I just had a "too much coffee vision" that goes like this.
As most don't realize, the NY exchanges, Chicago and Philadelphia have been automated far more than any realize. Partly as an over reaction to y2k, but mostly just because its possible, the computer companies have secretly fully automated the system so it can bypass human input completely.
Those pictures you see of CNBC's Maria on the trading floor are just an act, there is nothing being done, they are all actors.. some hired to look worried, some hired to bump into her in a frenzy of note pads and ticker, some hired to pontificate on TV and to news media.
Each day a part of the markets' script is played out like a soap opera compelling the public to buy and sell stock, but more importantly to let us feel vitally connected to the purchase and utilization of goods and services.
Turnover is the most important feature of a modern industrial state. Intel and Detroit are masters of this form, convincing us last years Pentium 400 is much too slow now, and that 45,000 miles is the proper time to roll over into a new lease. Turnover is the heartbeat of America.
At this moment, a lone custodian is cleaning the center console display complex on the floor of the exchange. He has his bottle of Windex and a roll of Bounty doing his work with extra care in this modern cathedral of capitalism. He notes a heavy electrical panel behind a walnut veneer door with brass hinges is ajar. Curious, he looks around the empty room as large as Grand Central Station, then opens the door.
A single red button and a single green button, marked "stop market" and "start market" stare back at him. He notes the green button has an ink smudge. He sprays it with a little Windex and reaches forward to clean it.
Within the vast electronic space of the world's largest stage, within the billions of wires and fiber optic cables connecting bank vaults, government treasuries, foreign exchanges and every share at every price... the system stirs to life and begins trading Tuesday's script.
|
