bank, traded indices and index tranches, the Investment Bank’s approach was not appropriate for CIO. The Model Review Group agreed and, in an early draft of its approval of the model, described CIO’s model as “superior” to that used by the Investment Bank.

The Model Review Group, charged with the formal approval of the model, performed only limited back-testing, comparing the VaR under the new model computed using historical data to the daily profit-and-loss over a subset of trading days during a two-month period, not even close to a typically required period of 264 previous trading days, a year. In addition, they were pressured by the CIO to accelerate its review, overlooking operational flaws apparent during the approval process; for instance, it was found later that the model operated through a series of Excel spreadsheets, which had to be completed manually, by a process of copying and pasting data from one spreadsheet to another. The Model Review Group discovered that, for purposes of a pricing step used in the VaR calculation, CIO was using something called the “West End” analytic suite rather than Numerix, an approved vendor model. CIO assured the Model Review Group that both valuations were in “good agreement.”

Sandy Weill, left, and Jamie Dimon, then with American Express, at a conference in California in 1983. (Photo: Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis)

On January 30, the Model Review Group finally authorized CIO Market Risk to use the new VaR model which would utilize the Gaussian Copula model, a commonly accepted model used to map the approximate correlation between two variables, to calculate hazard rates and correlations. A hazard rate is the probability of failure per unit of time of items in operation, sometimes estimated as a ratio of the number of failures to the accumulated operating time for the items. For purposes of the model, the hazard rate estimated the probability of default for a unit of time for each of the underlying names in the portfolio.

Once in operation, a spreadsheet error caused the VaR for April 10 to fail to reflect the day’s $400 million loss in the Synthetic Credit Portfolio. This error was noticed, first by personnel in the Investment Bank, and by the modeler and CIO Market Risk, and was corrected promptly. Because it was viewed as a one-off error, it did not trigger further inquiry. Later in May, in response to further losses in the Synthetic Credit Portfolio, a review of the West End calculated discovered that it was using the Uniform Rate model rather than Gaussian Copula model, contrary to the Model Review Group approval.

Although this error did not have a significant effect on the VaR, an operational error was found in the calculation of the relative changes in hazard rates and correlation estimates. Specifically, after subtracting the old rate from the new rate, the spreadsheet divided the result by their sum instead of their average, as the modeler had intended. This error likely had the effect of muting volatility by a factor of two and of lowering the VaR, minimizing the estimate of the potential loss in the Synthetic Credit Portfolio, which ultimately grew to more than $6.2 billion. Despite this humongous loss, JPMorgan Chase disclosed full-year 2012 record net income of $21.3 billion on revenue of $99.9 billion, guaranteeing Dimon’s survival at the helm for the moment.

Edgar Perez with Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretaries of State for Presidents Clinton and Bush, respectively

Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill undoing tax increases for more than 99% of households, providing a temporary victory to President Obama and Democrats as Republicans vowed to fight them in the upcoming months for spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. The 257-167 vote just before midnight topped a drama-filled day as Republicans initially balked at a bipartisan Senate measure. Ultimately 151 of 236 Republicans voted no. Obama said he’d sign the bill into law.

The final days of the tension surrounding the fiscal cliff of scheduled tax increases and spending cuts illustrated once again the partisan struggle that has made U.S. budget policy unpredictable and prone to crises as deadlines loom. Obama wielded the leverage he gained in his November 6 re-election, securing most of the tax increases he sought without sacrificing the spending cuts he had offered to Republicans in hopes of a larger deficit-reduction grand bargain.

Republicans immediately turned to their next battle, a bid to use the need to raise the nation’s $16.4 trillion debt ceiling to force Obama to accept cuts in entitlement programs such as Medicare. Congress must act as early as mid-February to prevent a default and the dispute may reprise a similar August 2011 episode that led to a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating.

Is the U.S. able to continue giving lessons in American exceptionalism to a world that still respects and admire its past and present? How to explain to the world that current representatives of the American people are able to drive the country so close to a fiscal cliff, potentially dragging the rest of the world? No doubt the majority of Americans have stared at this show with disbelief and puzzlement. Until not so long ago, Americans believed politicians wouldn’t make things so difficult and would reach instead a measured and timely deal. Things didn’t have to go this far to technically miss the deadline.

The answer can be found inside our legal system through the constitution and its twenty seven amendments. In this particular case, section 4 of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution gives the President unilateral authority to raise or ignore the national debt ceiling, and that if challenged the Supreme Court would likely rule in favor of expanded executive power or dismiss the case altogether for lack of standing, as argued by Jeffrey Rosen, legal affairs editor of The New Republic. Furthermore, the president’s role as the ultimate guardian of the constitutional order, charged with taking care that the laws be faithfully executed, provides him with the authority to raise the debt ceiling, as argued by Eric Posner, professor of law at the University of Chicago, and Adrian Vermeule, professor of law at Harvard University.

After the Great Recession of the 1920s, as President Franklin Roosevelt was moving ahead with his plans to confront the economic crisis, he hinted darkly that “it is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly equal, wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.” After this admonition, Congress gave Roosevelt the authorities he sought and he did have to follow through on his threat.

Last night Obama said he won’t “have another debate with this Congress over whether or not they should pay the bills they’ve already racked up.” Let’s just hope that President Obama, a former constitutional law professor himself, has the insight and courage to execute the agenda he was elected for leveraging all the tools provided within our constitutional framework. If he is successful, God bless him. If he fails, the American people will kick his party out of the White House in 2016. There is no excuse for inaction; there is no need for more drama; there is no time for more posturing; ultimately, there is no reason to hold America from displaying the exceptionalism Alexis de Tocqueville recognized centuries ago and the world expects for centuries to come.

Edgar Perez and Sir Richard Branson

Financial exchanges play a vital role in economic development as one of the primary tools for the allocation of capital in both developed economies and emerging ones. The indices created using the platforms provided by global exchanges are used by the financial services industry and the government as barometers of economic health and a predictor of national financial well-being.

However, the exchanges model has changed dramatically over the past decade starting with demutualization. The first wave began with the Stockholm Stock Exchange (STO) in 1993 and included the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in 1995 and Borsa Italiana (BVME) in 1997. Demutualization was followed by a second stage in which a number of exchanges became publicly traded and profit-seeking companies listed on their own platform, with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) being the first to follow this model in 1998. Such restructurings are still taking place in exchanges all over the world.

Exchanges have come under increasing regulatory attention. In the US, for instance, the Securities and Exchange Commission is expanding an enforcement probe into a broader look at how exchanges develop new products, communicate with investors and provide incentives to trade; this was sparked partly by an SEC probe into trading order types apparently benefiting high-speed traders, whose activity comprises more than half of all stock-trading volume.

As companies exercise more flexibility in seeking to raise capital outside their national boundaries, the environment has become even more competitive for exchanges. Furthermore, they are hugely capital intensive (mostly due to the IT infrastructure required for increasingly high frequency trading), reason why some exchanges are looking to grow through acquisitions in order to enjoy greater economies of scale.

While these challenges are common to exchanges worldwide, the impact on their bottom lines has been rather diverse. For instance, the Philippines Stock Exchange (PSE) doubled its profit in the first nine months of 2012 compared to last year. While the exchange benefited tremendously from the favorable economic environment and sky-high optimism in the country, there were a number of reforms implemented by the PSE, including the rollout of a new trading system, extension of trading hours and implementation of multiple regulatory and governance enhancements.

London Stock Exchange (LSE) reported a profit for the first half of the year nearly unchanged from last year as strong performance in information services helped offset weak capital markets. The exchange highlighted the benefits of its increasingly diversified international group and the growth from its Information, Post Trade and Technology businesses; the exchange reported a 66 percent increase in Information Services revenue, while Capital Markets revenue dropped 19 percent.

On the other side of the spectrum, NYSE Euronext, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange and other stock exchanges, announced that its third-quarter profit fell 46 percent, which the company attributed to reduced average daily trading volumes, primarily related to its derivatives business. It said its results last year were helped by the extreme volatility of the markets in Europe and the United States due to debt concerns. Certainly, volatility has declined considerably since then, reaching multi-year lows in August 2012.

Exchanges are responding to this increasing competition in a number of ways. Negotiating mergers has been the first option considered by a number of companies, only to be derailed in some cases by regulators or rebuffed by targets. NYSE Euronext face resistance from European regulators on its proposed combination with Deutsche Boerse; ASX’s agreement with Singapore Exchange (SGX) fell through as well; LSE dropped its bid for Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) after its owners spurned them in favor of the bid from a group of Canadian banks and pensions. However, that doesn’t mean that exchanges will not attempt to find combinations that don’t run afoul of regulations, just because mergers almost in all cases strive to provide an avenue to widen their business model and to exploit economies of scale, economies of network, cross selling opportunities and trading hours; for instance in Asia, Tokyo and Hong Kong shortened their midday halt to one hour last year, while Singapore scrapped its lunch break altogether, joining Australia, South Korea and India on the list of exchanges that have uninterrupted trading days.

Second, developing cutting edge-edge technology and its further commercialization is paving the way to extract additional profits from investments already paid. For instance, LSE leveraged its IT investments with the adoption of an outsourced managed services model that allowed the exchange to run other exchanges, such as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, using its own platform. Building a major technology franchise through outsourcing was vital for the LSE if it was to continue to compete with the likes of NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX, which had extended their brand and influence in several emerging markets through major technology deals.

Finally, exchanges are standing up to the challenge of diversifying their business model. Exchanges that were primarily focused on cash trading decided to integrate services such as the trading of derivative financial instruments markets. As it was the case for LSE, information services delivered in machine-readable format are providing growth opportunities for exchanges worldwide; RapiData, company acquired by Nasdaq OMX, enabled the company to deliver U.S. government and other economic news directly from the source to customers interested in receiving information in an electronic feed, giving them instant access to events that are incorporated into algorithmic trading systems. The perennial appetite of high-frequency and algorithmic trading firms for faster access to trading data is also encouraging exchanges to provide colocation services that bring all participants equal access to their matching engines. Ultimately, exchanges will be forced to explore all upstream and downstream opportunities in the production chain of the exchange industry, from the above mentioned information services upstream to the integration of clearing and settlement services downstream.

Revenues at exchanges will need to evolve from its reliance on volume-dependent fees and commissions for a range of activities (including trading, listing, clearing, settlement, depository, custody and nominee services) to uncorrelated income sources that might not have existed just a few years ago; the infrastructure they have, the data they manage and proximity to their matching engine are all key assets that need to be fully exploited if exchanges are to succeed in 2013 and beyond.

Madeleine Albright, Edgar Perez and Condoleezza Rice @CMEGroup’s GFLC12

In an area of finance predicated on speed, regulation must be as well, said Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World (http://www.TheSpeedTraders.com), at CME Group’s Global Financial Leadership Conference (GFLC), Nov. 12-14, 2012, at the Ritz-Carlton Beach Resort in Naples, Fla. The GFLC is an exclusive event that brings together decision-makers from the world’s leading financial institutions to discuss emerging geopolitical trends, debate critical economic issues and provide perspectives on future developments in the financial marketplace.

At panel Evolving Capital Market Dynamics: Volatility, Liquidity and High Frequency Trading, moderated by Michael Mackenzie, U.S. Markets Editor, Financial Times, Perez was joined by Daniel Coleman, Chief Executive Officer, GETCO, Jeff Jennings, Global Head of Listed Derivatives, Credit Suisse, and Richard Prager, Global Head of Trading and Capital Markets, BlackRock. Perez advocated for real-time information that would allow regulators to see everything that is occurring in the markets, no matter how quickly the order information is being posted and transactions are occurring. This would require significant commitments to invest in both human capital and information technology, but the investment is worthwhile: it is vital for regulators to level the playing field of high-frequency trading, concluded Perez.

The Speed Traders @CMEGroup’s GFLC12

Keynote speakers for this year’s conference include Sir Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group, and Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State (2005-2009). Additional featured speakers include Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State; James Carville, Political Strategist; Richard Kauffman, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy; Ted Koppel, award-winning journalist; John Lipsky, First Deputy Managing Director, IMF (2006-2011); Karl Rove, former U.S. Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush; and Jimmy Wales, Founder, Wikipedia, and 2012 Fred Arditti Innovation Award Recipient.

From The New York Times, once the hottest thing to hit Wall Street in years, high-speed or high-frequency trading — known as H.F.T. — is now struggling to make gains in today’s stock market.

Keynote speakers for this year’s conference include Sir Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group, and Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State (2005-2009). Additional featured speakers include Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State; James Carville, Political Strategist; Richard Kauffman, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy; Ted Koppel, award-winning journalist; John Lipsky. First Deputy Managing Director, IMF (2006-2011); Karl Rove, former U.S. Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush; and Jimmy Wales, Founder, Wikipedia.

Previous GFLC events have hosted opinion leaders and luminaries such as President Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States and founder of The William J. Clinton Foundation; President George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States of America and Founder of the George W. Bush Foundation; David Gergen, CNN senior political analyst; and Katie Couric, Award-Winning Journalist and Author. Other featured speakers include Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief of Huffington Post Media Group; Robert Merton, Nobel Prize Winning Economist and Professor of Economics, MIT; Myron Scholes, Nobel Prize Winning Economist and Chairman, Platinum Grove Asset Management; Paul Tudor Jones, Founder of Tudor Investment Corporation; Michael Lewis, best-selling author of Liar’s Poker, Moneyball and The Big Short; Robert Rubin, former U.S. Treasury Secretary; and Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer prize-winning author and authority on international politics, economics and energy. To access previous GFLC video, photo and press highlights, as well as 2012 conference information, visit the conference website at http://www.gflc.com.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Chicago promises to reveal how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil. The Flash Crash, the suspended BATS IPO, the botched Facebook IPO and Knight Capital’s trading malfunction  are just a few of the events in the history of high-frequency trading that will be dissected at The Speed Traders Workshop 2012.

Who should attend? Anybody involved with Algorithmic Trading, Automated Trading, Commodities, Commodities Trading, Credit Derivatives, Dark Pools Trading, Data Monitoring / Analysis, DMA Analysts, Derivatives Trading, Electronic Execution, Electronic Trading, Equity Trading, Exchange-Traded Instruments, Family Offices, Financial Engineering, Fixed Income / Currencies Trading, Futures, Hedge Funds Traders and Managers, High-Frequency Trading, Information Technology, Institutional Investors, Investment Banking, Market Makers, Operations, Options, Over-the-counter Derivatives, Portfolio Management, Proprietary Trading, Quantitative Trading, Regulatory Entities, Risk Management, Analysis and Control, Statistical Arbitrage, Structured Products Hedging and Trading Technology.

After Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Warsaw, Kiev, Beijing and Shanghai, Chicago finally has the opportunity to experience first-hand The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, seminar that will satisfy both insiders and professionals who are new to the world of high-frequency trading.

ECB’s Ewald Nowotny. Credit: Reuters/Heinz-Peter Bader

No other than European Central Bank policymaker Ewald Nowotny called today for a regulatory ban on high-frequency trading, saying the technique of using computer algorithms to generate multiple high-speed trades had no practical value.

Reading the note from Reuters made me wonder whether Mr. Nowotny had thought about the consequences of a potential ban, when the technique already has more than 50% participation of equities trading in the continent.

“With high-frequency trading there is nothing to be regulated, it is to be banned. There is no really demonstrable net advantage from this (form of trading),” he told a panel discussion at a regulatory conference.

Mr. Nowotny, who heads the Austrian National Bank, would certainly benefit from attending one of my workshops. While I only have New York, September 25, Chicago, October 9, Dubai, October 14, Jakarta, November 16, Shanghai, November 22, and London, December 12, in my calendar for the year, I am faced with the urgent need to take my slides to Austria and add some light where darkness seems to be reigning; at least, I might schedule a stop in the Kitzbühel Alps.

[ 在高頻交易中，如果要確保資本的有效使用，高頻交易員會希望交易價格最低的股票，這樣每筆交易的利潤保持不變但是利潤百分比就高了。這就是為什么股票的流動性和低價格成為高頻交易策略中重要的組成部分 ]

2008年金融危機以來，許多對沖基金紛紛倒閉，投資者們也謹慎地捂緊錢袋，然而，有一種交易模式卻在不斷擴張，以它為商業模式的基金也如雨後春筍，這就是高頻交易(High-Frequency Trading)。這種盈利模式的核心競爭力在哪裡，前景又如何？

近日，美國高頻交易專家、《交易快手：透視正在改變投資世界的新興高頻交易》作者埃德加﹒佩雷斯(Edgar Perez)接受第一財經日報《財商》記者專訪。他表示，實現毫秒或微秒交易的速度是高頻交易的核心競爭力。目前，在發達的市場如美國和歐洲，高頻交易已占到交易量的一半以上。而假以時日，中國有望成為世界上最大的高頻交易市場。

High-frequency trading has been under a microscope since the infamous “flash crash” in 2010. Let’s remember, though: The market rebounded that day almost as fast as it fell, and regulators ultimately determined that the crash was initiated by human error. But many in the financial sector and in government were uncomfortable at the thought that high-frequency trading programs could vaporize huge amounts of equity in a matter of minutes.

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2008年金融危机以来，许多对冲基金纷纷倒闭，投资者们也谨慎地捂紧钱袋，然而，有一种交易模式却在不断扩张，以它为商业模式的基金也如雨后春笋，这就是高频交易（High-Frequency Trading）。这种盈利模式的核心竞争力在哪里，前景又如何？

近日，美国高频交易专家、《交易快手：透视正在改变投资世界的新兴高频交易》作者埃德加·佩雷斯（Edgar Perez）接受第一财经日报《财商》记者专访。他表示，实现毫秒或微秒交易的速度是高频交易的核心竞争力。目前，在发达的市场如美国和欧洲，高频交易已 占到交易量的一半以上。而假以时日，中国有望成为世界上最大的高频交易市场。

埃德加·佩雷斯小档案

“唯一成就大事的方法是做你热爱的事。如果你还没有发现它，就继续寻找，不要气馁。当你找到它的时候，你的心会让你知道。”埃德加·佩雷斯告诉记者，这是他的座右铭。

对于佩雷斯来说，金融领域是他热爱的事业。在获得哥伦比亚MBA学位后，他曾任花旗银行副总经理、麦肯锡公司的顾问。作为事业的高潮，他撰写了《交 易快手：透视正在改变投资世界的新兴高频交易》。该书的英语版本由麦格劳 – 希尔公司出版（2011年），今年，中国金融出版社（2012年）把它翻译成中文，目前，该书的印尼语和葡萄牙语版本正在翻译中。

《交易快手：透视正在改变投资世界的新兴高频交易》对高频交易进行了独到的分析。这到底是一种什么样的曾经“令人充满恐惧的技术”？它如何搞乱市 场？如何在两年前“闪电崩盘”中推波助澜？这本书告诉读者，媒体曾经渲染的股市“算牌”的现象已经改变。高频交易完全独立于“巴菲特式”的长期战略，它们 运作于完全不同的时间框架，并对长期投资组合产生的利润影响非常小。

佩雷斯对于高频交易的热爱并不止于写书。为了让更多的人了解这一金融市场的新趋势，他创立了交易快手工作室，并任课程主管，讲解高频率交易者如何利用有利可图的策略，来寻找股票、期权、期货和外汇中的阿尔法 。在此之前，他是纽约大学理工学院的兼职教授，教授算法交易和高频财务。

佩雷斯对中国等新兴经济国家有着浓厚的兴趣。2009年，他创立了致力于金融社交活动的黄金网络公司，并建立25000人的数据库。公司定期在纽约为金融人士举办针对中国等新兴经济体的聚会或者讲座，受到热烈欢迎，并被《纽约时报》等报道。他曾经多次接受中文媒体的采访，甚至在他Linkedin上的简历，也使用了中英双语。

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2012国际高频交易高峰研讨会・上海

The high-frequency trading world’s capital is moving to China this August with Mr. Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders, and former McKinsey & Co. consultant and New York University Adjunct Professor, presenting The Speed Traders Workshop 2012: How Algorithmic and High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX, in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Top securities firms and traders from China, Hong Kong and Singapore trading at Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE), Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx), and Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX), are joining these enlightening workshops, which display an agenda full of information and insights, as can be seen through the following sessions:

1.      Understanding High Frequency Trading in Equities and other Asset Classes

• The need for speed and sophisticated computer programs in generating, routing, and executing orders
• Co-location and individual data feeds to minimize latency
• Time-frames for establishing and closing highly-liquid positions
• Review of the most important strategies: market making, trend following, value arbitrage and others

2.      Key Enablers for High Frequency Trading

• Technological innovation: computing power, complex event processing, and low-latency bandwidth
• Shift to electronic trading and the rise of alternative trading systems
• In-depth look at strategies high frequency traders leverage to find alpha in equities, options, futures and FX
• The profitability of typical high frequency trading strategies and its evolution

3.      Global Regulatory Overview: from the U.S. and Europe to China and Brazil

• Regulations in place before the “flash crash”
• Proposed regulatory initiatives after the “flash crash” in the U.S. and Europe, circuit breakers, limit up limit down and consolidated audit trail
• High frequency trading in Asia, from Japan, Singapore and India to Hong Kong and China
• Regulating speed trading to samba beats: Brazil and Mexico

4.      The Future of High Frequency Trading

• Enhancing profitability: from equities to FX to cross-asset trading
• High frequency trading in the world: from the U.S. and Europe to China and Brazil
• Adding ammunition to the high frequency trader toolkit, FPGA, GPUs and enhanced technologies
• Turning the tables on high frequency trading: the transparency challenge for the buy-side

Mr. Perez has been interviewed on CNBC Cash Flow, CNBC Squawk Box, BNN Business Day, CCTV China, Bankier.pl, TheStreet.com, Leaderonomics, GPW Media, Channel NewsAsia Business Tonight and Cents & Sensibilities. In addition, Mr. Perez has been featured on Caixin, Futures Daily, Xinhua, CBN Newswire, Chinese Financial News, ifeng.com, International Finance News, hexun.com, Finance.QQ.com, Finance.Sina.com, The Korea Times, The Korea Herald, The Star, BMF 89.9, iMoney Hong Kong, CNBC, Bloomberg Hedge Fund Brief, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Valor Econômico, FIXGlobal Trading, TODAY Online, Oriental Daily News and Business Times.

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The Speed Traders

The Speed Traders, Edgar Perez’s ground breaking work on high frequency trading, is now available in Mandarin, Courtesy of Chinese Financial Publishing House.  Unlike other works about HFT, Perez’s book provides readers with fresh, candid insight from the industry’s top HFT players.

Praise for The Speed Traders:

“Edgar’s book is fantastic . . . I recommend it highly.”
—Bart Chilton, Commissioner, United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

“I have interviewed the most successful high-frequency traders in New York and Chicago, but I have learned so much more by reading Perez’s book. He covers the most relevant topics we need to know today and tomorrow.”
—Mark Abeshouse, Chairman, Augustus Capital

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频交易研究专家Edgar Perez近日在与第一财经采访时表示，高频交易是一种专注于“速度（speed）”的投资方法，主要以先进的电脑技术和设备寻求在极短时间内的获利，然 而这种投资方法与巴菲特的“价值投资”哲学并不矛盾，亦有助投资者能跳出经济周期和宏观大环境的制约，寻找到不为外界环境所左右的“阿尔法”值（即超出市 场基准的收益回报）。

Edgar Perez援引数据介绍指出，目前在美国证券市场中的整体成交金额中有56%来自高频交易，而这种交易手法也是伴随着科技的发展、市场的竞争、以及监管政策的变化，在证券市场中自然演进所出现的。

高频交易主要以电脑完成交易，数据处理可以在毫秒（0.001秒）之间，人力根本无法与之匹配，因此该种交易主要依赖先进的科学技术和电脑算法。高频交易的主要策略包括电子化交易、趋势追踪、相对价值套利、流动性监测、新闻解读分析和投资基金方法等。

与现有主流的投资方法不同，Edgar Perez介绍，高频交易并不关注宏观经济和行业公司基本面，亦不关注其技术走势，高频交易中盈利的关键就在于速度，“只要你比别人快，就能胜出”。此 外，决定高频交易胜败的还在于“买”与“卖”的决定。因此简单来说，想要倚赖高频交易盈利，最为重要的，就是比别人更快地“买入”或“卖出”。

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The Speed Traders Workshop 2012

2012年6月第二个交易日，上证指数因为特殊的波动引发市场关注。来自监管当局的消息称，交易所已经注意到了市场中的高频交易，但未发现有市场操纵行为。

将通过计算机控制的高频交易（High-frequency Trading，简称HFT）行为与人为的操纵市场联系到一起引人无限遐思。高频交易到底是加剧市场波动还是缩短市场波动？如何监管高频交易？是否应该像 对“粮仓中的老鼠”一样，限制高频交易？这都是摆在全球监管者面前的一道难题。尤其对于散户众多的中国证券市场，高频交易又会成为何种角色？

“美国各界仍在争论，焦点是该不该对高频交易有限制，高频交易到底是利大于弊还是弊大于利。”纽约华尔街一家全球宏观型对冲基金数量交易组的数量投资经理杨旭对财新记者表示。

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Mr. Edgar Perez, Director of The Speed Traders Workshop

Edgar Perez援引数据介绍指出，目前在美国证券市场中的整体成交金额中有56%来自高频交易，而这种交易手法也是伴随着科技的发展、市场的竞争、以及监管政策的变化，在证券市场中自然演进所出现的。

高

频交易研究专家Edgar Perez近日在与第一财经采访时表示，高频交易是一种专注于“速度（speed）”的投资方法，主要以先进的电脑技术和设备寻求在极短时间内的获利，然 而这种投资方法与巴菲特的“价值投资”哲学并不矛盾，亦有助投资者能跳出经济周期和宏观大环境的制约，寻找到不为外界环境所左右的“阿尔法”值（即超出市 场基准的收益回报）。

Edgar Perez援引数据介绍指出，目前在美国证券市场中的整体成交金额中有56%来自高频交易，而这种交易手法也是伴随着科技的发展、市场的竞争、以及监管政策的变化，在证券市场中自然演进所出现的。

高频交易主要以电脑完成交易，数据处理可以在毫秒（0.001秒）之间，人力根本无法与之匹配，因此该种交易主要依赖先进的科学技术和电脑算法。高频交易的主要策略包括电子化交易、趋势追踪、相对价值套利、流动性监测、新闻解读分析和投资基金方法等。

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Mr. Edgar Perez, Author of          The Speed Traders

Edgar Perez, Author, The Speed Traders, Speaker at The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Shanghai: How Algorithmic and High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX, June 6

New York, NY, May 26, 2012 — Edgar Perez will be the presenter at upcoming The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Shanghai: How Algorithmic and High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX, June 6, to be held at Hult International Business School’ Shanghai campus.

Hult International Business School (formerly known as the Arthur D. Little School of Management) is a top business school with campuses in Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai and Shanghai. It offers a range of business-focused degree programs including MBA, Executive MBA, Master and Undergraduate degrees. Hult is affiliated with the privately held company EF Education First and is named for EF’s founder, Bertil Hult. The school is incorporated as Hult International Business School, Inc., which is a not-for-profit organization incorporated under Massachusetts law.

Hult has a list of faculty which is on par with other business schools, and includes many faculty members from colleges in the northeast of the USA. Some of the Hult faculty also teaches at Babson College, Harvard, INSEAD and other business schools.

Hult organizes the Hult Global Case Challenge, an annual international case competition that takes on global social challenges by generating ideas and solutions from students from around the world. The organization is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative. At the event, student teams of five from business schools from around the world are invited to participate at one of five international locations where teams compete to develop the best solutions around the proposed challenge area. Cities of competition include Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai and Shanghai, where The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 will be held.

Mr. Perez, author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World, published by McGraw-Hill Inc. (2011) and currently being translated into Chinese, has been engaged to present to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, CFA Singapore, Hong Kong Securities Institute, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University and Pace University, among other institutions. In addition, Mr. Perez has spoken at Harvard Business School’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (Boston), High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum (New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, London, Singapore), MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference (Cambridge), High-Frequency Trading Happy Hour (New York), Institutional Investor’s Global Growth Markets Forum (London), Technical Analysis Society (Singapore), TradeTech Asia (Singapore), FIXGlobal Face2Face (Seoul), 2nd Private Equity Convention Russia, CIS & Eurasia (London), among other global forums.

Mr. Perez is one of the great business networkers and motivators on the lecture circuit; he is available worldwide for the following speaking engagements: Present and Future of High-Frequency Trading, The Real Story behind the “Flash Crash”, Networking for Financial Executives, and Business Networking for Success.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012

Edgar Perez, Author, The Speed Traders, Speaker at The Speed Traders Workshop 2012: How Algorithmic and High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX, Shanghai (June 6)

Mr. Edgar Perez, author, The Speed Traders, and former McKinsey & Co. consultant, is leading the world’s only high frequency trading seminar, aptly called The Speed Traders Workshop 2012: How Algorithmic and High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX, for the first time in China.  The Speed Traders Workshop will next take place in Shanghai on June 6.

Mr. Edgar Perez is widely regarded as the preeminent speaker in the specialized area of high-frequency trading.  He is author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World, published by McGraw-Hill Inc. (2011) in English and China Financial Publishing House (2012) in Chinese. In addition, Mr. Edgar Perez is course director of The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, How Algorithmic and High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX (Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Warsaw and Kiev).

Mr. Edgar Perez has been featured on CNBC Cash Flow (with Oriel Morrison), CNBC Squawk Box (with Geoff Cutmore), BNN Business Day (with Kim Parlee), TheStreet.com (with Gregg Greenberg), Channel NewsAsia Business Tonight and Cents & Sensibilities (with Lin Xue Ling), NHK World, iMoney Hong Kong, Hedge Fund Brief, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Valor Econômico, FIXGlobal Trading, TODAY Online, Oriental Daily News and Business Times.

In the last months, Mr. Edgar Perez has been engaged to present to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, CFA Singapore, Hong Kong Securities Institute, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University and Pace University, among other institutions. In addition, Mr. Edgar Perez has spoken at Harvard Business School’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (Boston), High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum (New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, London, Singapore), MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference (Cambridge), High-Frequency Trading Happy Hour (New York), Institutional Investor’s Global Growth Markets Forum (London), Technical Analysis Society (Singapore), TradeTech Asia (Singapore), FIXGlobal Face2Face (Seoul), 2nd Private Equity Convention Russia, CIS & Eurasia (London), among other global forums.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 will reveal how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil. The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 kicks off a series of presentations in the world’s most important financial centers: Jakarta, Indonesia, June 13; Mexico City, Mexico, July 27; Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, Russia, August 10.

Mr. Edgar Perez is one of the great business networkers and motivators on the business circuit; he is available worldwide for the following speaking engagements: Present and Future of High-Frequency Trading, The Real Story behind the “Flash Crash”, Networking for Financial Executives, and Business Networking for Success.

The fact that the glitch is just coming just weeks after BATS Global Markets, a firm that catered mainly to speed traders, was forced to withdraw its IPO after technical problems, nicely plays into the hands of critics who blame high-frequency trading for all types of financial and economic malaise.

For instance, Giuseppe Vegas, Chairman of Consob, Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa, Italy, suggested last week that high-frequency trading may pose systemic threats to markets and warrant bans. “Legislators and authorities need to ask themselves if certain types of innovation are good or bad for savers,” Vegas said in a speech at the Italian securities market regulator’s annual meeting in Milan today. Legislators shouldn’t hold back from “simply banning the spreading of dangerous practices and products,” he said.

“Financial innovation can be positive but legislators and authorities must avoid that it becomes a mechanism that wipes out families’ savings,” he said. That begs the question of the real possibility of high-frequency trading having any impact on families’ savings.

Nasdaq has now laid out the details of the glitch. In spite of testing 1bn in trading volumes under 100 scenarios, the exchange was caught by surprise when cancellations of trades kept interrupting the computer system’s attempt to complete the auction and produce an initial price for Facebook’s opening. Nasdaq says it designed its “IPO cross”, the process of calculating the opening price, in such a way that would allow continuous trading through an auction at the behest of its customers and has used the system in previous IPOs.

But in processing the huge volume of Facebook trades, it added two milliseconds to the time it took to produce an opening price. In those extra two milliseconds, orders to cancel the trades kept interrupting the auction process. That doesn’t seem to touch high-frequency trading at all, as shares were not even changing hands yet. As a result of the glitch the exchange decided to print the opening trade manually but was then forced to delay the process of confirming individual trades.

Systems blips and glitches will always happen as humans cannot possibly test all scenarios technical implementations will face. People can take advantage of financial innovation in a number of ways and it’s the role of regulators to make sure these ways are within the existing legal framework. Financial innovation travels fast and now becomes not a challenge for single regulatory bodies but for all of them to coordinate the best way to approach regulation and keep markets transparent and fair for all participants worldwide.

Zuckerberg, who began the service for Harvard classmates as a 19-year-old in his dorm room, built Facebook into the most popular social-networking site in the world, topping 900 million users last quarter. Now he has to prove he has the leadership skills to deliver enough growth to justify the company’s valuation, said Paul Saffo, managing director at Discern Analytics in San Francisco.

That being said, investors and traders in Poland and Ukraine will be paying close attention to Edgar Perez’s The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, “How Algorithmic and High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX” (http://www.TheSpeedTradersWorkshop.com) on May 11 in Warsaw and May 18 in Kiev. Edgar Perez is widely regarded as the preeminent expert in the specialized area of high-frequency trading; he is the author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World (http://www.TheSpeedTraders.com), published by McGraw-Hill Inc. (2011).

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Warsaw and Kiev reveal how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil.

Edgar Perez has been featured on CNBC Cash Flow (with Oriel Morrison), CNBC Squawk Box (with Geoff Cutmore), BNN Business Day (with Kim Parlee), TheStreet.com (with Gregg Greenberg), Channel NewsAsia Business Tonight and Cents & Sensibilities (with Lin Xue Ling), NHK World, iMoney Hong Kong, Hedge Fund Brief, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Valor Econômico, The Korea Herald,  FIXGlobal Trading, The Korea Times, TODAY Online, Oriental Daily News and Business Times.

Mr. Perez has been engaged to present to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, CFA Singapore, Hong Kong Securities Institute, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University and Pace University, among other public and private institutions. In addition, Mr. Perez has spoken at a number of global conferences, including Harvard Business School’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (Boston), High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum (New York, Chicago, London), MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference (Cambridge), Institutional Investor’s Global Growth Markets Forum (London), Technical Analysis Society (Singapore), TradeTech Asia (Singapore), FIXGlobal Face2Face (Seoul) and Private Equity Convention Russia, CIS & Eurasia (London).

Mr. Perez was a vice president at Citigroup, a senior consultant at IBM, and a consultant at McKinsey & Co. in New York City.  Mr. Perez has an undergraduate degree from Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Lima, Peru (1994), a Master of Administration from Universidad ESAN, Lima, Peru (1997) and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School, New York, with a dual major in Finance and Management (2002). He belongs to the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. Mr. Perez resides in the New York City area and is an accomplished salsa and hustle dancer.

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The Speed Traders Workshop 2012

The Speed Traders unveiled dates today for Edgar Perez’s full-day seminars, The Speed Traders Workshop 2012: How Algorithmic and High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX in Europe, presentations that will be followed by the rest of the world including dates in Southeast Asia, Latin America and North America, as published at http://www.TheSpeedTradersWorkshop.com.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Seoul and Kuala Lumpur put Perez, author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World (http://www.TheSpeedTraders.com), published by McGraw-Hill Inc. (2011) and currently being translated into Chinese and Portuguese, on the map as the preeminent global expert in algorithmic and high-frequency trading.

The global high-frequency tour’s first leg will hit Europe and Asia through early June, encompassing 5 presentations at major financial centers that include Warsaw, Kiev, Beijing, Shanghai, Jakarta and Seoul. Perez will also present in New York and London. Beyond that, current plans call for him to visit Hong Kong in August, followed by Moscow, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore towards the beginning of the fall, and then Chicago in October.

Perez is widely regarded as the preeminent speaker in the specialized area of high-frequency trading. Perez has been featured on CNBC Cash Flow (with Oriel Morrison), CNBC Squawk Box (with Geoff Cutmore), BNN Business Day (with Kim Parlee), TheStreet.com (with Gregg Greenberg), Channel NewsAsia Business Tonight and Cents & Sensibilities (with Lin Xue Ling), NHK World, iMoney Hong Kong, Hedge Fund Brief, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Valor Econômico, The Korea Herald, FIXGlobal Trading, The Korea Times, TODAY Online, Oriental Daily News and Business Times.

Perez has been engaged to present to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, CFA Singapore, Hong Kong Securities Institute, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University and Pace University, among other public and private institutions. In addition, Perez has spoken at a number of global conferences, including Harvard Business School’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (Boston), High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum New York, Chicago and London (http://www.HFTLeadersForum.com), MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference (Cambridge), Institutional Investor’s Global Growth Markets Forum (London), Technical Analysis Society (Singapore), TradeTech Asia (Singapore), FIXGlobal Face2Face (Seoul) and Private Equity Convention Russia, CIS & Eurasia (London).

Perez was a vice president at Citigroup, a senior consultant at IBM, and a consultant at McKinsey & Co. in New York City. Perez has an undergraduate degree from Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Lima, Peru (1994), a Master of Administration from Universidad ESAN, Lima, Peru (1997) and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School, New York, with a dual major in Finance and Management (2002). He belongs to the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. Perez resides in the New York City area and is an accomplished salsa and hustle dancer.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 kicks off 2012 with a series of presentations in the world’s most important financial centers: Warsaw, Poland, May 11; Kiev, Ukraine, May 18; New York, May 22; Beijing, China, May 30; Shanghai, China, June 6; Jakarta, Indonesia, June 13; Seoul, South Korea, June 21; London, June 26; Mexico City, Mexico, July 27; Hong Kong, August 4; Moscow, Russia, August 10; Dubai, UAE, September 9; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 12; Singapore, September 15, and Chicago, October 2.

Edgar Perez, The Speed Traders Workshop 2012

Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders, and presenter at upcoming The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Kuala Lumpur: How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX, April 12th, was recently featured by BFM 89.9, Malaysia’s top business station; the podcast can be downloaded at http://www.bfm.my/2012-04-09-speed-traders-edgar-perez.html and http://podcast.bfm.my/podcast/e?file=assets/files/Resource_centre/2012_04_09_Edgar_Speed.mp3&t=High-FrequencyTrading.

Trading of equities on Bursa will be a new ballgame once computer-driven ultra-high frequency trading is introduced, said Mr. Perez, author and former Citigroup vice president. He added that high-speed trading already makes up six per cent of trades on the Bursa derivatives market and the stock exchange operator was reported to be gearing up for the introduction of ultra-fast trading of equities.

“Perez, who is conducting a workshop on HFT in Kuala Lumpur on April 12, also said that in order to minimize the latency of the trading systems, co-location is an inherent part of HFT. ‘As speed traders try to reduce any latency, they will want to trade from computers hosted on the exchanges themselves,’ he said. While such fast trading might not seem to appeal to long-term investors who focus on company fundamentals, Perez said that those with a long investment horizon are adapting some of the techniques HF traders have pioneered.”

Mr. Perez is widely regarded as the preeminent speaker and networker in the specialized area of high-frequency trading. He is author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World, published by McGraw-Hill Inc. (2011) and currently being translated into Chinese and Portuguese, course director of The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX (Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Seoul, and Kuala Lumpur).

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Kuala Lumpur

Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders, and presenter at upcoming The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Kuala Lumpur: How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX, April 12th, was recently featured by The Malaysian Insider, in their note “Get ready for super-fast trading on Bursa, says US author” (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/business/article/get-ready-for-super-fast-trading-on-bursa-says-us-author).

Journalist Lee Wei Lian reports that trading of equities on Bursa will be a new ballgame once computer-driven ultra-high frequency trading is introduced, said Edgar Perez, author and former Citigroup vice president. He adds that high-speed trading already makes up six per cent of trades on the Bursa derivatives market and the stock exchange operator is reported to be gearing up for the introduction of ultra-fast trading of equities.

“Perez, who is conducting a workshop on HFT in Kuala Lumpur on April 12, also said that in order to minimize the latency of the trading systems, co-location is an inherent part of HFT. ‘As speed traders try to reduce any latency, they will want to trade from computers hosted on the exchanges themselves,’ he said. While such fast trading might not seem to appeal to long-term investors who focus on company fundamentals, Perez said that those with a long investment horizon are adapting some of the techniques HF traders have pioneered.”

Mr. Perez has been engaged to present to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, CFA Singapore, Hong Kong Securities Institute, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University and Pace University, among other institutions. In addition, Mr. Perez has spoken at Harvard Business School’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (Boston), High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum (New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, London, Singapore), MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference (Cambridge), High-Frequency Trading Happy Hour (New York), Institutional Investor’s Global Growth Markets Forum (London), Technical Analysis Society (Singapore), TradeTech Asia (Singapore), FIXGlobal Face2Face (Seoul), 2nd Private Equity Convention Russia, CIS & Eurasia (London), among other global forums.

Edgar Perez, Course Director, The Speed Traders Workshop 2012

Seoul (South Korea), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Warsaw (Poland), Kiev (Ukraine) and Beijing and Shanghai (China) are just a few of the world’s financial centers where Mr. Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World, will bring his well-attended full-day seminar, The Speed Traders Workshop 2012: How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX.

Mr. Perez is widely regarded as the preeminent speaker and networker in the specialized area of high-frequency trading. He is author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World, published by McGraw-Hill Inc. (2011) and currently being translated into Chinese and Portuguese, course director of The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX (Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Seoul, and Kuala Lumpur), and founder of Golden Networking.

Mr. Perez has been featured on CNBC Cash Flow (with Oriel Morrison), CNBC Squawk Box (with Geoff Cutmore), BNN Business Day (with Kim Parlee), TheStreet.com (with Gregg Greenberg), Channel NewsAsia Business Tonight and Cents & Sensibilities (with Lin Xue Ling), NHK World, iMoney Hong Kong, Hedge Fund Brief, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Valor Econômico, FIXGlobal Trading, TODAY Online, Oriental Daily News and Business Times.

Mr. Perez has been engaged to present to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), CFA Singapore, Hong Kong Securities Institute, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University and Pace University, among other institutions. In addition, Mr. Perez has spoken at Harvard Business School’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (Boston), High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum (New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, London, Singapore), MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference (Cambridge), High-Frequency Trading Happy Hour (New York), Institutional Investor’s Global Growth Markets Forum (London), Technical Analysis Society (Singapore), TradeTech Asia (Singapore), FIXGlobal Face2Face (Seoul), 2nd Private Equity Convention Russia, CIS & Eurasia (London), among other global forums.

Mr. Perez was a vice president at Citigroup, a senior consultant at IBM, and a consultant at McKinsey & Co. in New York City.  Mr. Perez has an undergraduate degree from Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Lima, Peru (1994), a Master of Administration from Universidad ESAN, Lima, Peru (1997) and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School, New York, with a dual major in Finance and Management (2002). He belongs to the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. Mr. Perez resides in the New York City area and is an accomplished salsa and hustle dancer.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 kicks off 2012 with a series of presentations in the world’s most important financial centers: Seoul, South Korea, March 28; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 12; Doha, Qatar, April 18, Warsaw, Poland, May 11; Kiev, Ukraine, May 18; Singapore, May 26; Beijing, China, May 30; Shanghai, China, June 6; Jakarta, Indonesia, June 13; Mexico City, Mexico, July 27; Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, Russia, August 10.

Edgar Perez, The Speed Traders Workshop 2012

High-frequency traders have been called many things, from masters of the universe and market pioneers to exploiters, computer geeks, and even predators. Everyone in the business of investing has an opinion of speed traders, but how many really understand how they operate? The shadow people of the investing world, today’s high-frequency traders have decidedly kept a low profile, until The Speed Traders Workshop 2012: How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX. Mr. Edgar Perez, course director, will bring his well-attended workshops to Seoul, South Korea, March 28, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 12.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 opens the door to the secretive world of high-frequency trading, the most controversial form of investing today; in the name of protecting the algorithms they have spent so much time perfecting, speed traders almost never talk to the press and disclose as little as possible about how they operate. This workshop, led by Mr. Perez, author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World, reveals how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 in Seoul and Kuala Lumpur kicks off a series of presentations in the world’s most important financial centers: Doha, Qatar, April 18, Warsaw, Poland, May 11; Kiev, Ukraine, May 18; Singapore, May 26; Beijing, China, May 30; Shanghai, China, June 6; Jakarta, Indonesia, June 13; Mexico City, Mexico, July 27; Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, Russia, August 10.

For more than 100 years, Pace University has been preparing students to become leaders in their fields by providing an education that combines exceptional academics with professional experience and the New York advantage. Pace has three campuses, in New York City, Westchester, and White Plains. A private metropolitan university, Pace enrolls approximately 13,500 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lienhard School of Nursing, Lubin School of Business, School of Education, Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, and School of Law. The Lubin Graduate Society’s (LGS) mission is to provide a forum that promotes learning leadership; fosters career advancement and professional equity; invokes innovation, diversity and creativity; and builds friendships, networks and togetherness among graduate students.

Mr. Perez is widely regarded as the preeminent speaker and networker in the specialized area of high-frequency trading. He is author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World, published by McGraw-Hill Inc. (2011) and currently being translated into Chinese and Portuguese, course director of The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX (Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Seoul, and Kuala Lumpur), and founder of Golden Networking.

Mr. Perez has been featured on CNBC Cash Flow (with Oriel Morrison), CNBC Squawk Box (with Geoff Cutmore), BNN Business Day (with Kim Parlee), TheStreet.com (with Gregg Greenberg), Channel NewsAsia Business Tonight and Cents & Sensibilities (with Lin Xue Ling), NHK World, iMoney Hong Kong, Hedge Fund Brief, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Valor Econômico, FIXGlobal Trading, TODAY Online, Oriental Daily News and Business Times.

Mr. Perez has been engaged to present to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, CFA Singapore, Hong Kong Securities Institute, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University and Pace University, among other institutions. In addition, Mr. Perez has spoken at Harvard Business School’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (Boston), High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum (New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, London, Singapore), MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference (Cambridge), High-Frequency Trading Happy Hour (New York), Institutional Investor’s Global Growth Markets Forum (London), Technical Analysis Society (Singapore), TradeTech Asia (Singapore), FIXGlobal Face2Face (Seoul), 2nd Private Equity Convention Russia, CIS & Eurasia (London), among other global forums.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, reveals how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil. Upcoming dates for The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 include Seoul, March 28, Kuala Lumpur, April 11, Doha, April 18, Warsaw, May 11, Kiev, May 18, Singapore, May 26, Beijing, May 30, Shanghai, June 6, Jakarta, June 13, Mexico City, July 27, Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, August 10.

Edgar Perez, The Speed Traders @ Securities and Exchange Commission

Mr. Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders and presenter of The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, “How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX”, addressed senior officials of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), federal agency that holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation’s stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets in the United States. Mr. Perez’s presentation was held on Friday March 16, at the SEC headquarters in Washington DC.

The invitation received by Mr. Perez reads: “We are focused on many of the high-frequency trading issues that you discuss in your book The Speed Traders, copies of which we purchased for each of our unit supervisors. As such, we would appreciate hearing about your first-hand impressions of the high frequency and algorithmic worlds, as well as how you think current trading practices will evolve in the future.”

Mr. Perez is widely regarded as the preeminent speaker in the specialized areas of high-frequency trading. He has been featured on CNBC Cash Flow (with Oriel Morrison), CNBC Squawk Box (with Geoff Cutmore), BNN Business Day (with Kim Parlee), The Street (with Gregg Greenberg), Channel NewsAsia Asia Business Tonight and Cents & Sensibilities (with Lin Xue Ling), NHK World, iMoney Hong Kong, Hedge Fund Brief, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Los Angeles Times, TODAY Online,Oriental Daily News and Business Times. He has been engaged as speaker at Harvard Business School’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference, High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum 2011, CFA Singapore, Hong Kong Securities Institute, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University (New York), Global Growth Markets Forum (London), Technical Analysis Society (Singapore), TradeTech Asia (Singapore), FIXGlobal Face2Face (Seoul) and 2nd Private Equity Convention Russia, CIS & Eurasia (London), among other global forums.
The Speed Traders, published by McGraw-Hill Inc., is the most comprehensive, revealing work available on the most important development in trading in generations. High-frequency trading will no doubt play an ever larger role as computer technology advances and the global exchanges embrace fast electronic access. The Speed Traders explains everything there is to know about how today’s high-frequency tradersmake millions—one cent at a time.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, reveals how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil. Upcoming dates for The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 include Seoul, March 28, Kuala Lumpur, April 12, Doha, April 18, Warsaw, May 11, Kiev, May 18, Singapore, May 26, Beijing, May 30, Shanghai, June 6, Jakarta, June 13, Mexico City, July 27, Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, August 10.

Edgar Perez, The Speed Traders Workshop 2012

Mr. Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World (http://www.TheSpeedTraders.com), and presenter of The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, “How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX” (http://www.TheSpeedTradersWorkshop.com), will speak at upcoming Golden Networking’s High Frequency Trading Happy Hour New York (http://hfthappyhournewyork.eventbrite.com), on  ’High Frequency Trading: Time to Slow Down?’, March 13, at 6PM.

Mr. Perez’s presentation will provide a revealing overview of what high frequency traders should expect in the next months on the regulatory front. Mr. Perez is widely regarded as the preeminent speaker in the specialized areas of high-frequency trading. Mr. Perez has been featured on CNBC Cash Flow (with Oriel Morrison), CNBC Squawk Box (with Geoff Cutmore), BNN Business Day (with Kim Parlee), The Street (with Gregg Greenberg), Channel NewsAsia Asia Business Tonight and Cents & Sensibilities (with Lin Xue Ling), NHK World, iMoney Hong Kong, Hedge Fund Brief, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Los Angeles Times, TODAY Online,Oriental Daily News and Business Times.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, reveals how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil. Upcoming dates for The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 include Seoul, March 28, Kuala Lumpur, April 11, Doha, April 18, Warsaw, May 11, Kiev, May 18, Singapore, May 26, Beijing, May 30, Shanghai, June 6, Jakarta, June 13, Mexico City, July 27, Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, August 10.

MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference

Mr. Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World (http://www.TheSpeedTraders.com), and presenter of The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, “How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX” (http://www.TheSpeedTradersWorkshop.com), will participate at the High Frequency Trading panel at upcoming Seventh Annual MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference (http://mitsloaninvestment.com/conference.html), Friday, March 9, 2012, The Charles Hotel, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

This year’s theme is “Fundamental and Quantitative Strategies for Turbulent Markets.”  Conference attendees and investment professionals from across the globe will discuss strategies for dealing with the most critical issues facing the markets today. The distinguished keynote speakers and expert panelists will share their views on key trends and developments in their asset classes and investment processes. Keynote speakers for the Seventh Annual MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference include Congressman Barney Frank, Massachusetts Representative & Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, Donald Sussman, Founder and Chairman, Paloma Partners LLC, Ron O’Hanley, President of Asset Management and Corporate Services, Fidelity Investments, and Professors Roberto Rigobon and Alberto Cavallo, Professors of Applied Economics and Founders of the Billion Prices Project, MIT Sloan.

Mr. Perez is widely regarded as the preeminent speaker in the specialized areas of high-frequency trading. He is author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World, published by McGraw-Hill Inc., the most comprehensive, revealing work available on the most important development in trading in generations. High-frequency trading will no doubt play an ever larger role as computer technology advances and the global exchanges embrace fast electronic access. The Speed Traders explains everything there is to know about how today’s high-frequency tradersmake millions—one cent at a time.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, reveals how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil. Upcoming dates for The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 include Seoul, March 28, Kuala Lumpur, April 11, Doha, April 18, Warsaw, May 11, Kiev, May 18, Singapore, May 26, Beijing, May 30, Shanghai, June 6, Jakarta, June 13, Mexico City, July 27, Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, August 10.

The popular Investing in Asia panel at the 18th Annual Venture Capital and Private Equity Conference at Harvard Business School, held in Boston, February 17-18, 2012, was moderated by Mr. Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World (http://www.thespeedtraders.com).

The Investing in Asia panel drew more than 200 participants for what became an insightful and enlightening discussion led by Mr. Perez.

The panel reviewed investing opportunities in the biggest continent of the world, focusing on private equity activity in the major financial centers, including China, Hong Kong, Japan and Indonesia.

Distinguished members of the panel included Melissa Ma (Asia Alternatives Capital), Christoph Mueller (Shaw Kwei & Partners), Guang Yang (Finergy Capital) and Ming Zhang (Institute of World Economics and Politics).

The 18th Annual Venture Capital and Private Equity Conference was the largest and most anticipated student-run conference at Harvard Business School. Over 900 students, alumni, faculty and industry professionals joined Mr. Perez and dozens of speakers for a day to gather knowledge and share experiences.

Distinguished keynote speakers included Daniel A. D’Aniello, Founder, The Carlyle Group; Guy Hands, Founder & Chairman, Terra Firma; C. Richard Kramlich, Chairman & Co-Founder, New Enterprise Associates; and Alexander Navab, Co-Head of North American Private Equity, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Edgar Perez, Author, The Speed Traders

Mr. Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World (http://www.thespeedtraders.com), moderated the popular Investing in Asia panel at the 18th Annual Venture Capital and Private Equity Conference at Harvard Business School, held in Boston, February 17-18, 2012.

According to the organizers, the Investing in Asia panel drew more than 200 participants for what became an insightful and enlightening discussion led by Mr. Perez. The panel reviewed investing opportunities in the biggest continent of the world, focusing on private equity activity in the major financial centers, including China, Hong Kong, Japan and Indonesia. Distinguished members of the panel included Melissa Ma (Asia Alternatives Capital), Christoph Mueller (Shaw Kwei & Partners), Guang Yang (Finergy Capital) and Ming Zhang (Institute of World Economics and Politics).

The 18th Annual Venture Capital and Private Equity Conference is the largest and most anticipated student-run conference at Harvard Business School. Over 900 students, alumni, faculty and industry professionals joined Mr. Perez and dozens of speakers for a day to gather knowledge and share experiences. Keynote speakers included Daniel A. D’Aniello, Founder, The Carlyle Group; Guy Hands, Founder & Chairman, Terra Firma; C. Richard Kramlich, Chairman & Co-Founder, New Enterprise Associates; and Alexander Navab, Co-Head of North American Private Equity, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Mr. Perez is widely regarded as the preeminent speaker in the specialized areas of high-frequency trading and Asia investing. He is author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World, and is currently writing a book on investment opportunities in Indonesia, the world’s 4^th most populous country.

Edgar Perez, The Speed Traders Workshop 2012

Edgar Perez, Professor Adjunto da Polytechnic Institute, New York University e autor de The Speed Traders, foi citado em Valor Econômico. Perez está em visita ao Brasil nesta semana para apresentar The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 São Paulo: Como Estratégias de Alta Frequência Utilizadas pelos Operadores para Aumentar os Lucros pode Encontrar Alpha em Equites, Opções e Mercados Futuros (http://thespeedtradersworkshopsaopaulo.eventbrite.com), 8 de Fevereiro.

Valor Econômico é o maior jornal de economia, finanças e negócios do Brasil; é fruto da parceira entre dois dos maiores grupos de comunicação do país, as Organizações Globo e a Folha de S.Paulo, e teve sua primeira edição lançada em 2 de maio de 2000. O Valor é reconhecido pela relevância de seu conteúdo, bem como pela profundidade com que aborda assuntos referentes ao mundo dos negócios, economia e finanças. Graças à força de sua marca, o jornal ganhou diversos prêmios e é considerado um dos três veículos mais admirados do país, na categoria Jornal.

“A clássica proposição industrial na qual a máquina substituirá o homem tem pouco a ver com a realidade da invasão dos robôs na BM&FBovespa. A nova fase de expansão dos computadores equipados por algoritmos matemáticos capazes de realizar operações ultrarrápidas no mercado nasce a partir da gestação de fatores bem humanos. Sob acirrada corrida dos investimentos em infraestrutura tecnológica, uma mão de obra cada vez mais qualificada nas corretoras e a disputa por clientes garantem a expectativa de que os negócios via alta frequência (HFT, High Frequency Trading na sigla em inglês) dobrem de tamanho rapidamente. ‘A nova plataforma será capaz de processar 200 milhões de mensagens por dia e oferecerá uma média de latência de 1,1 milissegundo’, declarou Edgar Perez, professor do Instituto Politécnico da Universidade de Nova York, em conversa com o Valor antes de viajar a São Paulo onde será palestrante de seminário sobre o tema nesta semana.”

“A colaboração mais direta da BM&FBovespa em propagar a alta frequência foi dada por meio dos descontos em emolumentos (custo cobrado pela bolsa para negociação) baseados em volume negociado. ‘Embora o HFT ainda tenha muito a avançar no Brasil para alcançar volumes de mercados desenvolvidos, o crescimento tem sido impressionante, graças à combinação de expansão dos acessos de alta frequência e políticas de descontos de custos, resultando em um aumento do volume negociado’, afirmou Edgar Perez. ‘Custos podem quebrar os modelos de negócios em alta frequência, já que as margens da maioria das estratégias são muito pequenas’, acrescentou.”

Operadores de alta frequência foram chamados de diversas maneiras:desde mestres do universo e pioneiros de mercado, para exploradores, hackers de computador e predadores. Todos  que trabalham no mercado de investimento, possuem uma opinião sobre os operadores de alta frequência, porém quantos realmente entendem como eles trabalham? Os operadores fantasma do mundo do investimento mantiveram suas técnicas escondidas de todos, até agora. The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 (http://thespeedtradersworkshop.com), ministrado por Edgar Perez, autor de The Speed Traders, Um olhar interno sobre o novo fenômeno que está transformando o mundo dos investidores, revela com que frequência os players estão obtendo sucesso no mercado global e desenvolvendo novos algorítmicos de alta velocidade, desde os EUA e Europa até Singapura, India e Brasil.

Quem deve participar de The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 São Paulo: Como Estratégias de Alta Frequência Utilizadas pelos Operadores para Aumentar os Lucros pode Encontrar Alpha em Equites, Opções e Mercados Futuros?Analístas de commodities, investidores quantitativos, analistas de creditos de derivativos, mercado de capitais, analístas de fundos de cobertura, opções, bancos de investimento, operadores de algorítimos, derivativos, operadores de alta frequência, engenheiros financeiros, operadores de capital, escritórios familiares, operadores de commodities, fundações, operadores de derivativos, futuros investidores, operadores de derivativos internacionais, gestores de carteiras, operadores virtuais, gestores de risco, produtos estruturados, instituições investidoras, tecnólogos da informação, investidores de capital e vendedores de derivativos.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 (http://www.TheSpeedTradersWorkshop.com) abre as portas do mundo secreto dos operadores de alta frequência: a maneira mais controversa de se investir na atualidade; Os operadores buscando proteger os algorítimos que eles passaram tanto tempo aperfeiçoando, quase nunca falam com a imprensa ou revelam detalhes sobre como eles funcionam. The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 São Paulo começa uma série de apresentações pelo mundo, nos mais importante centros financeiros: Seoul, South Korea, março 28; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 11 de abril; Doha, Qatar, 18 de abril; Warsaw, Poland, 11 de maio; Kiev, Ukraine, 18 de maio; Singapore, 26 de maio; Shanghai, China, 6 de junho; Jakarta, Indonesia, 13 de junho; Mexico City, Mexico, 27 julho; Hong Kong, 4 de agosto, e Moscow, Russia, 4 de agosto.

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Edgar Perez, Adjunct Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University

Edgar Perez, Adjunct Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University and presenter at The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo: How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX, February 8th, BM&FBovespa, was quoted by CNBC.com on the note “Can ‘Trading on Tweets’ Really Make Money?“.

CNBC’s Antonya Allen pointed out that social media websites like Twitter and Facebook have become increasingly important to high frequency traders looking to anticipate market moves before they happen; however, she asked, could they eventually become as significant as traditional business news providers in the world of high speed trading?

Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders: An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That Is Transforming the Investing World, said he has not come across a trader who had made money from information supplied on social networking sites. In his book, Edgar Perez follows six high speed traders and examines how ultra fast trading could develop in the future.

“I would be very interested in seeing cases where people actually made money using information from Twitter. Remember there’s a lag there of time and with high frequency trading you want to make sure you connect directly and don’t have any third party providers for information,” Perez explained.

Mr. Perez is widely regarded as the preeminent speaker and networker in the specialized area of high-frequency trading. He has been featured on CNBC Cash Flow (with Oriel Morrison), CNBC Squawk Box (with Geoff Cutmore), BNN Business Day (with Kim Parlee), TheStreet.com (with Gregg Greenberg), Channel NewsAsia Asia Business Tonight and Cents & Sensibilities (with Lin Xue Ling), NHK World, iMoney Hong Kong, Hedge Fund Brief, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Los Angeles Times, TODAY Online, Oriental Daily News and Business Times. He has been engaged as speaker at Harvard Business School’s 17th Annual Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference, High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum 2011 (New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Singapore), CFA Singapore, Hong Kong Securities Institute, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University (New York), Global Growth Markets Forum (London), Technical Analysis Society (Singapore), TradeTech Asia (Singapore), FIXGlobal Face2Face (Seoul), and 2nd Private Equity Convention Russia, CIS & Eurasia (London), among other global forums.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo will reveal how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil. The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo kicks off a series of presentations in the world’s most important financial centers: Dubai, January 25; Seoul, South Korea, March 28; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 11; Warsaw, Poland, May 11; Kiev, Ukraine, May 18; Singapore, May 26; Shanghai, China, June 6; Jakarta, Indonesia, June 13; Mexico City, Mexico, July 27; Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, Russia, August 10.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo

Christian Zimmer, Head of Quantitative Trading and Research, and Hellinton Hatsuo Takada, Quantitative Trader, of Itaú Asset Management, compare the term high-frequency trading (HFT) to ‘Cleopatra’– sexy and mysterious and everyone is keen to know more about it. But the term HFT speaks for itself, so is it wasting time to go over it again? Probably not for the attendees to The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo: How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX, February 8th, BM&FBovespa, to be led by Mr. Edgar Perez, Adjunct Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University.

Zimmer and Hatsuo suggest at FIX GLOBAL TRADING to look at the underlying trading strategies. The incentives an exchange should create to attract flow must be adjusted to the strategies that are really needed. Each strategy deserves a different set of policies and this will help the diversification of the traders’ strategies.

A trader using a market maker strategy can live with exchange fees as long as the bid-ask spread is sufficiently high. If the spread narrows, the costs become crucial and the exchange must lower the fees in order to keep this client in the market. On the other hand, a directional trader has different issues; if the fees are high, a trader must wait longer for a relevant price move so that they can capitalize on their position. Contrary to the market maker, the directional trader loves to see narrow bid-ask spreads. There would be no need to lower fees when the spread is close. The same is true for the statistical arbitrage traders.

When looking at the third party analyses of HFT in the international markets, Zimmer and Hatsuo see that the most common strategy is the market maker approach. This fact is strongly influenced by market fragmentation, which they do not have in Brazil. Fragmentation creates new intermarket trades, which could qualify as arbitrage trades, but not necessarily as market maker trades. Fragmentation also makes exchanges and other venues compete for the customers that provide liquidity and, as a result, give incentives to market makers. As mentioned above, Brazil does not have a fragmented market and BM&FBOVESPA does not see it necessary to ask for more liquidity. At least not as long as international capital flows are strong and increasing. Liquidity is needed in second tier shares and below.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo, led by Edgar Perez, author, The Speed Traders,  will reveal how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil. The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo kicks off a series of presentations in the world’s most important financial centers: Dubai, January 25; Seoul, South Korea, March 28; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 11; Warsaw, Poland, May 11; Kiev, Ukraine, May 18; Singapore, May 26; Shanghai, China, June 6; Jakarta, Indonesia, June 13; Mexico City, Mexico, July 27; Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, Russia, August 10.

Mr. Perez is one of the great business networkers and motivators on the lecture circuit; he is available worldwide for the following speaking engagements: Present and Future of High-Frequency Trading, The Real Story behind the “Flash Crash”, Networking for Financial Executives, and Business Networking for Success.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo at BM&FBovespa

Emerging markets are an inviting target for high-frequency traders going forward, proclaims Advanced Trading’s Justin Grant. He contrasted it to a suggestion by Utah Senator Orrin Hatch to institute a tax on high-frequency trading. One of these key markets is Brazil, where Mr. Edgar Perez, Adjunct Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, will lead The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo: How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX, February 8^th, BM&FBovespa.

Earlier this year, the note continues, India’s Bombay Stock Exchange predicted computer based-trading in its $1.5 trillion stock market will double over the next three years. Meanwhile the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is planning to debut the ASEAN Trading Link next year, which would electronically link exchanges in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia are also slated to link their exchanges to ASEAN Trading Link in 2012. Liquidity in those markets will undoubtedly surge as they mature, making them an enticing target for high-frequency trading firms.

Brazil probably represents the best opportunity for high-frequency traders over the near term. Earlier this month it lifted a financial transaction tax of its own for foreign investors and the BM&FBovespa has been aggressive in its efforts to boost trading volumes and attract liquidity.

So even as lawmakers in the U.S. and Europe weigh the merits of a Tobin Tax, a world of opportunity awaits high-frequency traders overseas. Perhaps the CBO is wrong in its assessment. The U.S. doesn’t need a tax to diminish its role as the premier market. Seems that’s happening anyway.
The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo will reveal how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil. The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo kicks off a series of presentations in the world’s most important financial centers: Dubai, January 25; Seoul, South Korea, March 28; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 11; Warsaw, Poland, May 11; Kiev, Ukraine, May 18; Singapore, May 26; Shanghai, China, June 6; Jakarta, Indonesia, June 13; Mexico City, Mexico, July 27; Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, Russia, August 10.

Edgar Perez, The Speed Traders

Edgar Perez, Adjunct Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, will provide an Understanding of High Frequency Trading in Equities and other Asset Classes at The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo: How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX, February 8^th, BM&FBovespa. Among other topics, Mr. Perez will discuss:

·         The need for speed and sophisticated computer programs in generating, routing, and executing orders

·         Co-location and individual data feeds to minimize latency

·         Time-frames for establishing and closing highly-liquid positions

·         Review of the most important strategies: market making, trend following, value arbitrage and others

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo will reveal how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil. The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo kicks off a series of presentations in the world’s most important financial centers: Dubai, January 25; Seoul, South Korea, March 28; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 11; Warsaw, Poland, May 11; Kiev, Ukraine, May 18; Singapore, May 26; Shanghai, China, June 6; Jakarta, Indonesia, June 13; Mexico City, Mexico, July 27; Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, Russia, August 10.

São Paulo School of Economics, Fundação Getulio Vargas

Edgar Perez will deliver an exclusive presentation on ‘How Speed Traders Leverage Cutting-Edge Strategies in the Post-Flash Crash World’ to students, faculty and alumni of the Escola de Economia de São Paulo da Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV-EESP), Brazil, January 30^th, 2012. Mr. Perez, the author of The Speed Traders, Modern Finance Bookof 2012, will review current developments in the algorithmic and high frequency worlds and opportunities and challenges for the industry moving forward.

São Paulo School of Economics (Escola de Economia de São Paulo) started the activities of its undergraduate course in 2004. Before that, the undergraduation activities of Fundação Getulio Vargas, in São Paulo, concentrated in the areas of public and private business administration. However, since the 80´s FGV already offered graduation courses in Economics at FGV-EAESP. Thus, aiming at enlarging the scope of its action, it created São Paulo School of Economics, encompassing the undergraduate course, the academic and professional graduate courses and the continuing education and specialization courses in Economics. In creating São Paulo School of Economics FGV had as its purpose the advancement of a centre of excellence in learning and research which contributed to the economic and social development of the country and to the pursuit of a national identity.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo

Edgar Perez, Adjunct Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, will speak on The Present and Future of High Frequency Trading at Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade, Universidade de São Paulo (FEA USP), Brazil, January 31^st, 2012. Mr. Perez, the author of The Speed Traders, Modern Finance Bookof 2012, will review current developments in the algorithmic and high frequency worlds and opportunities and challenges for the industry moving forward:

·         High-Frequency Trading is a set of tools that encompasses a rather diverse number of strategies that prioritize speed, low-latency, volume, liquid instruments and short timeframes

·         High-Frequency Trading has been referred to as the natural progression of technology applied to the investing and trading worlds

·         In the process, High-Frequency Trading has unmasked structural issues in the U.S. equity markets that are currently being examined by legislators and regulators

·         Speed traders will continue finding alpha-generating opportunities by trading new asset classes in new geographies employing more sophisticated tools than ever

Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade, Universidade de São Paulo (FEA USP), or School of Economics, Business and Accounting at the University of São Paulo, is a teaching and research institution renowned across the world for its excellence in academic production and undergraduate and graduate programs. The FEA-USP was founded more than 60 years ago to prepare professionals in business, economics and accounting in a nation whose economy was going through a process of democratization after World War II. The school’s initial goal, one which exists to this day, was to form professionals who can contribute to society and make a difference in a positive way. Decades after its creation, FEA continues to set national and international standards in its field. The school follows the high standards of the University of São Paulo and combines its knowledge of the Brazilian reality with the methodology of reputed international institutions to distinguish itself in the preparation of economists, administrators and accounting specialists.

Mr. Perez will also present at BM&FBovespa The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo: How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX, on February 8^th. This workshop will reveal how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil, and kicks off a series of presentations in the world’s most important financial centers: Dubai, January 25; Seoul, South Korea, March 28; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 11; Warsaw, Poland, May 11; Kiev, Ukraine, May 18; Singapore, May 26; Shanghai, China, June 6; Jakarta, Indonesia, June 13; Mexico City, Mexico, July 27; Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, Russia, August 10.

Burj Al Arab, Dubai - The World's Only 7-Star Hotel

Burj Al Arab, the luxury hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates managed by the Jumeirah Group and built by Said Khalil, characterizes itself as the world’s only “7-star” property. Why? It features the tallest atrium lobby in the world at 180 meters. It is formed by the building’s V-shaped span, which dominates the interior of the hotel, and takes up over 1/3 of the interior space. It is one of the most expensive hotels in the world. The cost of staying at a suite begins at $1,000 per night. The Royal Suite is the most expensive, at $28,000 per night. Such hyperbole is not unlike terms employed to describe high-frequency trading, topic of Edgar Perez’s The Speed Traders Workshop 2012Dubai on January 25.

Mr. Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders, and Adjunct Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, will lead The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Dubai: How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX (http://www.thespeedtradersworkshop.com), on January 25, 2012. The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Dubai opens the door to the secretive world of high-frequency trading, the most controversial form of investing today; in the name of protecting the algorithms they have spent so much time perfecting, speed traders almost never talk to the press and disclose as little as possible about how they operate. The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Dubai will reveal how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil. Highlights of The Speed Traders Workshop 2012Dubai include:

·         The first and most comprehensive initiation to the world of high-frequency trading

·         Study materials provided by Edgar Perez, the author of the latest book on the subject of speed trading, and a well-known presenter in America, Europe and Asia

·         Strategies high frequency traders leverage to find alpha in equities, options, futures and FX

·         Latest update on high-frequency trading in the world and current regulatory initiatives

·         Techniques to detect high-frequency trading in the markets

·         Key enablers of high-frequency trading in the U.S., Europe and Asia

·         Proposed regulatory initiatives after the “flash crash”

·         Up-to-date review of the future of high-frequency trading

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Dubai kicks off a series of presentations in the world’s most important financial centers: Sao Paulo, Brazil, February 8; Seoul, South Korea, March 28; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 11; Warsaw, Poland, May 11; Kiev, Ukraine, May 18; Singapore, May 26; Shanghai, China, June 6; Jakarta, Indonesia, June 13; Mexico City, Mexico, July 27; Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, Russia, August 10.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world’s seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the Sao Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among the five-largest metropolitan areas on the planet. Now it is the first and only city in South America where Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders, is bringing The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo, February 8^th.

Edgar Perez, Adjunct Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, will lead The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo: How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX (http://www.thespeedtradersworkshop.com), workshop that will reveal how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil.

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo opens the door to the secretive world of high-frequency trading, the most controversial form of investing today; in the name of protecting the algorithms they have spent so much time perfecting, speed traders almost never talk to the press and disclose as little as possible about how they operate. The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo will reveal how high-frequency trading players are succeeding in the global markets and driving the development of algorithmic trading at breakneck speeds from the U.S. and Europe to India, Singapore and Brazil. Highlights of The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo include:

·         The first and most comprehensive initiation to the world of high-frequency trading

·         Study materials provided by Edgar Perez, the author of the latest book on the subject of speed trading, and a well-known presenter in America, Europe and Asia

·         Strategies high frequency traders leverage to find alpha in equities, options, futures and FX

·         Latest update on high-frequency trading in the world and current regulatory initiatives

·         Techniques to detect high-frequency trading in the markets

·         Key enablers of high-frequency trading in the U.S., Europe and Asia

·         Proposed regulatory initiatives after the “flash crash”

·         Up-to-date review of the future of high-frequency trading

The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo  kicks off a series of presentations in the world’s most important financial centers: Dubai, January 25; Seoul, South Korea, March 28; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 11; Warsaw, Poland, May 11; Kiev, Ukraine, May 18; Singapore, May 26; Shanghai, China, June 6; Jakarta, Indonesia, June 13; Mexico City, Mexico, July 27; Hong Kong, August 4, and Moscow, Russia, August 10.