that is the most ridicuulous possibility..You have to sleep sometime and do you really thing traders can sleep while a stock they own or are short might be touted otr blasted while thet are asleep..Gold, pigs, Copper and Euro-dollars can be traded 24/7 but never equites...
Ridiculous?
Maybe to a very active day trader, not well funded and working on objectives of .25 per trade on momentum stocks. Razor thin safety margins.
But for a different type of trader, 24 hour trading is very feasible.
The sleep issue is over-ridden by the fact that there may be other people at the other end of the globe who, at the particular time in question, the last thing they are thinking of doing is sleep.
Therefore, it becomes a question of:
1. Demand for the service.
2. Access to technology capable to do so.
on # 1, only time will tell, but the first signs are evident that not only is there demand for it, and a considerable one.
On # 2, ECN seems to be proving that the technology is there, access is slowly been expanded beyond the "insiders" of the game.
And people are loving it.
As for the regulators, and the issue that "the big wigs" like their sleep...
So what ? It is indeed a brave new world, the regulators have clearly seen that it is better for them to accept this new era, and at least "have their finger on the pot", rather than allow a truly rogue system which will eventually lure the traders that want 24 hour access anyway.
And the big wigs.... so they better find different sleeping patterns, or more logically, team up with those who are not asleep at different times.
Imagine a 4 x 400 relay race... each "team" races for 400 meters... (call it an 8 hour stretch).... in this case 3 teams, will cover the 24 hours, plus a fourth one for "overlaps" and research. Location of your team, is important, but clearly not a real issue. They will figure out a way.
Besides, far more ridiculous things have already taken place, and continue to take place, so even if one were to accept your sleep argument, the demand for the service alone, combined with the technology capable of executing it, will allow it to happen.
Don't you think that market participants in the currency markets, (well over a trillion dollars worth of business, per day), would not want to give equities "their fair share".... I would imagine so.
Indeed, there is a theory out there, (I read about it about 2 or 3 years ago), that the currency traders may have to find another job, since in the future there would only be "blocks of currencies", i.e. "The Euro", The Dollar (for all of the Americas), and some form of Asian block currency. In effect making currency trading obsolete in their current format, thus, if this were to happen, then 24 hour equity trading would be the most likely replacement for their livelihood.
The currency markets, (in effect "open 24 hours a day"), is the best argument against the idea that 24 hours access to equity markets would not work.
Personally I do not believe the idea of currency blocks will ever succeed. More feasible is that the US Dollar will eventually become the "world currency".
This assumes that the current scenario in which the US is viewed as a safety heaven by most countries... even its worse enemies, when it comes to economic stability.
While in itself that is a differnet subject, 24 hour trading would strengthen the case for the dollar becoming the "de facto" world currency.
Think in terms, of Disneyland.... The US dollar is THE Mickey Mouse dollar, i.e. legal tender in Disney World, the USA is the information and access booth, where you can buy it. Once you buy it, you can get the ride of your life without fear of "devaluations".
24 hour trading simply means that the gate is open all day, it is up to you what ride you will get on... and get off... Any time.
You may have to sleep, but that does not mean the rest of the world will follow your clock, rhythm, and tempo. They have their own. |
