Automated Trader Magazine Articles & Insight
- my machine
In the worx: What Manoj Narang thinks about regulation, Europe, volatility and a lot moreSUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Manoj Narang wears a lot of hats. He's a technologist who built a low-latency platform and developed a monitoring system for the US SEC. He's an executive who runs a hedge fund and an HFT group. And he's an outspoken champion of data-driven decision-making. So why is he promoting ideas that could hurt his business?
- first person
Running man: HTG's Chris HehmeyerSUBSCRIBERS ONLY - It seems somehow fitting that Chris Hehmeyer got his start as a runner on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade. That was in 1978 and over the next 35 years he has kept on running. Hehmeyer now runs HTG, a company that embraces all manner of traders. When he's not doing that, he also serves as the chairman of the National Futures Association. Automated Trader caught up with him to hear his thoughts on the value of diversity and what he thinks of some of the impending changes in the marketplace.
- feature
Sex, death and the quest for algorithmic glorySUBSCRIBERS ONLY - You don't need to look far to find critics of artificial intelligence methods in financial markets. But that hasn't stopped technologists and academics from trying to push the boundaries of what a computer can do when trying to analyse complex situations and make decisions. Automated Trader Editor Adam Cox talks to some of the researchers and executives who see a future for AI in the markets.
- artificial intelligence
Brain-PoweredSUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Alan Turing once famously posed the question of whether machines could think. Applied to today's ultra-competitive markets, the question becomes, can machines think well enough to make money? Anna Reitman reports on what some of the players using artificial intelligence-based systems have to say.
- artificial intelligence
A few minutes with… Spencer Greenberg of Rebellion ResearchSUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Automated Trader catches up with Spencer Greenberg of Rebellion Research to hear about their work in artificial intelligence.
- artificial intelligence
A few minutes with… Marco Fasoli of Titian Global InvestmentsSUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Automated Trader catches up with Marco Fasoli of Titian Global Investments to hear what they're doing in artificial intelligence.
- exchange views
Where credit's dueSUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Back in the 'good old days', life seemed so simple: dealers warehoused vast amounts of corporate bonds, and investors picked up the telephone when they wanted to buy or sell. But capital requirements and regulation have led to a dramatic fall in banks' balance sheets and the buy-side is being asked to play a bigger role to boost liquidity. As electronification takes hold, can the elusive all-to-all model take off or is something else needed? Adam Cox reports.
- algopediaDesperately seeking liquidity
The terminology surrounding liquidity-seeking algorithms reeks of machismo. Names such as Stealth, Dagger, Tiger and a plethora of military analogies suggest that traders and investors are entering a theatre of war, where only the ultra-aggressive will come out in one piece. Eva Szalay reports on the new breed of tools and what's driving the trend.
- regulation
The rise of the Texan sharpshooters?SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - There is a story about a Texan who fires a bunch of shots at the side of a barn. Once he's done shooting, he walks over to the barn, paints a target centred on the biggest cluster of shots, and calls himself a sharpshooter. So what, you may ask, does this have to do with swaps regulation?
- regulation
Regulators grappling with market data: a case studySUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Regulators and trading firms have at least one thing in common: they both find grappling with the torrent of data generated in today's markets a tall order. The CFTC is just beginning to wrestle with the flow of swaps data, while the Securities and Exchange Commission has a head start on the equities side. It has deployed MIDAS, the Market Information Data Analytics System, developed by Tradeworx. Automated Trader met Gregg Berman, senior advisor to the Director at the SEC's Division of Trading & Markets, to find out how the regulator hopes to develop the MIDAS touch.
- peek ahead
Markets all a TwitterSUBSCRIBERS ONLY - As market-moving hoaxes go, the recent White House tweet ranks right up there. Peek Ahead asks a couple of machine-readable news experts about the implications of the Tweet that Shook Wall Street.
- techs messageHow FPGA is becoming the financial acronym of choice
When Ross Freeman set off to work as a Peace Corps volunteer and teach mathematics in Ghana in the 1970s, did he have the slightest inkling of what his ideas might mean to the world's financial markets? Had he already conceived the invention that one day would allow trading firms to really think in terms of nanoseconds?
- featureOutside looking in
SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - To outsiders, the algorithmic trading industry is a citadel - big, rich, and closed to tourists. Assembling the tools needed to get behind the walls is tough, laborious and time-consuming. So what are the prospects for interlopers to prise open a gap and get inside?
- algotraveller
Brazil: Who will be joining the carnival?SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - The Olympics, the World Cup, new trading platforms… It's all happening in Brazil these days. The country's exchange, BM&FBovespa, is going full steam ahead with trading and execution system upgrades while also trying to lower fees and overhaul post trade services. But even as expectations for increased investment remain high, there are plenty of obstacles. International players have to contend with relatively high trading costs and big uncertainties over taxation. Anna Reitman reports on the emerging picture for automated trading.
- sponsored articlesEurex Exchange releases results of proprietary HFT research
Eurex Exchange is the first exchange in Europe to share part of its proprietary quantitative research on high- frequency trading (HFT) with the public. Key findings of this research include: (a) HFT participants played an important and beneficial role during one of the most extreme market situations Eurex Exchange has seen in recent years, (b) HFT participants play a unique and indispensable role in the recovery of market quality right after large trades, and (c) Eurex Exchange did not find evidence of abusive HFT activity.
- sponsored articlesUn-squeezing the middle
Given its size, it seems improbable that any trader might struggle to find an optimal way to access the FX market. Yet many mid-sized participants find themselves in exactly this situation, as they fall into a gap between full prime brokerage and direct liquidity relationships. Whether it's the complexity of the legal paperwork or costly and complicated connectivity, the end result is the same - additional expense and delays. But as Alex Knight, Head of Citi's FX Margin Trading business explains, there is now a better option.
- software review
All the dataSUBSCRIBERS ONLY - One of the certainties when building automated or algorithmic models is that you'll be needing historical data, probably lots of it. So in this issue Automated Trader's Founder, Andy Webb, and the Wrecking Crew take a look at one possible source - Thomson Reuters Tick History.
- dequantification
The volume and behaviour of crowdsSUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Volume is a comparatively neglected variable in academic finance - price and return usually attract far more research interest. An interesting recent exception to this rule, which examines the interaction of volume with behavioural finance, is "Market crowd trading conditioning, agreement price, and volume implications" by a group of Chinese researchers. Automated Trader discusses the paper with its lead author, Leilei Shi of the University of Science and Technology of China.
We don't need your moneyREGISTERED VIEWERS - As Hungary's enigmatic prime minister appoints an ally to head the country's central bank, Eva Szalay explores the man, the mission and the enigma.
Ivory towerREGISTERED VIEWERS - Every issue GMT scours the world of academia to bring you actionable ideas and information from the ivory tower
