Market Structure Insights
April 20, 2010
We hope none of you are marooned in Europe by volcanic ash. If you are, we’ll try to keep your minds off the extra money you’re spending with the shocking suggestion that markets writhed last week not for Goldman Sachs but for expirations. The SEC...
April 14, 2010
Spring finally tossed its verdant cape over the Denver Front Range. We saw it firsthand on our bikes from Sedalia to Palmer Lake last weekend, our first 40-plus miler of the year. It’s been too cold! We know you Californians among us are already past...
April 7, 2010
Sorry we’re late this week! We’re in Las Vegas and the Market Structure Map wanted to stay in Vegas, apparently. Program trading jumped about 10% in the first few trading days of April, compared to March. We define program trades as mathematical execution in more...
March 30, 2010
Show me examples. When I was a fresh-faced goofy college kid, my Logic professor, who was Greek and credible with his Hellenic accent, would say that a thing was theory only until you provided examples in the real world. We hear that notion regularly. “So...
March 23, 2010
This formidable IRO says to me, “Quast, here’s the deal. You say rational, fundamental investment is a tiny fraction of trading now and we’re all bond servants to traders and risk managers who’re disconnected from traditional IR. If that’s the case, IR as we know...
March 16, 2010
You’re at your desk doing a last copy edit on the shareholder letter for the annual report. You glance at your daily trading, as IR folks do. You frown. You drink tepid Starbucks from yesterday and wince. For the third straight day your stock is...