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Technology Stocks : The *NEW* Frank Coluccio Technology Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: axial who wrote (30734)7/24/2009 11:00:05 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 46821
 
Hi Jim.

The concerns voiced in your snippet have been on my mind since '87 when the original circuit breakers were implemented on DOT trading. Location.. location.. location.. seemed even back then to be a only a future requisite, i.e., when eventually the practice matured, which was an eventuality that few paid much attention to (while others derided it out of fear, because it was seen even back then as a threat to the outcry traders and other business as usual practitioners), on a scale that it's become obvious today, until only recently. Mitigating the need for locality (geographic presence) today is the availability of collocation space for housing robots (servers) closer to the "action", but even here we wonder about the scalability of such a solution vis a vis the orchestration requirements among and between multiple, global 'centers' of exchange. This last consideration concerning locality calls to mind the Rothschild Brothers strategically situating themselves personally for foreign exchange trading in Europe's main securities and currency exchanges (Amsterdam, Paris, London, Milan) during the latter part of the Nineteenth Century.

The original messages I posted on this topic several years ago discussed some of the dynamics that I'm alluding to here, but even then it was viewed as a "druther", or slight advantage on the grander scheme of things (important to only a small cult of traders), rather than an absolute requirement. This is an area that, I'm sure, will be addressed with "remedies" proposed by the powers that be. The only remaining question I'll have at that time is whether the remedies will be substantive (indeed, is anything substantive even possible, given that we're dealing with some pretty well-rooted laws of physics here), or will they in actuality exacerbate the situation by creating even higher barriers to entry due to the infrastructural demand$ they'll place on smaller actors.

FAC

ps - I'll be off the air for a couple of days... take care

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To: axial who wrote (30734)9/25/2009 11:38:54 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio  Read Replies (4) | Respond to of 46821
 
Lexent provides custom fiber-optic network paths in NY City area suited for algorithmic, high-frequency trading apps...
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Lexent provides custom network paths
September 25, 2009 | Lightwave
Lexent Metro Connect, a provider of dark-fiber networks in the New York metropolitan area, offers custom, build-to-suit, carrier-neutral networks to provide financial companies, enterprise businesses, and carriers the opportunity to construct the shortest distance between two network points, reducing latency and enhancing reliability. [...] Lexent designs its offerings by analyzing and planning custom paths to shorten network distance, which the company says ensures the lowest-latency dark-fiber routes, with thousands of fiber miles to choose from. Lexent says shaving a few milliseconds off a dark fiber route can mean the difference between thousands of dollars on each transaction.
Cont.: lightwaveonline.com
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[fac: truth be told, it wouldn't surprise me if some point-to-point (line-of-sight) microwave shots are faster, given fiber's nominal velocity of propagation and the usual, circuitous and often hierarchically-multi-tiered hops, that most fiber paths take (since established RoW's seldom align with the flight of a crow), even in purpose-built applications ... ]

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