Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I don't think there's more risk of "algos gone wild" than there is of manipulation and malevolence, as there has been forever.

Software bugs combined with human error are a source of danger though, such as in the infamous Japanese trading disaster (someone transposed the size-- 1-- and price-- ~600000 yen-- on a short-sell of an IPO, effectively giving away more shares than existed). The fail was not so much that the clerk put in a bad order, but that the exchange software wouldn't let the firm cancel it, leaving them to eat $225m in losses.



For those who are curious:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizuho_Securities

http://www.physorg.com/news8901.html

But I thought exchanges could retroactively cancel trades in some cases?




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: