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Mysterious Algorithm Was 4% of Trading Activity Last Week

Posted by Soulskill on from the robot-overlords-doing-a-test-run dept.

concealment sends this excerpt from CNBC: "A single mysterious computer program that placed orders — and then subsequently canceled them — made up 4 percent of all quote traffic in the U.S. stock market last week, according to the top tracker of high-frequency trading activity. The motive of the algorithm is still unclear. The program placed orders in 25-millisecond bursts involving about 500 stocks, according to Nanex, a market data firm. The algorithm never executed a single trade, and it abruptly ended at about 10:30 a.m. ET Friday."

1 of 617 comments (clear)

  1. Shields Up! Red Alert! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Sir, the alien algorithm that has been placing 500 requests in 25-millisecond bursts has now completely stopped.

    Captain, perhaps this is not an attempt to make first contact: The abrupt termination of activity does not appear to indicate a communication attempt. It is most likely that our system has been scanned by the algorithm to find areas of weakness. Though their motives are unknown, we do know that similar practices were involved in the High Frequency Trading War of the late the 21st Century. Such actions are now Universally understood to be hostile. The probability that the alien algorithm will not escalate its activity are one in four billion, two-hundred-ninety-four million, nine-hundred-sixty-seven thousa---

    ENOUGH, DATA! I won't stand idly by while the safety of my crew is jeopardized by the deliverers of this "mysterious program". FIRE PHOTON TORPEDOES Full Spread!