hft_throwaway

12 ms·

61.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
I think the issue is that bitcoin fanatics assume something is deeply wrong with our current system, or that banks are parasitic and not providing any value. Sure there are places it can be improved, but the current system works well for ma
62.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
I just tried making an order on Tiger Direct which came to $137.94 and they want 0.2208 BTC. You can buy BTC on Coinbase at $628.41, so it would cost me $138.75 or a 58 bps surcharge over paying with my credit card, where I get 1% cash back
63.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
I'm not an economist or an expert on monetary policy, but I don't think a currency necessarily needs to be inflationary. Humans have used currencies such as gold which has a relatively fixed number of units in the past, which may
64.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
1. You could do the same thing with cash or gold in many domestic cases. Transferring a substantial amount of cash in/out of a BTC exchange is going to require AML paperwork and the blockchain/exchange has enough information for a
65.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
I think this is a lousy defense of Bitcoin. I cringe whenever I read "oh it's new technology of course people will be scared!" or worse yet, "you must be jealous because you didn't get in on the ground floor."
66.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
The matching engine described in these documents is not anywhere close to state of the art. The big exchanges can get you fills wire-to-wire sub 100 micros now with binary protocols that you can just cast into a struct without parsing. Open
67.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
There's a good reddit post about this possibility: http://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinMarkets/comments/1rb1mc/poten... I think it's very possible for exchanges to do this sort of thing, especially
68.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
determining "low enough" and "high enough" is what professional market-makers do all day. it's not easy.
69.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
http://showyou.com/v/y-ItfAKguEdAE/haim-bodek-hft-is-an-arti... - this possibly? Take it with a grain of salt. He claims one can just use these order types and be fast to basically print money, but glosses over th
70.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
It's an allegation. He's basically referring to Direct Edge's Hide-not-slide order type. The only equities exchange I know of that lets you jump the queue is NYSE where DMMs and floor brokers can join a level and participate
71.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
What Haim's referring to are a set of order types used on many exchanges to allow traders to place orders on a level that can't be displayed for regulatory reasons. There's nothing nefarious about them. Reg NMS prohibits exch
72.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
I'm sure some HFTs engage in event-driven strategies like this, but it's not their bread and butter. Most HFT strategies can be thought of almost like a lubricant that makes markets operate more smoothly and efficiently by moving
73.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
I would be delighted to get filled on every order I send. HFTs usually flicker quotes due to fast changes in their valuation model or software bugs combined with insufficient risk controls. Smart HFTs actually try their best to avoid sendin
74.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
If my orders get random priority I will just spray a bunch of smaller orders onto each level. Look at the Eurodollar markets. You get execution priority based on size there and traders just send massively oversized orders. Why is the goal t
75.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
The purpose of the secondary markets is to transfer risk, not to allocate capital. That may be why people take such moral outrage at things like HFT when they're really just making the market more efficient. Nobody acts like 7-11 is an
76.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
Yes and between futures, cash, and options exchanges worldwide. A market structure like this would be much more prone to gaming by sophisticated participants.
77.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
Is front-running illegal because the broker owes a duty to their client or because we want people to feel markets are fair? There are clear cases where HFT algos disadvantage poorly placed orders (e.g. lazy portfolio manager rests a huge bi
78.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
Also more and more institutional investors are using bank algos that basically act like a one-sided market-making strategy. They can actually crowd out market-making HFTs since they're willing to trade for less edge.
79.
by hft_throwaway 13y ago
This paper makes a lot of assumptions that don't make sense. He believes you can trade at the NBBO midpoint on dark pools whenever you please, both to enter and exit the trade. This is unlikely in reality. Midpoint orders are uncommon