The New York Stock Exchange is on life support as profits get creamed by plummeting trading volume â exactly two years after the electronic Flash Crash sent the storied mart into a near-death spiral. Trading executives fear the clock is finally ticking for the cityâs most famous financial landmark â the workplace for 1,200 floor traders whoâve weathered a brutal decade-long decimation in their ranks. âIâm 100 percent glad I am no longer on the floor,â retired NYSE broker Paul Olsen told The Post. âI donât know whatâs going to happen next. I think the floorâs time is really limited.â Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/trading_isn_nyse_qQRukxDeMCY8fTpwDuttXO#ixzz1uBmxLoVg
With the HFTs hogging the spreads so much, the only escape is into higher time-frames and lower frequency trading. Sure that means less volume and those guys may as well be left playing with themselves, all alone with nobody to screw. It's a predatorial business but if you overkill the prey, you go down as well. The exchange wanted quick profits from the deals they made. Nobody could calculate or predict the immensly complex dynamics of what happens to the market when such a structure exists for an extended period of time. Greed and short-sightedness.
NYSE should have remained a non profit institution. and the article is dumb, it keeps talking about the flash crash as if that has anything to do with anything..
As a former Trader on the Floor of the NYSE, I am deeply saddened by the demisee of this institution. For over two hundred years, this was the best place in the world to work. We watched the volume and volatility grow thru the 1980's and the introduction of derivatives and increased volume and volatility during the 1990's. The move to decimals began the fractionalization of the marketplace and ultimately the beginning of the end of the Auction Market. I supposed Dark pools have a place in the marketplace to preserve Investor's anonymity. However, they need to be regulated, post trades and pay exchange fees like everyone else.
As far as a 44% erosion in profits of NYSE , please remember if you back out the charge for the failed merger it is more like 17%. Article talks of heyday on NYSE , but fails to correlate the fact that in it's heyday with 90% retention of market share in it's own stocks THE NYSE was only competing with 4 or 5 regional exchanges . As opposed to now when they are competing with 13 or 14 ECNS and numerous dark pools that are adverse to fees. It is a shame that an institution with such tradition and so important in enhancing the American dream has not found a way to ward off these high tech assaults .
Just like how everything was dandy in America up until the gold standard was removed. Then everything began its steady decline. Not. The move to decimals has done nothing but stir up stupid nostalgia by some My goodness
Things were better back in the days. before this fancy computer stuff. Back then you made your trade, the kid would pick up the physical certificates and deliver them to the cage, sign and endorse. Back in the days we traded real physical paper. You trade 100 shares of GE, those shares move from one cage to the next. now its all this blinkenlights and stuff no one ever sees physical paper. So who knows what really exists.
When the NYSE was a virtual monopoly, everything was great. Now they have to compete. It's called capitalism.
Although it is great to reminisce , one must conclude that the NYSE was lax in it's attempt to compete ..... they had access to all the so called big wigs on capital hill , yet did not use those resources ...... tech is here to stay , I am sure you can find away with those deep pockets to mix best price and speed and come up with hybrid solution if you are NYSE thinktank