Thin trading. Olso Børse cløses early

26 comments / July 2, 2012

We all face the same problem. Volumes in the market are under pressure, even big swings in the stockmarket won’t spark the good old trading. Some firms such as Getco have been forced to cut some staff. Nothing new here, regular economic ebb and flow.

However, something strange is happening near the polar circle. And it isn’t even close to Christmas. The Norwegian exchange Olso Børse decided to cut the opening hours. As from August 6th, the equity and derivative exchange will shut the doors at 16:30. This trial period will last six months.

Not much trading anyway, and concentrating the volume in just a few hours could improve liquidity. In addition, this will allow companies and brokers “to focus on fundraisings outside exchange opening hours”. Maybe. Guess the Norwegians run the risk of isolating themselves from the trading venues in the rest of the world. But this Scandinavian country, they have got the oil.

Nevertheless an interesting move in a time with almost round-the-clock trading. Some people in Oslo will have more time for their hobbies soon. Fishing. Cooking. I would prefer opening an hour later, though.

French television discover evil traders

86 comments / June 24, 2012

Mainstream journalists usually miss the ball when reporting on financial trading. In France this is probably even worse. Time for a piece of infotainment from the French national television on those evil high frequency traders. Tune in for Cash Investigation.

Some of the most notorious traders manipulating the world in a Goldman Sachs-like fashion are based in good old Amsterdam. Right on one of our pittoresque canals we find Market Wizards. Filmed with undercover camera and faces blurred – boy, this looks suspicious. A financial Peter R de Vries from France.

Honestly, those traders at Market Wizards are as far from high frequency trading as one can get. Old school trading with their own capital. Kept up with the automated trading techniques, but not a financial powerhouse trading at the speed of light. Good reputation for smart trades and organizing the yearly poker tournament for charity.

The modest incident one of their traders has been fined for, dates from the stone age. Six years ago without any use of automated systems.

If Market Wizards is into HFT, I’m the Washington Post. See from min 52.20 the item on Market Wizards. Followed by an interview with Remco Lenterman. The former GS banker working for IMC and part of the lobby group FIA EPTA.

And yes, everything is in French:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLrq9GIH8cU

EEX wins football tournament

0 comments / June 17, 2012

God is a fan of the financials. Saturday the Financial Football Tournament was held on a bright sunny day. The Germans have won the title.

EEX, which is an acronym for the European Energy Exchange, won the final with 2-0 from Scrocca. To make matters worse for the rest of the field, the Leipzig based exchange even sent in some female players. Not only for their looks, but playing well and contributing with some goals. Not in the final, though.

Behind finalists EEX and Scrocca, the other teams topping the list at the end of the day were IMC, Caerus, Optiver and Binck.

Football and other financial news

19 comments / June 14, 2012

Threw my orange jersey in the garbage can. After the painful defeat against the Germans, there’s more important football on our schedule. Not in a distant Soviet state, but in the cozy village of Abcoude the ninth edition of the Financial Football Tournament will be held.

The well known trading software provider ORC has stepped in as a sponsor for the tournament, along with long term sponsor Eurex. Here’s the matrix with participating teams. Optiver decided to pull back one of their teams last minute. The cricket enthusiasts apparently are going for the title. Most of the fourteen teams consist of the usual suspects, but new teams this year are Euroclear and EEX.

All Options hiring again

For another year we have to do without All Options. However, this may change next season as Allard has fixed his boat and is hiring again. Switching their core business from stock options to algo arbitrage, they are looking for a new managing director. However, I still count on All Options to quote the new options on Douwe Egberts.

Flow for sale

Another household name unable to assemble a soccer team, Flow Trading. Slightly in a different situation than All Options – the directors and investor Summit have hired Lazard to find a buyer.

Other HFT news

The Chicago based Getco has been cutting staff. Around 40 people have been shown the door, as thin trading volumes are hurting them. That’s a whole new experience. When speed becomes a commodity other sharks want a piece of the cake.

Ronin Capital, relatively new and unknown, made very healthy profits in Europe. The trader which erroneously fired 31.000 mistrades to the market earlier this year is doing pretty well.

Last and least, more depth and commentary on shutting down IMC’s Hong Kong office.

IMC shuts down Hong Kong

654 comments / May 25, 2012

Heard it through the grapevine, wasn’t able to double check this rumor on IMC Financial Markets. Don’t take it as a hard confirmed fact just yet, but the following story has been buzzing around. It’s short:

IMC Financial Markets has shut down their Hong Kong office. Everybody is fired. Operations move to Sydney.

Would fit nicely in their bold tradition of axing staff. At least I hope their weekend school in Hong Kong remains untouched. The reason for relocating their regional headquarter would be they felt better at ease in the Australian culture.

To be continued.

Confirmed

The offices in Sydney and Hong Kong will be merged into the Sydney office. The Hong Kong activities will be carried on from there. A number of HK people will be employed in Sydney.

Tom Voute may continue weekendschool

IMC has a commitment for continuation of the Hong Kong Sundayschool. Former IMC employee, Tom Voute and his company Algorithmic Trading Group have already expressed an interest in helping out.

Amsterdamtrader