This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
More Observations On Market Manipulation Masking As "Providing Liquidity"
And this time it is not those nutcases over at Zero Hedge making the claim, but the reputable New York Times, a place where even more reputable Mexican billionaires go to provide rescue financing. The NYT discloses how Chicago-based traders (what is it with Chicago style [blank] - first in politics (no comment needed there), and now in every story about market manipulation) Optiver, may have been openly gaming the commodities market using HFT strategies:
Its superfast, supersecret oil trading software was called the Hammer.
And if the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is right, the name fit well with an intricate scheme that allowed commodity traders in Chicago working for Optiver, a little-known company based in Amsterdam, to put their orders first in line and subtly manipulate the price of oil to the company’s advantage.
Transcripts and taped conversations of actions that took place in 2007, included in the commission’s case, reveal the secretive workings of high-frequency trading, a fast-growing Wall Street business that is suddenly drawing scrutiny in Washington. Critics say this high-speed form of computerized trading, which is used in a wide range of financial markets, enables its practitioners to profit at other investors’ expense.
And the punchline that is sure to set defenders of HFT fuming:
Traders in the Chicago office of Optiver openly talked among themselves of “whacking” and “bullying up” the price of oil. But when called to account by officials of the New York Mercantile Exchange, they described their actions as just "providing liquidity."
Ah, the ever generic fallback, and the corollary: markets will be expensive, bid ask spreads will be sky high, etc., etc. Yet if the alternative is a market where firms such as Optiver (a list that includes many other Wall Street scions, as frequent Zero Hedge readers are well aware) can allegedly not manipulate the market, maybe the trade off is not so bad. But that would of course risk the market collapsing to such values where it has to reflect true economic fundamentals (somewhere much lower from current market values), and, as Rosie pointed out, with mid-term elections coming up, we just can't have that.
A little more from the NYT on HFT and the noble provisioning of liquidity:
In the cutthroat world of high-frequency trading, success is a function of speed, secrecy and often a bit of intrigue. Few have been more adroit at these arts than Optiver.
Optiver describes itself as one of the world’s leading liquidity providers, a trading firm that uses its own capital to make markets. It seeks to profit on razor-thin price differences — which can be as small as half a penny — by buying and selling stocks, bonds, futures, options and derivatives. (Derivatives represent about 65 percent of its business, equities 25 percent, and commodities and others make up the remaining 10 percent.)
But the extent to which market making (providing liquidity to markets that need it) and proprietary trading (the pursuit of pure profit with a firm’s own money) can properly coexist has become a thorny question for regulators. They are grappling with an exploding business that makes up as much as half the overall trading in the United States and a growing share in Europe as well.
Yet the concept of HFT market manipulation is nothing new:
During a tense conference call in 2007, Thomas Lasala, the chief regulator for Nymex, made his doubts clear about Optiver’s trading strategies.
“The market seems to move in reaction to your orders,” he said, according to a transcript of the conversation. “And I don’t think that is a market-making strategy.
So is this practice isolate to Optiver and commodities?
It could well be that Optiver’s cowboy trading tactics are unique to the company. But as concern grows over the effect that high-octane computerized trading is having on markets worldwide, Optiver’s conduct in the oil futures market raises questions as to whether the relentless competition of this business is forcing companies to engage in similar practices.
“These are proprietary trading shops that are masquerading as market makers,” said Tim Quast of Modern IR, a consulting firm that advises corporations on market structure issues.
Thank you Tim for pointing out the obvious.
So how does one become a master of market manipulation (assuming a preliminary ding for the ever more coveted position of Chief Trader at the New York Fed of course), and more importantly what are the perks:
Given the vicious competition that exists in the industry, Optiver and other companies have become creative in attracting the smartest people in finance. The dress code is aggressively casual. The company provides free breakfasts, lunches and Friday afternoon drinks, as well as chair massages.
And in one recruiting Web video (no longer online), an Optiver trader sitting before four giant trading screens is seen ogling two skimpily clad women as they sit on his thighs.
To enjoy these professional fruits, applicants need to subject themselves to three math-based tests to test facility with numbers and the ability to think clearly under pressure. For one of the tests, 80 questions must be answered in under 8 minutes. Sample questions include 0.034 times 0.2, or, if you have a cube made of 10 by 10 smaller cubes, how many are facing the outside?
What about boats? It is conventional wisdom that all market manipulators are in dire need of boats (presumably to facilitate a Fed raid escape using a city's sewer system). At Optiver, boats are aplenty:
In one exchange, Christopher Dowson, head of trading in Optiver’s Chicago office and the mastermind behind the oil strategy, bragged to another employee about how he had bought a new speed boat with his share of the returns.
"With these profits, might have to get a bigger one," he said.
And in another, Mr. Dowson acknowledges that Optiver was so aggressive in conducting its proprietary trades in some smaller stocks that their activities “were as big as the volume traded on the day."
So why the sudden explosion of all those defending HFT? Could it be that there is something truly ulterior hiding behind this generous liquidity provisioning strategy?
It is precisely this — high-powered computers and the swagger of those who operate them — that is causing worries over high-frequency trading’s increasing sway.
“The markets used to be about capital formation,” said Mr. Quast, the consultant. “Now 80 percent of trading is driven by some form of statistical arbitrage. We are buying into a statistical house of cards that could unravel very quickly.”
After all, when the entire economy is based on Ponzi principles, it is only fitting that the "free and efficient market" is also another pyramid construct. And do not for a minute make the gullible assumption that the SEC, which years ago was acquired in a less then merger-of-equals transaction by Wall Street, will ever do anything to moderate the blatant market manipulation that provides billions in profits to the few sophisticated enough to profit from it, whether it be firms like Optiver, or their much, much bigger peers, many operating out of the southern tip of Manhattan (and other places including famous New York university towns, as well as, of course, Chicago).
And with that, cue in the defenders of "liquidity provisioning" in 3...2...1...
PS - The clip below, courtesy of Ed Cormack, brings new meaning to the phrase "robot trading"
»
- 10895 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
the reputable New York Times
LOL Tyler; not since; lets say; early 80's
Well; at least in my book.
Lets keep regional pride out of the equation.
There are dozens of firms like this in and around Chitown, and probably 100's in the big apple....hidden as prop houses -furiously hiring software developers (from GS) trying to get into the act...but alas, it looks like it will be too late for them.
Because, HFT posing as "liquidity" is a ridiculous claim.
If it was only liquidity, net margins would be small- they are not. Maybe per transaction they are small, but they are large, per adjusted risk.
excess profit is being taken out of the system, based only on, and because of, insider price information. Which might not be a problem for liquidity providing mkt makers, but this is coming at a cost of price stability, and sustainability- Increasing volatility.
regardless of what the VIX supposedly says.
Market makers, providing liquidity, should be more concerned about stability of prices, because eventually, higher and higher volatility, will create an unsustainable price/ feedback loop. Based not on value- but on price alone.
That, in turn , will eventually break under its own weight. damaging the marketplace for all. Here is the real damage we face
But hell, as long as "I get mine first-screw the market" , is still in vogue by CEO, Government, and HFT...
- these trends will continue- until they all of a sudden stop.
Couldn't have said it better!
Lets keep regional pride out of the equation.
There are dozens of firms like this in and around Chitown, and probably 100's in the big apple....hidden as prop houses -furiously hiring software developers (from GS) trying to get into the act...but alas, it looks like it will be too late for them.
Because, HFT posing as "liquidity" is a ridiculous claim.
If it was only liquidity, net margins would be small- they are not. Maybe per transaction they are small, but they are large, per adjusted risk.
excess profit is being taken out of the system, based only on, and because of, insider price information. Which might not be a problem for liquidity providing mkt makers, but this is coming at a cost of price stability, and sustainability- Increasing volatility.
regardless of what the VIX supposedly says.
Market makers, providing liquidity, should be more concerned about stability of prices, because eventually, higher and higher volatility, will create an unsustainable price/ feedback loop. Based not on value- but on price alone.
That, in turn , will eventually break under its own weight. damaging the marketplace for all. Here is the real damage we face
But hell, as long as "I get mine first-screw the market" , is still in vogue by CEO, Government, and HFT...
- these trends will continue- until they all of a sudden stop.
0...But they provide liquidity
To themselves. Which they buy high speed boats with.
It's got electrolytes! It's what plants crave.
... those nutcases over at Zero Hedge. Too funny.
The worse is over. For the upcoming calander we have worser, soon to be followed by worsest.
So does that mean that the white house will have to adjust their 'green shoot lingo' to include not only 'less worse', but also 'less worser' and 'less worsest'?
imagine the sentences coming out of CNBC shils; " Today's job numbers were less worser than expected. A survey conducted among 50 analyst has shown a consensus to be on less worsest than better. This is a clear sign that the recession is over and that the pattern is bullish. And now; for our special segment; we give you an inside look into the world of gay midget pornography."
LOL
I love how they revise (aka worsen) the actual numbers a month later when nobody is looking.
bess see your world of gay midget pornography and ups it....
http://dealbreaker.com/2009/09/dennis-kneale-thinks-ashley-du.php
OH.NO.HE.DI'N'T ! * snaps fingers *
CB: bess is a chick (in every sense of the word).
no; i meant DK having story on that ( i don't know why that surprises me )
Is it just me; or does anyone else have a strong need to smash his face with a sledge hammer ( DKs that is ) ?
Hey cheeky,
I didn't see any articles from Ms. Chandra on Bloomberg with one of her Orwellian headliners either, dang it!
That women would paint a pretty picture on nuclear holocaust and cannibalism if they were to happen. I hate optimists and/or liars.
Maybe the computers are lying to their owners about the orders. How would they know? How are you going to check something making a decision every nanosecond. Software is taking over the world.
Take that Arthur "the shill" Levitt! Who on Bloomberg lamely defended HFT as "adding liquidity" Yeah liquidity but not for the customers yachts! BTW unbelievable I received my ZH TShirt a mere 40 hours after ordering. Now that's what I call High Frequency Fufillment! Thanks perfect for holiday wearing in the Atlantic City casinos where at least the suckers get a "free" drink.
Why not make a hit list of these firms? It's time for the cockaroaches to see the light. There are the small 'trading' shops like Optiver and Getco (and how many more in Chicago? Jump/Spot/Sun/...) and the banks. Which hedge funds fit in this group? Paging Dr Shaw ...
Maybe by offering a list, the reputable newspaper(s) and media can start to dig into the details and see what they can uncover.
Ah yes, the classic logical fallacy. You're getting quite good at constructing them, TD.
So, you've found an HFT firm engaged in market manipulation. Therefore all HFT firms are market manipulators!
By that logic, if I were to, say, find a blogger convicted (or even just suspected, your standard of proof is quite lax) of murder, I could reasonably conclude that all bloggers are murderers.
...well that wasn't too difficult:
http://digg.com/general_sciences/Inside_the_mind_of_a_killer:_Kevin_Underwood_s_blog_is_still_live_
Thus I conclude that TD is a murderer.
And with this, cue in TD's "claim of innocence" in 3...2...1...
The claim is not that *all* HFT firms are engaging in market manipulation. The strongest claim is simply that in aggregate HFT can introduce new structural risks of significant impact into the market.
I think it's also a strong claim that if creating, or providing positive feedback (er, liquidity) for, these 'structural risks' provides more opportunity for arbitrage profits, such will be the norm rather than the exception when it comes to the behavior of individual firms.
The burden of proof lies with those who would assert that it is either more profitable, or more capitalistically moral (er, efficient) to deny oneself such opportunities and 'keep it clean' in terms of ensuring that one's transactions don't systematically affect market outcomes.
In plain English: Gee, we wouldn't really take the cookie from the jar. We're just shuffling the cookies around in there. Please don't watch.
I believe it is almost the norm now. Such 'meta-strategies' modeling collective human traders (and algo based on human strategy) are effective when the majority of participant dollars are the entities being modeled. Once the human/fundies give up then we will need meta-meta-strategies in order to model the behavior of a model of behavior of which the original participants have since moved on. Maybe 2 generations after that these quant funds will come up with a dominant strategy arb that involves modeling a company's cashflows. Meta^6 full circle.
TD has not proven that he did not murder anyone, therefore, he is a murderer.
[n(nP ------> nQ)] --------> r
(P-------->Q) ---------> r
1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 0
1 1 0 1 1
1 1 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 1
0 0 1 1 0
0 1 0 1 1
0 1 0 1 0
nope; you are wrong; both modus ponendo tollens and modus tollendo ponens are valid and in reductio ad absurdum there is no contradiction so your logic is not very good. Insofar in the truth table you have one relation ( 0 -----> 1) which is not true ( denoted by 0, truth denoted by 1 ) and that proves that your statement is not true.
lol... we clearly have to find you a hobby that can defuse some of that caffeine-induced mathematical frenzy...
you should see the walls in my living room. 9 (6x2)m chalkboards and a shit load of chalk. As i said before; Paul Erdos said: " A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems " And this is philosophical logic; not mathematics. But nevertheless a usefull thing when it comes to reasoning in an idiomatic context.
and obviously you can se that 5th modus ponens is invalid, and therefore the entire truth table does not satisfy the rule that ALL relations in a truth table MUST be valid in modus ponens for the statement to be true.
No. If a firm can use HFT to manipulate the market, then any firm can manipulate the market given that it has access to the same resources (which many firms do). The problem, you see, is with a system that allows for an unfair advantage. The market is supposed to provide fair access to all participants. If some of those participants game the market, the market, at best, loses its purpose and, at worst, allows for theft to put it mildly.
TD is not saying that all HFT firms unfairly/illegally exploit the market. But rather, those that do, Are Allowed To Do So at the expense of others without any consequence or legal action.
You people (HFT traders and supporters) are disgusting leeches on the US economy. I am actively moving out of stocks entirely and having all my family and friends do the same until we have a free market again. Until then you leeches can have the game to yourselves; ultimately you will be playing in and with your own shiiit!
You're right, we should probably let all firms police themselves.
Oh wait....dammit!
I reasonably conclude you can eat shit. Cockroaches scurrying away from the light. . .
the punchline- "Traders in the Chicago office of Optiver openly talked among themselves of “whacking” and “bullying up” the price of oil. But when called to account by officials of the New York Mercantile Exchange, they described their actions as just "providing liquidity."- does not have me fuming at all. When Morgan Stanley's stock was about to be added to the midcap index in the 90's they told the midcap futures pit broker that the firm used to buy and just keep buying if the index fell below a certain level.
You can manipulate over the short term whether the trading occurs in a pit or servers. The market can be obliviouos to economic reality regardless of where the trading takes place. When the S&P 500 was drastically overpriced in 2000 there was not much HFT going on. When tulipmania swept Amsterdam there was not much HFT going on.
If there were some secret deal with the bailed out investment banks where they would pump up optimism in exchange for their bailout and drive the market higher would this be impossible without HFT? I think that Goldman could convince their mutual fund clients that they'd better not miss that second derivative rally whether they ran an HFT operation or just bought like mad over the phone and sent orders into a trading pit.
I think that's largely true, but the optics are still awfully bad. "Bullying up" could easily be to 2009 as "Grandma Millie" was to 2000.
IMHO the HFT platform is simply the latest greatest tool used for manipulation. More efficient, much faster and easier to change on the fly.
Or in a wonderful twist on the word manipulate, it's easier to manipulate the manipulating tool. And less humans to pay off.
The problem with all of this is how do you stop someone like Goldman from coming in and crushing it when you are manipulating it up? It's not like they have a trillion dollars to push it around. If you are bidding a 1000 lot to lift the market, and you get hit and it trades a dollar lower, there is your million dollars risked to make 5 ticks on a 50 lot every once in a while.
I suspect (and would like to find a way to better police) that some of what is being called HFT is actually behavioral algorithms that try to suck peolpe into the market. It just seems pretty tough to do.
Soros used to put on really large S&P positions and then leak that he was buying so that people on the floor would buy too. He would keep buying. The guys in the pit would start buying and everyone else would have to chase the market (this was hearsay but it always followed lot of buying through the same broker). It would take several days for this to send the market higher. Now it might be done in half an hour.
The problem with HFT is not that it exists but that it is allowed for only select number of firms. Of course, if the strategy was open to all, HFT would be moot. Being allowed to go to the front of the trading order qeue, as mentioned in the NYT articles, couldn't happen if everyone could do it. My question is: how are the lucky selected few chosen to engage in HFT by the exchanges?
HFT is open to all. Obviously you need some capital beyond that feel free to blow yourself up (financially speaking that is).
How can HFT be open to all? If it was open to all, how could there be an order qeue? From the NYT article, HFTs are able to get in front of the qeue. Obviously, there are those (the rest of us) forced to wait in the qeue and a privileged few able to get ahead of the qeue after looking at the order book.
1. There has to be an order queue. It's how order matching works.
2. HFTs are not able to get ahead of the queue. They wait just like everyone else. Than can use speed to try to be early in the queue, but they can not get ahead after looking at the book.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/business/24trading.html?_r=2&ref=business
"Loopholes in market rules give high-speed investors an early glance at how others are trading."
"The slower traders began issuing buy orders. But rather than being shown to all potential sellers at the same time, some of those orders were most likely routed to a collection of high-frequency traders for just 30 milliseconds — 0.03 seconds — in what are known as flash orders. While markets are supposed to ensure transparency by showing orders to everyone simultaneously, a loophole in regulations allows marketplaces like Nasdaq to show traders some orders ahead of everyone else in exchange for a fee."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/business/global/04optiver.html?pagewan...
"The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened up an investigation into high-speed-trading practices, in particular the ability of some of the most powerful computers to jump to the head of the trading queue and — in a fraction of a millisecond — capture the evanescent trading spread before the rest of the market does."
That's not getting ahead in the queue, it's being willing to pay a higher price. Anyone can do that. All orders at the same price are queued based on time. HFTs get no priority and can not jump ahead.
And the "fee" that allows HFTs to see flash orders is just the subscriber fee to that exchange. That is an option available to anyone in the world if they want to subscribe.
Don't believe everything the media tells you. I have yet to see anything that correctly describes flash orders, or how HFTs use them.
Td, here´s the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ8jhp2Fr10
good luck
There's this Optiver video too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP2EhXS7fB0
You do da landerin, we'll handle da math. You pass da loss, we'll handle da casshh. Dats da Chicago way.
Your comment about Rosenberg and not having the markets fall for the mid term elections is right on. The only question is how "they" are going to do this. There is no question that a second stimulus is off the table. Maybe throw another bone -"cash for clunker" - to the consumer. Compared to the bone thrown to the banks it is only a pittance, but hey it can buy votes. In any case, any support for the markets and Wall Street --and there likely will be -will have be done with great stealthiness. It is only a matter of what vehicle it will be delivered.
By mid-term elections we will be into "cash for expired leftovers from your refrigerator"... allowing you to trade in your 'expired leftovers' for a limited selection of healthy foods with lower calorie counts from Wal-Mart or Target.
That will only work when food production is outsourced in whole to China.
A gambler's den is not a level playing field. The house, for its own business advantage, gives certain advantages to the big players. This makes trading even more of a negative sum game. But now, for the cumulative average investor, the negative flows are overwhelming and decreases the odds of an average investor making any profits. Soon, it will just be the big players fighting with each other. An average investor will abandon the casino unless all the abuses are fixed.
Leave it to NYT to offload attention onto Chicago. Keep the conversation out of our backyard.
HFT is automated collusion. From what I've read about these algos they are described as "complimentary" to each other so you train your algo to collude with other algos, the fix is in, the computer did it! Google always plays this crap when they are questioned on the "democracy" of their search results.. "our algorithms did it, blah blah" but no algo runs itself, it is entirely trained and deployed by humans.
“These are proprietary trading shops that are masquerading as market makers,” said Tim Quast of Modern IR, a consulting firm that advises corporations on market structure issues.
Someone explain what the difference is between "market makers" and "proprietary trading." Hint: after you finished stating the length of time a position is generally *expected* to be held, it is the exact same thing. Put down the blog and pick up a co-located server and lets see how good you are. This HFT crap is a canard,,, not two investors are equal.
To me prop trading is speculating on market direction. Market making is trying to make smal bid-ask spread profits. Both can be very short term
Market making is selling x at $1, speculating that you can then buy x at $0.99 within mins/secs/milliseconds. Prop trading is selling x at $1, speculating that you can buy x at $0.75 in hours, days, weeks. Neither is guaranteed, both can be extremely profitable or miserable. Either way, your money is on the line.
-anon
yes, both involve risk since the return is higher than the t-bill. One contininually makes a two sided market. The other, not always (or often). This may have changed since my days in the pit but there are scalpers and there are directional traders.
Proprietary trading is trading using one's own proprietary account. There are no outside customers, and no outside customer money. The definition of proprietary trading says nothing about the trading strategy.
certain functions should not be under the same roof
Here are just some of the benefits enjoyed by Optiver's people:
Work/Life Balance Benefits:- Casual dress. You'll never spend a weekend ironing again!
- We provide breakfast and lunch, either at no cost or at very low cost. This is often eaten in the shared breakout spaces so people can reconnect after a busy morning or just have a chance to get away from their desks.
- Refrigerators are stocked with a variety of free snacks and drinks
- Café-style coffee machines
- Free games room. Our new offices have designated game rooms. You can play pool, ping pong, fuse ball or other games that take your fancy.
- Thank Goodness It's Friday events. Held in the games room, a drink and some good company is a great way to unwind and prepare for the weekend.
- Annual Optiver trip. Each year the Optiver offices select a venue for our annual Optiver trip. We spend a relaxing weekend taking in the sun/snow/surf depending on the venue, and do a bit of team-building at the same time.
- Social events. Optiver offers a myriad of social events that are both team-based and company-wide. These include our Christmas party, cocktail party, poker tournaments and other smaller scale team events.
- Weekly massages. To keep our people feeling relaxed and comfortable, we offer a weekly in-chair massage service.
- Sport facilities
- Insurances and Superannuation Benefits
Relocation Package- Support of a professional relocation agency
- Relocation allowance
- Optiver housing for the first two months
- Relocation arrangements like support with your visa
Optiver's Offering of Training BenefitsIn addition to Optiver Academy, our employees also enjoy specific job benefits related to their training and development. These include:
We are constantly reviewing our benefit schemes to maintain an enjoyable and relaxed environment for our employees, and to keep a fresh and different outlook on engaging our staff and keeping them satisfied.
http://www.optiver.com/working-at-optiver/benefits/
Why would anyone allow the exchanges to be self-policing entities to start with?
Given that, has the SEC done any better?
Oh wait, Mary is "taking a look" into HFT... it's all better now.
I see the future. No more human traders. The market is becoming one complex global video game. I need to enroll at IT Tech and get a programming degree. Then I can convert my PS3 into a highly efficent HFT machine all the while watching Wall Street in Blu-Ray HD and getting paid.
Dude, whaddya mean my Halo arena server is actually running HFT algos and those 'other players' are actually other fund positions?
Shut up and pass the energy drink. Pull down the shades. Need to see the screen better.
...................................
when it comes to manipulating prices, capital is much more important than speed.
GOOD NEWS!!! There is finally a great movie out about stock market manipulation, the SEC, and short selling called: "Stock Shock." Amazon has it or stockshockmovie.com has a trailer.
Looks good. Can't wait to see it.
"The Money Masters" explains why our economic system is fraudulant at its core and makes the revised history of the US clearer.
"Fabled Enemies" explains what happened at 9/11
"Debt of the Dictators" explains how the IMF indebts 3rd world countries and keeps them indebted makes global history make more sense.
Holy fuck!
I can't wait to run across that smug little bastard when his precious Oz is reduced to a wasteland, populated by wrestlers, geaheads and weird survivalists searching for 'the juice'... AND MAKE HIM MY PUNK ASS BITCH.
SNAP!
Sample questions include 0.034 times 0.2, or, if you have a cube made of 10 by 10 smaller cubes, how many are facing the outside?
Dude, those questions are freaking easy.... 34 x 10^-4 x 2 x 10^-1 durrrrrrrr = 68 x 10^-5
Goddamn, maybe I should get a job where a computer does all my work, screw this Gann shit.
On the other hand, great to know that basic Australian mathematics = Complex American. Go USA!
Ohhh second one was a trick question, cubes can be made up of equivalent sized smaller cubes in different numbers 1, 4, 9, 16.... ie squares.... can't have a cube made of 10 geometrically equivalent cubes.
Sigh... I overthink math questions........... 10x10x6 would be correct if each face was 10x10, but then the total number of cubes would be 1000 with 100 on each face, but if the 10x10 was related to the size of the cube, then the answer would still be fictious because the number of cubes could be unlimited.
488
A 10x10x10 cube is one more layer than an 8x8x8 cube. So 10x10x10 - 8x8x8 = 488.
There's this youtube video too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP2EhXS7fB0
I drank too much last night when i posted my declaration, so, tonight, i take it back...but, i may just post my post again and again anyhow...sorry folks!
Subject: BLACKHOLEBANKS
The really great thing would be for Sarbanes-Oxley to be used to throw in jail the heads of the TBTF since they signed off and made fortunes off of getting their crimes legalized, then pushing the limit, sold crap that they called AAA, then sold credit default swaps on top of it all...
1) Dedicate half of one of the least populated states for a new penitentiary to house the thousands of crooks that brought us the nuclear winter we are living though.
2)...ABOLISH THE FED MACHINE.
3) Use anti-trust laws to break up the "toobigtofail" ...
[and believe me, Goldman Sachs and Morgan would have been OUT if they didn't win the Lehman bet, get free money through AIG's backdoor, a ban on short selling, and bank holding status to keep them afloat til the "secret Sat. meeting" where Paulson passed out money to his friends. (ALL THE WHILE, BOTH FIRMS HAD THEIR PR PEOPLE OUT IN FULL FORCE CLAIMING THAT THEY DIDNT NEED THE MONEY...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH)]
4) HELP of some sort for all US citizens and many countries around the world since every citizen is effected by this fraud...
BOTTOM LINE WE MIGHT HAVE BEEN ALMOST IN THE HOLE AS MUCH AS WE ARE NOW, BUT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FOR RIGHTEOUS REASONS INSTEAD OF THIEVERY--THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS WHAT CRIME IS GOING ON HERE IN AMERICA, AND IT IS HIGH TIME WE CALL BACK THE STOLEN MONEY, TAKE APART THE TOOBIGTOFAIL(TBTF), ABOLISH THE FED, AND SEND IN A NEW FRESH GROUP OF UNPURCHASED ELECTED OFFICIALS TO WASHINGTON WHO WILL LEGISLATE ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE INSTEAD OF ON BEHALF OF THE FED MACHINE.
the TBTF are BLACKHOLEBANKS...
reminds me of an old favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtzsXMV5ve4
Your points 1 thru 4 are well taken; actually essential to our country's survival. The problem is government. It is no match for the shear power of the perpetrators of our misery. All the current efforts of government have done is confirm the out of control financial sector in the certainty of it's power. We desperately need action but we ran out of time six months or a year ago.
Sorry if I'm belaboring the obvious but technology (like this Hammer thing) has outrun the ability of government, the people or maybe even God to control. Once these superprogram things really get rolling the chaos that ensues will probably bring down everything. (Apology for the drama) What will prevent this? With the amounts of money at stake & the apathy of the people government has neither the will nor the power to get draconian in policing the markets. Big legal teams can whine about free markets for years. Government is way too ponderous to react even if it could get up the courage. Think of a sloth versus a mongoose; government can't succeed. As proof look at it's feeble efforts to reign in AIG, Citi etc.