Coney Island, HFT, and Nanex

 

On this day, June 16th in 1884, the world’s first rollercoaster opened in Coney Island; it
was called the Switchback at that point. Two generations later in 1927 it became the Cyclone.

I remember going to Coney Island as many as four times a week as a boy. My dad
would take us during the workweek, right after he finished his morning rounds
at the hospital. It was pretty funny actually, as he would finish his rounds at
10:30am, and by 11:00am we would be on the beach. We would stay perhaps 45
minutes to an hour, and then rush back home so that my dad could go do his
afternoon office hours. So you see, we would go to the beach with high frequency,
but for short duration.

Do you all now see why I do not like anything that is high frequency?

Kidding aside, there is a neat Reuters interview with Dick Grasso I enjoyed
reading, and so I want to make sure you see it too: Grasso
Holds Court on NYSE Deal.
I found two things about Dick Grasso in the
article a dichotomy. 1) He was born a poor kid in working class queens, yet was
forced to resign over furor at his $140 million pay package. And 2) he talks of
fairness in markets quipping, “Getting a price quickly is no substitute for
getting a fair price,” and yet he is involved with a high frequency trading
firm co-founded by a friend of his, Vinnie Viola.

It is an informative article, as you get Grasso’s predictions that the Deutsche
Bourse NYSE deal will go through, as well as some kind of NASDAQ Toronto LSE
three type deal at some point. Grasso has good instincts, and I wager he is
dead on with his predictions too.

 

Lastly, please read this if you have not already: Nanex Discovers Predatory ETF
Algo That Appears to Be Testing How to Circumvent the SEC’s Stub Quote Ban