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High Speed Trading On Stock And Commodity Markets— From Courier Pigeons To Computers, Jerry W. Markham Oct 2014

High Speed Trading On Stock And Commodity Markets— From Courier Pigeons To Computers, Jerry W. Markham

Jerry W. Markham

A growing concern in the stock and commodity markets over the last several years has been the rise of high-frequency traders (HFTs). Those traders employ high-speed computer technology for the algorithmic origination, transmission and execution of their orders through fiber optic cables and micro wave towers. That technology allows HFT orders to be executed in times measured in fractions of a second. As a result of this technological advance, HFTs are now dominating trading volumes. This phenomenon has, on the one hand, led to claims by proponents of high-speed trading that HFTs are an important source of market liquidity and …


The Subprime Crisis--A Test Match For The Bankers: Glass-Steagall Vs. Gramm-Leach-Bliley, Jerry W. Markham Nov 2009

The Subprime Crisis--A Test Match For The Bankers: Glass-Steagall Vs. Gramm-Leach-Bliley, Jerry W. Markham

Jerry W. Markham

This article addresses the ongoing debate over whether the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (“GLBA”) laid the groundwork for the subprime crisis. The Glass-Steagall Act prohibited commercial banks from engaging in investment banking activities such as underwriting and dealing in equity securities. The GLBA removed that barrier, allowing banks to become financial supermarkets. However, the article concludes that GLBA played little if any role in the events surrounding the subprime crisis.


For Whom The Bell Tolls: The Demise Of Exchange Trading Floors And The Growth Of Ecns, Jerry W. Markham Jan 2008

For Whom The Bell Tolls: The Demise Of Exchange Trading Floors And The Growth Of Ecns, Jerry W. Markham

Jerry W. Markham

This article describes the rise and fall of exchange trading floors on exchanges in both the stock and derivatives markets. The colorful “open outcry” trading in the “pits” of the Chicago futures exchanges and the bell ringing tradition opening trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) have long dominated the public perception of how those markets operate. Those scenes are now fast becoming history as the exchanges implement radical changes to their trading practices as the result of competition from electronic communications networks (“ECNs”). That competition has already forced the NYSE and the Chicago futures exchanges …