Still Waiting on Real Time Regulation 3 Years after Flash Crash, May 6th, 2010
The Speed Traders’ Edgar Perez
On May 6th, 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 19th, 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 6th, 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 6th, as described in painstaking detail in the CFTC/SEC report of September 30th, 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 1st, 2012, when the firm lost approximately $10 million per minute, is another recent example that comes to mind.
On March 7th, 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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Is High-Frequency Trading the Root of our Problems? It is the Economy, Stupid!
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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )高频交易是否问题的根源？
“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。
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )The Perennial Profit Challenge: 2013 Roadmap for World Exchanges
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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )速度與策略決定高頻交易成敗
技術進步不僅將影響交易本身，而且最終會改變投資的方法
[ 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。
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Edgar Perez, The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Shanghai, Covered by China Business Network (CBN)
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。
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”。
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Caixin Media Covers The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 in China
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。
To read the full article please click here.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )The Speed Traders Workshop 2012: News Coverage From China Business Network (CBN)
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。
To read the full article please click here.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Shanghai at Hult International Business School
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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Miss It at Your Own Risk: World’s Only High Frequency Trading Seminar, Now in China
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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Trying to Blame High-frequency Trading for Facebook’s Nasdaq IPO Eclipse? Look Elsewhere
Bob Greifeld, Nasdaq OMX’s Chief Executive Officer, has said on Sunday that the 20-minute delay in trading of Facebook’s $16bn offering last Friday had been caused by a millisecond systems blip due to the largest IPO auction “in the history of mankind”. The exchange had found itself in the spotlight after Facebook failed to deliver a first-day “pop” to investors, instead almost falling below its issuing price of $38. The shares, having risen briefly, quickly fell away to close the day with a gain of just 0.6%, at $38.23.
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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Edgar Perez, The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo, Quoted by CNBC on Can ‘Trading on Tweets’ Really Make Money?
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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )High Frequency Trading in Brazil, Mirage or Miracle? Find out at The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo, February 8th
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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Why Emerging Markets Represent the Future for HFTs at The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo, February 8th
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 8th, 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.
How Traders Profit With Computers Set at High Speed at The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo, February 8th
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 8th, 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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )‘How Speed Traders Leverage Cutting-Edge Strategies in the Post-Flash Crash World’ at São Paulo School of Economics, Fundação Getulio Vargas, with Edgar Perez
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 30th, 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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )The Present and Future of High Frequency Trading at FEA USP Sao Paulo with Edgar Perez, The Speed Traders Workshop 2012
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 31st, 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 8th. 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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Coming to the Largest City in South America: The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Sao Paulo, February 8th
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 8th.
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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Causing Far More Vertigo than Avant-garde Burj Khalifa? Edgar Perez’s The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Dubai, January 25
Avant-garde Burj Khalifa
Burj Khalifa, known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is currently the tallest manmade structure in the world, at 829.84 m. Not only that, it is the tallest skyscraper to top of antenna, the tallest structure ever built, the tallest extant structure, the tallest freestanding structure, and the building with most floors: 160. Would there be something that induces more vertigo than this avant-garde structure? 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. Mr. Perez will reveal at The Speed Traders Workshop 2012Dubai 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 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.
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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Only Days Before The Speed Traders Workshop 2011 Hong Kong, HFT Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX
The Speed Traders Workshop 2011 Hong Kong
Edgar Perez will lead The Speed Traders Workshop 2011: How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX (http://www.thespeedtradersworkshop.com), in Hong Kong, December 12, 2011. Mr. 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), will reveal at The Speed Traders Workshop 2011 Hong Kong 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.
Charles Li, Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx), published on 26 July an article in Chinese on HKEx’s market reform; in the article, he pointed out that the enhancement of their infrastructure was a top priority in the Strategic Plan. They had begun upgrading their trading and information systems to the next generation, building a new data centre in Tseung Kwan O and developing hosting services.
In addition, he indicated that he didn’t not agree with the view that enhancing their IT infrastructure favored high frequency traders or the large brokers. Building the IT infrastructure was for him like building a highway: “We should not abandon highway construction just because a few do not want to invest in new cars or a few fear accidents. We believe Hong Kong’s current market framework, which includes stamp duty, effectively limits high-frequency trading, just like a highway with many toll booths discourages speeding. Besides, even if we don’t build the highway, we cannot prevent others from doing so and diverting liquidity, leading to market fragmentation.” No doubt it won’t long before high-frequency trading races on Hong Kong’s fast information highways.
The Speed Traders Workshop 2011 Hong Kong (http://thespeedtradersworkshophk.eventbrite.com) 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 2011Hong Kong 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.
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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Edgar Perez, The Speed Traders, Presenting Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX in Dubai, January 25
The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Dubai
Edgar Perez will lead 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), in Dubai, January 25, 2012. Mr. 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), will reveal at The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 Dubai 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.
Dubai’s gross domestic product as of 2008 was US$ 82.11 billion. Although Dubai’s economy was built on the back of the oil industry, revenues from oil and natural gas currently account for less than 6% of the emirate’s revenues. It is estimated that Dubai produces 50,000 to 70,000 barrels (11,000 m3) of oil a day and substantial quantities of gas from offshore fields. The emirate’s share in UAE’s gas revenues is about 2%. Dubai’s oil reserves have diminished significantly and are expected to be exhausted in 20 years. Real estate and construction (22.6%), trade (16%), entrepôt (15%) and financial services (11%) are the largest contributors to Dubai’s economy. Dubai’s top exporting destinations include India (US$ 5.8 billion), Switzerland (US$ 2.37 billion) and Saudi Arabia (US$ 0.57 billion). Dubai’s top re-exporting destinations include India (US$ 6.53 billion), Iran (US$ 5.8 billion) and Iraq (US$ 2.8 billion). The emirate’s top import sources are India (US$ 12.55 billion), China (US$ 11.52 billion) and the United States (US$ 7.57 billion). As of 2009 India was Dubai’s largest trade partner.
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 2012will 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 Dubai include:
- The first and most comprehensive initiation to the world of high-frequency trading
- Study materials provided by Mr. Perez, author of the latest book on the subject of speed trading, and a well-known presenter in America, Europe and Asia
- 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
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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )The Present and Future of High Frequency Trading at Middle East Hedge Funds Investors Summit 2012, Dubai, UAE
Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai, UAE
The Present and Future of High Frequency Trading is the topic 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 Adjunct Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University will present at the upcoming Middle East Hedge Funds Investors Summit 2012, January 23-24, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai, UAE.
The Middle East Hedge Funds Investors Summit 2012 is the region’s premier meeting place for Middle East Institutional Investors, SWFs, Pension and Insurance Funds, HNWIs, Investment Houses and Family Offices. In an exclusive association with CNBC Arabiya, Middle East Hedge Funds Investors Summit 2012offers unique access to the region’s alternatives and hedge funds investors and an expert speaker faculty featuring Regional Investors, Economists, and Investment gurus, Wealth Managers, Strategists and Star Managers.
The Middle East Hedge Funds Investors Summit 2012 brings insights from top Middle East investors on how and why Middle East investors are responding as New Portfolio Managers with New Mandates post Madoff. With Middle East investors contributing on a host of influential topics and panels, attendees get real insights into what needs to be done and required by these Middle East investors to overcome the hurdles for successful hedge fund investing. Attendees hear the latest investment strategies discussed to get an in depth analysis of the Investors take on the key issues of Liquidity, Risk, Transparency, Portfolio Management, Due Manager Selection, Benchmarking and the performance of Managers, Funds and Alpha.
Mr. Perez, widely regarded as the preeminent speaker and networker in the specialized area of high-frequency trading, will cover the following themes in his speech:
- High-frequency trading definition, strategies and what it really means for investors
- Trading technology and systems that enable high-frequency trading
- High-frequency trading and SF and FoHF strategies
- Defining the impact of high-frequency trading on market structure
- Alpha-generating opportunities by trading new asset classes
The Speed Traders Workshop 2011 (http://www.thespeedtradersworkshop.com), led by Mr. Perez in the world’s most important financial centers, 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 Dubai, Sao Paulo, Jakarta, Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai. Highlights of The Speed Traders Workshop 2011 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
- 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
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.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Edgar Perez, The Speed Traders, Opening Keynote Speaker at FIXGlobal Face2Face, Seoul, South Korea
FIXGlobal Face2Face
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), will be presenting at FIXGlobal Face2Face, Seoul, South Korea, November 25, on “The Present and Future of High-Frequency Trading“.
Every year, over 200 industry professionals gather in Westin Chosun at the FIXGlobal Face2Faceforum to discuss the latest issues that are affecting the industry, from trading practices, through to the use of technologies. With the use of FIX Protocol in Korea breaks down fairly evenly in the Securities and Futures arenas and a strong growth potential of FIX Protocol adoption across Asset Managers, both new adoptions or migrating from non-standard FIX implementations, the event will continue to bring you the latest information on the usage of FIX on different stages of within the trading cycle.
FIXGlobal Face2Face forums feature lively debate between experts, sharing ideas and insight on implementing an effective electronic tradingstrategy, global exchanges competition, the use of algorithmic trading strategies etc. in Korea and regionally and what it means to the markets going forward.
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 traders make millions—one cent at a time. In this new title, The Speed Traders, Mr. Perez opens the door to the secretive world of high-frequency trading. Inside, prominent figures drop their guard and speak with unprecedented candidness about their trade.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Edgar Perez Presenting at Institutional Investor’s Global Growth Markets Forum in London
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), will be presenting at Institutional Investor’s Global Growth Markets Forum, Achieving International Investment Standards, in Waldorf Hilton, London, November 2nd. He will be interviewed on the topic “High-Frequency Trading Opportunities in Emerging Markets”.
The stock exchanges and the securities houses in many growth markets globally are keen to increase capital inflows, and this means improving the factors international investors care about most: regulations, rules, and infrastructure. These exchanges and brokerages understand that, to capitalize on investors’ growing appetite for emerging markets/frontier assets, they need to be able to offer US and European institutions comfort their investments are being made in an efficient, transparent, and globally competitive manner.
This Global Growth Markets Forum, co-hosted by Institutional Investor and Marco Polo Capital Markets, will assess the steps exchanges and other important players in these economies now driving global economic growth are taking to achieve international standards. Experts will evaluate the progress of the exchanges and the securities houses regarding each of the central pillars of sound investing: regulation, compliance, and execution. Delegates will acquire an in-depth understanding of the investment opportunities and the status of the capital markets in the global growth markets from the leading domestic security houses and other experts.
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 traders make millions—one cent at a time. In this new title, The Speed Traders, Mr. Perez opens the door to the secretive world of high-frequency trading. Inside, prominent figures drop their guard and speak with unprecedented candidness about their trade.
Mr. Perez is widely regarded as the pre-eminent networker in the specialized area of high-frequency trading. He has been featured on CNBC Cash Flow with Oriel Morrison, BNN Business Day with Kim Parlee, TheStreet.com with Gregg Greenberg, Channel NewsAsia Cent & Sensibilities with Lin Xue Ling, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, Los Angeles Times, iMoney Hong Kong, Hedge Fund Brief, Oriental Daily News Hong Kong, and more. 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), Middle East Hedge Funds Investors Summit 2012 (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), among other global forums.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Why Does Perez Illuminate the World of Speed? Insights from The Speed Traders Workshop 2011
The Speed Traders Workshop 2011
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), will present first ever The Speed Traders Workshop 2011, “The Present and Future of High-Frequency Trading” (http://www.thespeedtradersworkshop.com), in Chicago, Sao Paulo, Singapore and Hong Kong. The Speed Traders Workshop 2011will be extremely helpful for all delegates who are working in finance and investments, from financial institutions, investment banks, hedge funds, pension funds, broker dealers, consultancy groups, prime brokers, solution providers and exchanges, who wish to gain a thorough understanding and practical knowledge of high-frequency trading.
The Speed Traders Workshop 2011, led by Edgar Perez, author of 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. Highlights of The Speed Traders Workshop 2011 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
- 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, 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 traders make millions—one cent at a time. In this new title, The Speed Traders, Mr. Perez opens the door to the secretive world of high-frequency trading. Inside, prominent figures drop their guard and speak with unprecedented candidness about their trade.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Market Expert Speak: High-Frequency Trading Should be Regulated, Not Stopped
The Speed Traders Workshop 2011
High-frequency trading should continue to be regulated and not stopped, indicated Edgar Perez, The Speed Traders Workshop 2011: The Present and Future of High-Frequency Trading (http://www.thespeedtradersworkshop.com), on an interview with Hong Kong’s Oriental Daily News, for its column Market Expert Speak (http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/finance/20110830/00275_001.html). 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), noted that high-frequency trading in particular is a development that was born out of the evolution of the regulatory environment, certainly facilitated by technology; therefore, it would be against its roots to oppose regulation per se.
As Ben van Vliet, Adjunct Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, says in The Speed Traders, “We all want to race fast but safe. It doesn’t do any good if someone crashes into the innocent crowd and kills people. There are external people that may be affected when things crash. What we want the government to do is to create a safe track for us to race fast.” Perez noted that regulators in the U.S. have adopted circuit breakers in May 2010 for 404 NYSE listed S&P 500 stocks and widened in September for Russell 1000 stocks to halt or slow down trades of a particular stock if the price moves 10% or more in a five-minute period; lately, they have proposed limit up, limit down rules, which would require that trades in all listed stocks be executed within a range tied to the recent prices for that security and impose a five-minute pause if trading is unable to occur within the price band for more than 15 seconds; those are measures that fall into the category of improvements to the race tracks for high-frequency trading. Additionally, they are implementing a consolidated audit trail that would help the SEC track information about trading orders so it can better understand the fast-paced markets. Ultimately, a flexible regulatory environment that can incorporate input from participants will be the optimal setting for the development of the industry.
High-Frequency Trading Should be Regulated, Not Stopped
The Speed Traders Workshop 2011, led by Edgar Perez, 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 2011 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
- 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, 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 traders make millions—one cent at a time. In this new title, The Speed Traders, Mr. Perez opens the door to the secretive world of high-frequency trading. Inside, prominent figures drop their guard and speak with unprecedented candidness about their trade. For more about The Speed Traders, readers can visit its Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as the most popular online retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders, among others.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Long-Term Investors’ Fears Driving Increased Volatility
The Speed Traders' Edgar Perez with BNN's Kim Parlee
For 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), increased volatility experienced by financial markets is being driven by long-term investors’ fears. Mr. Perez, who was recently featured on BNN’s Business Day and interviewed by Kim Parlee, reflected that similar concerns drove volatility to record heights during the Great Depression and Black Monday.
The stock market crash on October 29, 1929 set in motion a series of events that led to the Great Depression, but in fact, the American economy and global economy had been in turmoil six months prior to Black Tuesday, and a variety of factors before and after that fateful date in October caused and exacerbated the Great Depression. While America prospered during the 1920s, most of Europe, still reeling from the devastation of World War I, fell into economic decline. America soon became the world’s banker, and as Europe started defaulting on loans and buying less American products, the Great Depression spread. With only loose stock market regulations in place before the Great Depression, investors were able speculate wildly, buying stocks on margin, needing only 10% of the price of a stock to be able to complete the purchase. Rampant speculation led to falsely high stock prices, and when the stock market began to tumble in the months leading up to the October 1929 crash, speculative investors couldn’t make their margin calls, and a massive sell-off began. While the great rise in the stock market (from 181 points in early 1928 to 381 points in September 1929) was fueled by optimism and false hope, the plunge was flamed by stark fear.
Similar situation happened on Black Monday, the name given to Monday, October 19, 1987, when stock markets around the world ‘crashed’, shedding a huge value in a very short period. The crash began in Hong Kong, spread west through international time zones to Europe, hitting the United States after other markets had already declined by a significant margin. At the time, economists feared that if the U.S. economy faltered, the entire world economy would stumble and fall into recession again, as it had in 1981–82. Many observers now believe the panic of Black Monday simply reflected a spreading fear that the world situation was rapidly becoming unmanageable.
Fast forward to 2011, CNN’s Richard Quest concludes too that the causes of this latest crisis are fear, worry and concern, three uncomfortable bedfellows that have wreaked havoc on the world’s financial markets. “What pushed everyone over the edge was the debt ceiling debacle and the downgrading of U.S. debt by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, that was followed by a 630 point fall in the Dow Jones index.”
Fear that the world situation is becoming unmanageable is driving long-term investors to dump equities and look for protection in less risky instruments, ironically, recently S&P downgraded U.S. treasuries. Economists at JPMorgan, in their weekly reprise of economic developments, blamed the recent global stock selloff on “a sense of policy paralysis in the U.S. and Europe, which has driven home the point that there is no cavalry to ride to the rescue.” While the sentiment is the same as in the 20s, 1987 and now, certain market participants will always look for a culprit, role played by high-frequency trading this time. No doubt if another crisis comes our way in the future, another group will receive the blame, only to be absolved by financial historians.
The Speed Traders' Edgar Perez on BNN's Business Day
BNN’s Business Day puts a spotlight on the stocks and stories expected to move the markets, and then switches to minute-by-minute coverage throughout the trading day in Canada and the U.S. Kim Parlee, Marty Cej, Frances Horodelski, and Martin Baccardax along with BNN‘s team of reporters and expert guests provide comprehensive reporting along with the best background and analysis in the business. Business News Network (BNN) is the Canadian English language cable television business channel; BNNbroadcasts programming related to business and financial news and analysis.
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 traders make millions—one cent at a time. In this new title, The Speed Traders, Mr. Perez opens the door to the secretive world of high-frequency trading. Inside, prominent figures drop their guard and speak with unprecedented candidness about their trade. For more about The Speed Traders, readers can visit its Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as the most popular online retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders, among others.
Mr. Perez is widely regarded as the pre-eminent networker in the specialized area of high-frequency trading. He has been featured on CNBC Cash Flow with Oriel Morrison (http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=2023403523), BNN Business Day with Kim Parlee (http://watch.bnn.ca/business-day/august-2011/business-day-august-19-2011/#clip519647), TheStreet.com with Gregg Greenberg (http://www.thestreet.com/video/11144274/high-frequency-traders-not-the-enemy.html), and Channel NewsAsia Cent & Sensibilities with Lin Xue Ling, and 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), Middle East Hedge Funds Investors Summit 2012 (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), among other global forums.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )First Ever: The Speed Traders Workshop 2011 with Author Edgar Perez, in Hong Kong, Chicago, Sao Paulo and Singapore
The Speed Traders Workshop 2011
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), will present first ever The Speed Traders Workshop 2011, “The Present and Future of High-Frequency Trading” (http://www.thespeedtradersworkshop.com), in Hong Kong, Chicago, Sao Paulo and Singapore. The Speed Traders Workshop 2011will be extremely helpful for all delegates who are working in finance and investments, from financial institutions, investment banks, hedge funds, pension funds, broker dealers, consultancy groups, prime brokers, solution providers and exchanges, who wish to gain a thorough understanding and practical knowledge of high-frequency trading.
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 now. The Speed Traders Workshop 2011 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 2011, led by Edgar Perez, author of 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. Highlights of The Speed Traders Workshop 2011 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
- 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, 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 traders make millions—one cent at a time. In this new title, The Speed Traders, Mr. Perez opens the door to the secretive world of high-frequency trading. Inside, prominent figures drop their guard and speak with unprecedented candidness about their trade.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )For Edgar Perez, Author, The Speed Traders, Increased Volumes and Volatility to Feed High-Frequency Trading on Monday
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), wrote on Modern Finance Report (http://www.modernfinancereport.com) that a short-term stock plunge (increase of volume) and a spike in volatility on Monday are reasonably expected given S&P’s downgrade of the U.S. debt rating; the U.S. stock market was coming off its worst week since the financial crisis. “So we have here two of the main requirements for high-frequency trading, volume and volatility. Therefore, it will be reasonable to expect Monday to be a busy day for speed traders, as they provide the liquidity long-term investors will need to survive the day.”
Mr. Perez indicated that he would not be inclined to kill the messenger and instead see S&P’s decision in a positive light as it should serve as an effective wake-up call to get Washington’s warring players to the negotiating table again. He gave the example of S&P’s past decision to put the UK’s AAA-rating on negative outlook in May 2009, which fueled a debate on the need for significant fiscal tightening, and tough decisions taken by the new coalition government, which were eventually rewarded by S&P with the UK’s outlook being revised back up to stable in October last year.
Mr. Perez wrote: “We cannot deny the significant psychological impact of S&P’s decision on the markets and the view of foreign governments and investors of the U.S. economy. However, I expect Monday’ stock plunge to be a short-term event that will lose steam quickly. In fact, investors can be tempted to use it as reason to snatch value plays, as there would have not been a fundamental change from where we were last Friday. At the end of the day, S&P’s main theme, that U.S. finances are in bad shape, is not news to investors and traders; for instance, Pimco, the world’s largest bond fund, had stepped away from US government debt back in March; in addition, savvy money managers had already positioned themselves for a potential rating downgrade.”
Finally, he summarized: “I agree with experts who sustain that the downgrade will not lead to sharp rises of lending rates to the corporate sector or households in the U.S., as Fitch and Moody’s still maintain their top rating for U.S. debt. Also, a sudden sell off of U.S. Treasury instruments looks unlikely, as there are still not many safe assets to replace them. Once the dust settles, attention will turn back to the economic fundamentals. Disregarding the S&P downgrade comes with high risk for the U.S. economy, particularly if Washington prioritizes electoral concerns over the long-term health of this great nation, the United States of America.”
For Renowned Speed Trader, Humans Not Allowed Anywhere Near High-Frequency Execution System
It took a while for Adam Afshar, one of the leading high-frequency traders featured in Edgar Perez’s The Speed Traders: An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World, to believe that the markets were more or less efficient under normal circumstances and to realize that the analysts at most firms provided no value and sometimes a negative value. He says, “My first attempt at using the computer was to build a system to help traders have better information faster to enable them or their portfolio managers to make better decisions, a sort of hybrid system where the computers are helping the humans. But, in less than a year, I realized that discretionary human participation in selection, portfolio management , or trading was so deleterious that no amount of computer power or intellectual algorithms could mitigate it.”
Adam Afshar, Renowned Speed Trader- Hyde Park Global Investments
He adds: “It’s very important to stress this point because if the system allows human discretion at any level (idea generation, portfolio management, or trading) and your machine does not have the human discretionary elements modeled correctly in its learning algorithm (which we claim is not possible at this time), what you are left with is simply a quantitative trader that uses certain calculations to assist his or her trading. It becomes difficult or even impossible to assess whether the success or failure was due to the calculations, formula, or algorithms . Although we can argue on the pros and cons of humans as traders, we have to agree that this method is not and cannot be scientific. It is not scientific because it is not possible to backtest a model that allows any discretionary human intervention. For example, if you have computers that are generating trades, but the execution is done by humans, then we would argue that you cannot determine whether the success or failure of the system was due to its robust artificial intelligence or to a very good trader, and there is no way of testing and duplicating the results. Therefore, we would argue that any backtesting becomes essentially void.”
Hyde Park Global Investments, Afshar’s firm, is an investment and trading firm that has developed an artificial intelligence system built primarily on genetic algorithms and other evolutionary models to identify mispricings, arbitrage, and patterns for many electronic financial markets and the robotic platform to monetize the opportunities. The firm, which trades its own capital so far, potentially will accept investments from outside sources.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )
