Brainteaser You drive 60 miles at an average speed of 30 mph. How fast would you need to drive the same 60 miles back home to average 60 mph over the entire trip?
Market Update Indian Elections The great hedge fund unwind FOMC minutes: slightly dovish (damage control after the “6 months” comment)
Algorithms & High Frequency Trading Rise of the machines
Algorithmic Trading Write code to have your computer trade for you based on a series of rules – Time, price, quantity Two major types of algorithms – Execution – Discretionary
Execution Trading Main functions include – Getting the best entry prices – “Hiding” the order A few methods – TWAP – VWAP
Discretionary Have a series of rules that tells you when to buy/sell securities Price action based: most common and widespread – Supports/resistances, momentum, other price action “rules” Fundamental based: quant modeling
Calibration & Back-Testing
High Frequency Trading Colocation Order priority Liquidity rebates A business model
Market Makers vs. Clients Strategic Differences
Flash Crashes Fat fingers
Criticism of HFT Asymmetric information (arguable) False liquidity Knight Capital implosion Tight bid/ask Pros/Cons
Soullessness has its uses Execution Algorithms