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Meanwhile, Over At The "New York" Stock Exchange: Even More Lasers

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Back in March, when looking at the main antenna array at the real "New York" Stock Exchange located off Route 17 and MacArthur Boulevard in Mahwah, New Jersey, we noticed something peculiar: instead of just housing various now traditional microwave dishes...

 

... a new device had quietly appeared.

 

The "device", as Extremetech explained in early 2014, was the AOptix IntelliMax laser (used in various US defense programs), and now generously provided by Anova to various very wealthy HFT clients - in exchange for a very generous installation and recurring monthly fee - who desired to eliminate the 0.18 millisecond microwave latency between the NYSE and Nasdaq, by going straight to laser.

High-frequency trading — the practice of making thousands of algorithmic stock trades per minute — is about to get a big boost in the USA. Anova, a company that specializes in deploying low-latency networks for stock trading, is completing an ultra-high-speed laser network between the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ. The link will be just a few nanoseconds faster than the current microwave and fiber-optic links — but in the world of high-frequency trading (HFT), those nanoseconds could result in millions of dollars in profits for the trading companies. Such is the insanity of the stock markets; such is the unbelievable capacity of HFT to create money out of almost nothing.

 

If you want to get a signal quickly from point A to point B, you basically have three options: fiber-optic cables, a network of microwave dishes, or laser links. Electrical (copper wire) networks are feasible over short runs, but their reduced functionality and bandwidth over longer runs makes them less desirable than fiber. Microwave (and even higher-frequency millimeter wave) networks also aren’t very high-bandwidth, but because they’re purpose-built, they can take a very direct route, significantly undercutting the latency of an oft-congested and round-about fiber network. Laser networks have all the advantages of microwave/millimeter wave networks, but they have higher bandwidth, and some very clever adaptive optics means they’re not impacted by bad weather. (Microwaves really hate inclement weather.)

 

Last year, Anova completed a laser network link between the London and Frankfurt stock exchanges, and now, it seems the company is nearing completion on a similar laser network between the NYSE and NASDAQ data centers in Mahwah and Carteret, New Jersey. In the case of both networks, Anova is using equipment provided by AOptix, an American company that is contracted by the US military to produce similar laser-based systems for ground-to-aircraft communications. Each AOptix base station is capable of “carrier-grade” availability (five nines, 99.999%) over a distance of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). The route, which is about 35 miles as the crow flies and skirts the center of Newark, will probably feature around six or seven base stations, each of which will have a direct line of sight with its two nearest neighbors. The link speed, according to the AOptix tech specs, will be around 2Gbps — not exactly massive by fiber-optic standards, but more than enough for a few thousand trades per second.

 

The cost of building the network won’t have been cheap — probably a few million dollars — but that’s absolutely pennies for stock traders. (The new fiber link between London and Tokyo, which is also primarily for stock traders, will cost $1.5 billion.)

 

The exact latency improvement of the NYSE-NASDAQ laser network isn’t yet known, but over a distance of just 35 miles we’re probably talking about nanoseconds. A microwave system currently in place between Chicago and NYC — a straight-line distance of around 800 miles — has a latency of 4.13 milliseconds. Scaling that down to 35 miles (dividing it by 23), you get a latency of 0.18 milliseconds between the NYSE and NASDAQ. I don’t know how fast the existing fiber/microwave links are, but even a difference of a few nanoseconds would be enough to beat out other high-frequency trading companies that are using older, slower networks. Anova, unsurprisingly, says it has dozens of trading firms who want to use the new laser network, all of which could stand to boost their profits. Though, as with all HFT technology, once everyone is using it (or something comparable) profit levels will revert.

 

And thus the craziness that is high-speed trading continues unabated, faster and more profitable than ever before

The WSJ also chimed in:

In 2011, [Anova CEO] Michael Persico read an article in a trade journal describing how a Silicon Valley company called AOptix Technologies Inc. had designed military technology using lasers to communicate in battlefield conditions. His first thought: "I wonder if they can put those on a tower?" The technology traced back to the 1990s, when two scientists designed a method to gather images from outer space that corrected for atmospheric distortions. They developed technology for telescopes with flexible mirrors that could adjust thousands of times a second.

 

Soon, they realized the technology could also be used to transmit data using lasers. They formed AOptix and contracted with the U.S. government to provide communication devices for military aircraft.

 

Mr. Persico asked AOptix whether its laser system could be used to send stock-market data. The company was confident it could, because stock data would only have to move from one fixed spot to another.

 

"Finding a tower isn't hard for us, because we can find airplanes" with the lasers, said the CEO of AOptix, Dean Senner.

* * *

The Treasury Department's Office of Financial Research in December labeled high-speed trading a "key source of operational risk across all markets."

* * *

"Speed makes markets way more efficient," said Peter Nabicht, a former high-speed trader who is now a senior adviser to Modern Markets Initiative, a trade group.

* * *

Mr. Persico set about securing rooftops and other spots to place his lasers between the New Jersey communities housing the NYSE and Nasdaq data centers. Anova said it has dozens of trading firms waiting to try the lasers when they go live. One firm that plans to use the system is XR Trading LLC of Chicago. It is a "very compelling technology," said XR's president, Matthew Haraburda. He said if it behaves as intended, it could be "a huge development" in trading technology.

* * *

Some question whether Anova's lasers will provide a meaningful speed improvement over networks that are already in place, since microwave and millimeter-wave order transmissions also travel at near light speed. 

The answer, we now know, is a resounding yes.

Because while a few months after our article showcasing the NYSE's latest technical achievement we noticed that the Anova laser had been taken down from its primary location, perched among all the microwave dishes, in the past few days there was a drastic change.

First, here is a quick look at the main microwave tower at the NYSE, highlighted below in yellow.

 

The AOptix laser device, previously located on the main microwave tower, is still nowhere to be found.

 

And yet, in the same photo, something unexpected has shown up in the backgroun: a new tower, erected just in the past few days, and highlighted in the image above in red.

 

Here is the tower shown closer. In fact, unlike the microwave tower, this new, just erected one is located literally right on the main NYSE entrance.

 

Wait, what's that at the top, are those...? Yes, they are: not one, not two, not three, but four brand spanking new lasers.

Here is the the best our zoom lens could do.

 

And with that we can now close the case on the WSJ's question "whether Anova's lasers will provide a meaningful speed improvement over networks that are already in place" - because whereas 9 months ago there was only one laser unit, now there are four, all on a dedicated tower, and we are confident many more are coming in the next few weeks, as all users of the suddenly obsolete microwave technology, who until recently were used to having the latest and greatest in frontrunning technology, realize they are being frontrun by their even faster, laser-based peers.

Which takes us back to the microwave tower, where we find not only what may be the world's most important (if only for a few more months) fully-exposed power supply cables...

 

...but the following sad remnant of a bygone era, and by bygone era we mean the peak in technological sophistication just 3 years ago, when microwaves ruled the financial world and were the absolute pinnacle of rigged market frontrunning: a sad microwave dish lying face down in the gravel.

 

A zoom in of the now defunct technology for all to see:

* * *

Nine months ago we concluded by saying that everyone who splurged millions on the "brand-new" - as recently as 2013 - microwave technologies to give their HFT system a leg up... is now obsolete.

Welcome to lasers: where you are either part of the very expensive club, or are being frontrun. Which also means that if Michael Lewis is indeed writing a sequel to Flash Boys focusing on microwave signals and towers as the "next big thing", he may just want to burn the manuscript.

As for what comes next, the WSJ suggested the following: "Some dream of a replacement for the fiber-optic cables across the Atlantic and Pacific. The idea: Turbocharge intercontinental trading by floating balloons carrying microwave dishes over the ocean."

Scratch that: the only option left now to trade ahead of everyone else with impunity - and entirely within the confines of post Reg NMS law - is to use lasers: laser beams encircling the globe, allowing speed-of-light quote stuffing, churning, momentum ingition, subpennying, spoofing, layering, intermarket sweeping and everything else that allows some to profit from everyone else in these rigged markets.

Because this, ladies and gentlemen, is what "trading" has become.

(That said, one wonders just what would happen if one flies, say, a drone in front of one or all of those lasers during, say, peak market hours or, heaven forbid, just a few milliseconds before the Fed announces its next "most important ever" policy decision.)

 

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Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:29 | 6968830 johngaltfla
johngaltfla's picture

Darth Cramer?

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:37 | 6968862 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

"Now, of course, some 'traditionalists' may argue that installing a cannon on the pitcher's mound 'changes the game', but whiners aside, gentlemen, this is the game."  --  A baseball manager in a Universe, not far away

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:43 | 6968885 Buckaroo Banzai
Buckaroo Banzai's picture

"Hokey algorithms and ancient microwave dishes are no match for a good laser tower by your side, kid."

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:49 | 6968892 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

Just wait till they unveil 'quantum trading' that front runs your trade before you even conceived it.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:52 | 6968919 SuperRay
SuperRay's picture

Stock trading will be outlawed after the revolution

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:58 | 6968934 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

The early turd gets the worm.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:07 | 6968960 Pairadimes
Pairadimes's picture

Corruption is big business.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:22 | 6969017 SafelyGraze
SafelyGraze's picture

1. rc quad copter

2. rc spray paint

 

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:36 | 6969055 tc06rtw
tc06rtw's picture

When Authority extinguishes competition in order to “make life fair,”  competition just crops up the next place it can.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:38 | 6969067 Manthong
Manthong's picture

A few feet of 2” diameter pipe, some RTV and an obsolete 18” or so front-running microwave dish and you can have a perfectly functional bird bath.  

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:14 | 6969167 Four chan
Four chan's picture

human = latency

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:20 | 6969189 Manthong
Manthong's picture

It’s really pathetic how hard criminals will work to steal money rather that make it.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:30 | 6969219 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Breaking: ISIS terror pigeon slams into NYSE towers causing "hot as sun" fires, collapse into footprint, muppets lose all, Saudi passport with Langley stamps found intact....

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 01:03 | 6969307 Fish Gone Bad
Fish Gone Bad's picture

Someone can tie a chain to the tower and tear it down late at night. I am surprised Anonymous hasn't done it already.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 02:00 | 6969395 SafelyGraze
SafelyGraze's picture

by popular demand: 

rc quad copter + spray

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8AGAIFsOUY

 

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 05:46 | 6969620 God
God's picture

Easy, Drone with mirrors. GPS control. FUCK federal reg!

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 08:26 | 6969759 VinceFostersGhost
VinceFostersGhost's picture

 

 

 

Don't laze me bro!

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 09:39 | 6969917 kralizec
kralizec's picture

To laze or not to laze...

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 11:06 | 6970188 Stackers
Stackers's picture

Sea Bass with freak'n laser beams on their heads !

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 12:03 | 6970358 Fukushima Sam
Fukushima Sam's picture

Uh, you all know we already have lasers all around the world?  It's called "fiber optics".

Notice they are all oriented the same.  If so they are all likely connecting to the same location, multiplexing the four individual laser connections into one connection four times the size of the individual laser to get more bandwidth.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 12:40 | 6970549 DownWithYogaPants
DownWithYogaPants's picture

Uh oh.  Physics faux paux ----

Light travels the fastest in vacuum which is very nearly the same as air. 

Not true for a dielectric AKA fiber optics where that velocity is diminished by a factor of 1/squareroot(dielectic constant of the media).  You can look around and you will see estimates of a 30% reduction in speed.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 09:50 | 6969942 Joe Davola
Joe Davola's picture

Lasers are so yesterday, neutrino's can take a straight line - no curvature of the earth to slow things down!

http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/news/news_articles/neutrino2012dec14.php

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 11:42 | 6970292 Stackers
Stackers's picture

Screw neutrinos. Next up qunatum comunication, where the data gets there before it was ever sent.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 02:00 | 6969396 Automatic Choke
Automatic Choke's picture

Manthong (a few messages above) gets +100.   S/he is exactly correct, there is huge effort going into skimming other peoples money rather than create new value. 

Atlas is busy shrugging.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 06:35 | 6969652 Manthong
Manthong's picture

He.. although I am considering identifying as a black female homo-sexual Native American.

It's that wait in line at the concert venues that is delaying my decision.

But, Y’know, folks..

 

This is guerilla warfare on the free market and free society.

It is sanctioned by the hypocrite Pharisee regulators and their  .gov sponsors as well as the powered money that pays them all off and buys their life/lifestyle.

It deserves commensurate response.

 

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 07:54 | 6969716 ThanksChump
ThanksChump's picture

There are more ways to wreck those than there are ways to repair them. I think they're a distraction from the real comm units.

Wait for a misty or semi-foggy night. Take 5-minute exposures of the area with an infrared filter on the camera. You'll be able to see any/all lasers, and where they're aimed.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 09:21 | 6969876 Whoa Dammit
Whoa Dammit's picture

The thing looks like the pole at a car race. Gentleman start your Algos.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 08:55 | 6969815 hal10000
hal10000's picture

Just by a property next door and erect a HUGE billboard to block LOS.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 09:23 | 6969879 WOAR
WOAR's picture

We're gonna build a wall! It'll be YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE!

Make the NYSE great again!

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 01:10 | 6969319 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

How about a giant Mylar Kermit sock puppet over the damn thing? Ya feelin' me? Or like Ms. Piggy in ecstasy? 

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 12:18 | 6970414 Antifaschistische
Antifaschistische's picture

got 30.06?

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:39 | 6969070 DeadFred
DeadFred's picture

News Flash: Russia collapses stock market with $300 drone!!

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:03 | 6969139 GeezerGeek
GeezerGeek's picture

What's the range of a paintball gun?

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:12 | 6969158 Manthong
Manthong's picture

..likely don’t even need to spray paint or shoot anything.. just obstruct those beams for seconds at a time to tank a whole bunch of executions.

Note how extremely tightly guy wired those towers are.. not a lot of latitude for those narrow beams.

RC model helium blimp, anyone?

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 01:02 | 6969289 Lore
Lore's picture

America's financial sector: picking other people's pockets faster than anybody else.

What a sick system. For what it is about to receive, we are truly thankful.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 01:17 | 6969338 iinthesky
iinthesky's picture

Seriously,  a cheap remote control drone controlled by anyone standing on a not busy roadside, a wet towel from a Mahwah 99c store off Franklin tpk..  Bombs away..  Silly rabbit! 

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 01:22 | 6969348 Lore
Lore's picture

...Thus giving the control freaks all the excuse they need to ban private hobby drones.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 05:36 | 6969612 techpriest
techpriest's picture

https://www.faa.gov/uas/registration/

Registration has already begun.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 07:10 | 6969660 Manthong
Manthong's picture

That's gonna work as well as banning cash in the US and trying to take away 300,000,000 guns from natural law believing free people.

That will be when they figure out how to track all the illegal terrorist aliens and then they might figure out how to track all the home built drones.. and deposition printed guns.. and hookers.. and drugs..... you get the drift.

A kid with an Arduino or Raspberry Pi, a good program, a few motorized fans and some RF (at a variety of frequencies, with some SHA-whatever encrypted communication protocols), can impress folks.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 07:46 | 6969710 Freddie
Freddie's picture

.....trying to take away 300,000,000 guns from natural law believing free people.

Who are these people?  You don't mean idiots who watch Trayvon thug ball games and cheer like little girls or Star Wars fans or Facebook junkies?

The sheep are easily fooled.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 02:50 | 6969476 Gold Eyed Cat
Gold Eyed Cat's picture

World's financial system brought down by Mrs Montgomery's 5th grade kite day.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 04:24 | 6969553 BTFDemocracy
BTFDemocracy's picture

Someone should hover a drone with an American flag hanging from it, in front of the 4 lasers right before Fed's announcment, to show what liberty really looks like.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 07:16 | 6969687 Manthong
Manthong's picture

You don't even need a drone if you could get one of those very tall masts with a giant American flag planted beteen the TX and RX of the criminals. 

Hell, I'd settle for a giant Mexican Flag there.. it might be more palatable nowadays.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 08:44 | 6969785 unrulian
unrulian's picture

make it a rainbow flag and they'd never touch it 

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 13:51 | 6970879 BarkingCat
BarkingCat's picture

No need for a blimp. Just helium filled balloon released where it would break the beam. better yet a few balloons release one after another. Very cheap to fuck with futuristic tech.

 

Of course a cheap Radio Shack drone could be flown into the path as well.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 01:10 | 6969320 ReasonForLife
ReasonForLife's picture

Perfect Upgrade just in time for stock market casino scam to become obsolete. 

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:07 | 6968961 johngaltfla
johngaltfla's picture

Seriously I look forward to the "Faliure to Execute Trade" error message due to "Rebels Putting Shields over the Receiver" or "The Force was not with you."

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 04:01 | 6969537 mkkby
mkkby's picture

RC copter holding a disco ball.  Anywhere in the 35 mile path.  Bounce those trades all over in every direction except the reciever.

Better yet.  Wait for the traders to drive home from work and entertain them with your best rope trick.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:08 | 6968967 The9thDoctor
The9thDoctor's picture

Instead of replacing the income tax with a fair tax or flat tax, this HFT should be taxed.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 01:03 | 6969308 Lore
Lore's picture

Those lasers are heating up the atmosphere. Save the planet!  "Carbon-tax" the buggers.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:20 | 6969011 tarabel
tarabel's picture

 

 

No, it will become mandatory-- but you will not be allowed to make the trades yourself. The government will do it for you.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:53 | 6969098 The Once-ler
The Once-ler's picture

   
      …  China  already does !

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:53 | 6969110 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

NICE screen name and avatar. +++

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:58 | 6968935 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

They already do. Does anyone think "investors" are making decisions on original thought? They are feeding the system with not so subliminal clues and then set back and wait ....briefly.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:27 | 6969034 Dr. Spin
Dr. Spin's picture

Where are the effing regulators???

 

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:41 | 6969073 wisefool
wisefool's picture

right next to the flux capacitors.

Remember, the SEC gets paid by "sponsorship" from firms. Not "penalties" collected.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 07:49 | 6969712 Dr. Spin
Dr. Spin's picture

Foo tunny!

Fe're wucked,,,

;-)

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:57 | 6969119 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Hookers and blow.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:02 | 6969136 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

Probably an SEC erection.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 01:54 | 6969387 Vendetta
Vendetta's picture

they'll call it 'Pre-trade'

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 05:26 | 6969585 Rusty Shorts
Rusty Shorts's picture

Check - 

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 09:39 | 6969915 TheDanimal
TheDanimal's picture

We've got a shitload of lemming like behavior in markets because they've been manipulated since at least the 1980s by various Fed puts and plunge protection teams. This won't end well. 

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 02:52 | 6969480 pakled
pakled's picture

"Hokey algorithms and ancient microwave dishes are no match for a good laser tower by your side, kid."

 

Best comment by far.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:21 | 6968894 Mr. Schmilkies
Mr. Schmilkies's picture

And.... it's gone. Even faster than before.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:19 | 6969183 Helena Bonham-Carter
Helena Bonham-Carter's picture

Last I did check,

a speed being that of light

and one of most micro waves

did move at the saeme pace.

O tell me if I be not right.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:41 | 6969254 Sziget
Sziget's picture

And nav sarao could beat that. I hope his lawyer reads this story.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 06:55 | 6969667 HowdyDoody
HowdyDoody's picture

There is probably extra latency in the up- and down-convertors in the microwave circuitry than that of the laser system. Every nanosecond counts when you are scamming. Plus, it is lasers. Lasers on friggin' sharks.

 

 

 

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 05:39 | 6969589 Rusty Shorts
Rusty Shorts's picture

instant communications via neutrino, penetrating even the core of the Earth

 

 

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:45 | 6968895 Ralph Spoilsport
Ralph Spoilsport's picture

Crippling the financial center of the US just got a lot easier and cheaper. Instead of fuel laden Boeing jets, just rent a couple of Cessna 172s and crash dive them into those towers while screaming "Aloha Snackbar" on 121.5 MHz.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:28 | 6969039 freedogger
freedogger's picture

I was thinking drone with a can of silly string.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:32 | 6969050 duck dodgers
duck dodgers's picture

Fly planes into those tiny towers? how about just a few well placed shots.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:57 | 6969120 Ralph Spoilsport
Ralph Spoilsport's picture

It was an attempt to compare/contrast with the events of 911...oh never mind.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 06:56 | 6969669 HowdyDoody
HowdyDoody's picture

The economies of scale?

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 01:58 | 6969392 Vendetta
Vendetta's picture

only if you take them out just after they placed a big short or long position and the trade is just about to swing the other way.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 06:57 | 6969671 HowdyDoody
HowdyDoody's picture

Nah, any significant uncertainty in trade-time will do it. These guys are counting on microseconds to trade all the time. A skim here, a skim there and soon you have serious money.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:42 | 6968884 Took Red Pill
Took Red Pill's picture

how about we erect a tower in fron of it with mirrors

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:46 | 6969088 zorba THE GREEK
zorba THE GREEK's picture

Cheat me once, shame on you, cheat me 100 vigintillion times, shame on me for staying in the game.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 01:14 | 6969332 tempo
tempo's picture

MSNBC is such a joke w its phony analysts from the floor of the NYSE

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 02:14 | 6969425 Hal n back
Hal n back's picture

cool: so now when the market goes no bid, we will not know till after the Dow is down 30% or more, even as we are staring at our charts.

 

remember in aug I think when some specialized etfs dropped 30-40% with no liquidity even as the index fell "only" 9%? Huge sums will be won and lost at the casino.

 

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 13:28 | 6970755 Remington IV
Remington IV's picture

can't wait to see a squirrel do havoc on those poles

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:31 | 6968839 Hapte
Hapte's picture

SHARKS WITH FRICKEN LAZER BEAMS.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:10 | 6969152 vincent
vincent's picture

MIRRORS BITCHEZ!

Fuck their world right up.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:32 | 6968841 stant
stant's picture

Vampire squid with freaking lasers on thier heads

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:49 | 6968906 booboo
booboo's picture

so i'm guessing the Fed will have to step in on foggy days now?

 

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:32 | 6968843 OhNo
OhNo's picture

LA Merica,  OhNo america sucks land of the old.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:34 | 6968847 Able Ape
Able Ape's picture

And WHY is our goverrnment NOT taxing the shit out of HFT?  Well, even a one-celled amoeba knows the answer to THAT...

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 05:42 | 6969617 techpriest
techpriest's picture

Mainly because the profit on any one transaction is tiny, maybe 0.001% (times a thousands of trades a minute it adds up, of course). So any new tax would shut it down.

But maybe that's what we want to begin with.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:35 | 6968854 Ralph Spoilsport
Ralph Spoilsport's picture

Frickin' lasers!

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:37 | 6968859 LibertarianMenace
LibertarianMenace's picture

Perhaps Vlad could spare some of his former KGB viewers? For a hefty monthly fee, of course along with rights to listen in on occasion.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:37 | 6968860 Lorca's Novena
Lorca's Novena's picture

laser overlords, or some shit...

 

So, this means their is NO investigation into the state sponsored rigging of the markets? Just speed the shit up?

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:37 | 6968861 homiegot
homiegot's picture

Star Wars Wall Street

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:21 | 6969014 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

Coming soon to a theater of operations near you. (Already here actually).

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:38 | 6968866 FreeNewEnergy
FreeNewEnergy's picture

Yeah, but...

I'm Batman.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:40 | 6968872 Baby Eating Dingo22
Baby Eating Dingo22's picture

Can I order a pizza with one of these?

More importantly, will I get it any quicker?

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:40 | 6968874 Francis Marx
Francis Marx's picture

I bet if someone hovered a drone with thick dark streamers in front of those things they could really get some revenge for the damage and greed HFT has done.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:39 | 6968875 g speed
g speed's picture

The Age of Drones--coming to a theater near you---

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:40 | 6968877 kwatinhu
kwatinhu's picture

This is getting a little ridiculous. These bastards really need the latest greatest tech to cheat and steal even MORE & FASTER than they do already.

For God's sake when is enough enough?

I tell you hanging is too good for these people, they need to be made EXAMPLES of.

Sooner or later the worms are going to TURN. Sooner I pray

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:41 | 6968879 teslaberry
teslaberry's picture

one day shaving off milliseconds of latency using lazer optical communication will be used to murder human beings more efficiently by way of remote controlled robot armies, instead of to shave milliseconds off of scalping stock and options trades.

you will one day long for the gool ol nostalgic days of HFT.

sincerely
the machines.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:48 | 6968899 wisefool
wisefool's picture

B-Cup Burnett Selling a gun grab hoax on CNN=Domestic Arms dealers.

Bresinski's daughter selling TPTB candidates on MSNBC Morning Joe = go long Foriegn Arms dealers.

Wolf Blitzer in the situation room = Trial lawyers and Teachers Unions investment shadow.

Warren Buffet and becky quick in a bubble bath tub talking tax policy = U.S. Bonds sold by the treasry/IRS

If you need to make more money than this and you have never taken a course on coherent optics, read zerohedge.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:48 | 6968902 BouncingCat
BouncingCat's picture

Or if that drone would drop a tarp over them.  Just any tower will do and then the link will be out of commission until they can get a truck out there with a tall cherry picker.  Or god forbit if one of the towers that contains microwave and laser repeaters should fall over.  Come to think about it, there's that microwave link from New York to Chicago that follows I-80 across Ohio and Indiana.  Many towers there that could be a troublespot and take down that link.

The fast links just become a battle between the big-boys.  What we need to do is ban the sales of order flow from the retail brokers to the HFT houses.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:05 | 6968952 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

Drones with cans of spray paint

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:28 | 6969036 Bangin7GramRocks
Bangin7GramRocks's picture

Anyone that fucks with these important liquidity providers will meet a certain doom from the black helicopters and special forces.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:49 | 6968904 xrxs
xrxs's picture

Can't wait for the neutrino beams

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:50 | 6968914 JamaicaJim
JamaicaJim's picture

That fucking pole needs to be droned.

Bombed. Knocked fucking down. So blatant, out in the open. The fucks are getting away with it, and they are brazen enough to not hide it anymore.

HOWEVER - the real problem is unseen. Not this fucking pole of theft. In fact, it may be another of the elite's distractions.

These evil fuckers will do anything to keep their agenda.

 

 

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:52 | 6968920 motorollin
motorollin's picture

I used to climb towers to install dishes and APs. Free space optics are the new hotness, but their reliability is questionable due to rain fade.

http://www.digikey.com/en/articles/techzone/2013/oct/building-free-space...

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 02:50 | 6969477 SoCalBusted
SoCalBusted's picture

I also find it interesting that they used a crank up tower, vs a mast for fixed triangualar tower.  Maybe still evaluating and then will put up a more traditional tower/mast.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:54 | 6968924 HellFish
HellFish's picture

Looks like a pretty easy shot.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:05 | 6968945 DavidPierre
DavidPierre's picture

Those look like great targets for a 308.

But ever a 22 might work.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:17 | 6968998 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

RPG? To be sure.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 22:55 | 6968927 Tyrone Shoelaces
Tyrone Shoelaces's picture

It's all fun and games till someone loses an eye to a "Laser"

 

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:08 | 6968969 ---------
---------'s picture

JAM IT WITH A DRONE 
JAM IT WITH A DRONE 
JAM IT WITH A DRONE 
JAM IT WITH A DRONE 
JAM IT WITH A DRONE 
JAM IT WITH A DRONE 
JAM IT WITH A DRONE 
JAM IT WITH A DRONE 
JAM IT WITH A DRONE 
JAM IT WITH A DRONE 
JAM IT WITH A DRONE 
JAM IT WITH A DRONE 
JAM IT WITH A DRONE 
JAM IT WITH A DRONE 

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:16 | 6968995 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

Kids these days with their rap music and other jams. 

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:33 | 6969035 Ralph Spoilsport
Ralph Spoilsport's picture

Why don't we do it with a drone
Why don't we do it with a drone
No one will be watching us
Why don't we do it with a drone

 

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:41 | 6969063 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

Ahh, yes. Nice. One small edit suggestion:

Why don't we jam it with a drone
Why don't we jam it with a drone
No one will be watching us
Why don't we jam it with a drone

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:53 | 6969109 Ralph Spoilsport
Ralph Spoilsport's picture

I didn't want to get too far away from the original lyrics, but you either recognize the song or you don't I guess.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:16 | 6969174 KesselRunin12Parsecs
KesselRunin12Parsecs's picture

Wikki Wikki Wikki Wikki

 

"Three words to the whack are "step yourself back"
'Cause we're gettin' down, and ain't givin' no slack
Like a Burger King with a sack of Big Macs
We're throwin' down with a rack of Bozaks"

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:42 | 6969078 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

We be Jammin'.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:10 | 6968974 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

BFD.  Laser systems can be defeated, IF you know what you're doing.  But that's best saved for a One-Hit-Wonder performance at just the right time.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:17 | 6968999 wisefool
wisefool's picture
Kobayashi Maru

But yes, it generaly only works once before they adapt.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 02:03 | 6969401 Vendetta
Vendetta's picture

fight the lasers with lasers.... perfect star wars battle given the latest hype

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:14 | 6968988 NoWayJose
NoWayJose's picture

All laser orders should be routed through Art Cashin, who will deliver them after he returns from Jim Brady's!

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:15 | 6968992 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

Am I wrong or is that tower also "physically closer" thus shaving even more time off?

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:16 | 6968996 robnume
robnume's picture

Oh, yeah, this looks about right. What a shame that the sky is falling.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:18 | 6969003 ChacoFunFact
ChacoFunFact's picture

what happens if a mylar ballon gets tangled around that?

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:31 | 6969047 Fuku Ben
Fuku Ben's picture

No, no, no, they're going about it all wrong. Forget beating the others by nanoseconds with lasers. That's a losers game. They should be able to figure out how to beat these times by days, weeks, months or years. And in turn front run the HFT strategies and put everyone of their competitors out of business and take over the marketplace. Rich beyond anyone's dreams.

Too bad there are no industry visionaries with the immoral, unethical or testicular fortitude to pull it off. Well except for the globalist criminals. I haven't reviewed Virtu in detail to know what they're up to. Does their near perfect run at the end of this financial ponzi and rigged market make them a potential suspect? Someone should investigate. Of course any new blood doing so well would have had to been approved or subsequently compromised by those running the scam or they would be nail gunned for sure. Once you know how this works its like playing video games knowing the cheats. Boring.

Of course I've long since withdrawn my consent for these obvious insider trading, market manipulations and rigging to continue. I would also expect that the appropriate restitution be made for all past crimes as well. Surprise us all and confess. Or entertain us with more fainting by Janet. Who knows maybe it is not the stress of the position she's in and she's got a big announcement coming that she's pregnant.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:00 | 6969122 Duc888
Duc888's picture

 

 

Fuku Ben:  "No, no, no, they're going about it all wrong. Forget beating the others by nanoseconds with lasers. That's a losers game. They should be able to figure out how to beat these times by days, weeks, months or years."

Well, yea, then Andy is your guy (Project Pegasus) you can even vote for him for President.

http://andy2016.com/

He was there in the jump rooms with Barry Soetoro in the early 1980's

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:31 | 6969048 Amish Hacker
Amish Hacker's picture

Damn. Looks like I'm going to be too late for The Big Move again.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 17:53 | 6969628 dvfco
dvfco's picture

This is all so simple - really - it's time for traders to use QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT AT A DISTANCE!

That's only, kinda, somewhat, a bit of a joke, as it's already being pioneered.

Pretty soon, when they can place 100 billion trades in under one second, well, maybe someone will care?

How about we revert back to the Gold/Silver trades of not too long ago?

Everyone place their best bids and asks on the table.  We'll match them as best we can - twice a day.

If traders thought they were getting screwed back in the age of the 'gold spot' (oh, and they where) - they'd love a system like that back today.

Or, let's return to open outcry bids on the floor of the exchange.  One rule - all electronics are turned off prior to the market open!  

MORTIMER, MORTIMER --   AHHHHHH!

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:35 | 6969054 seek
seek's picture

"(That said, one wonders just what would happen if one flies, say, a drone in front of one or all of those lasers during, say, peak market hours or, heaven forbid, just a few milliseconds before the Fed announces its next "most important ever" policy decision.)"

What a beautifully evil thought that is.

Probably a really bad place to test a paintball rifle as well. And a positively terrible place to tether a large-diameter marketing balloon. Really, there's just a whole long list of things that shouldn't be done anywhere near that location.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:04 | 6969142 Angus McHugepenis
Angus McHugepenis's picture

Seek: Just don't play the financial game. But yeah, I know where your devious mind is going... We're already on it.

Cheers

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 02:05 | 6969406 Vendetta
Vendetta's picture

a very large real estate marketing balloon seems appropriate

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:43 | 6969074 Son of Captain Nemo
Son of Captain Nemo's picture

I see "sabotage" in these laser(s) future!...

P.S.

This is a very old story from ZH given it's reportage on the "algos" since 2010, and might I add an irrelevant one given what the U.S. government is trying to do everyplace else in order to start WWIII before it collapses!

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:44 | 6969080 Omega_Man
Omega_Man's picture

fuckin shoot it

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:49 | 6969099 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

I guess all the traders will be hairless with really smooth skin now. 

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:51 | 6969102 Yes We Can. But...
Yes We Can. But Lets Not.'s picture

This is hilarious.  Someone in security will have printouts of this page on his desk in the morning.  Bet taking those photos felt a bit uncomfortable.  Reminds me of the time I performed an office building inspection in northern Virginia many years ago.  Turned out the CIA was the sole tenant.  Security guy comes out as I'm snapping exterior photos, his hands trembling noticably.  He took my camera, kept the film.

Nice work.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:52 | 6969105 Duc888
Duc888's picture

 

 

Quantum computing is the next obvious step.

 

Light speed is soooooo fucking Buck Rogers.

Sun, 12/27/2015 - 23:53 | 6969108 GRDguy
GRDguy's picture

No matter how you slice time, from minutes to nano-seconds, front-running is still illegal. 

So is lyin' and stealin'.  It's the ONLY way financial sociopaths can make money.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:11 | 6969154 armageddon addahere
armageddon addahere's picture

1) Put up a laser aimed at the receiver

2) Block original  signal with drone

2) Feed false signal

3)?????

4) Profit!

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:21 | 6969192 StanLavish
StanLavish's picture

One thing though.  When HFT traders are concerned about latency, do they encrypt the data between data centers?  And if on microwave, would it be interceptable by listening in on the frequency.?  And with the last picture of the lonely microwave dish, that should divulge what range they were running on.  And if in the clear, that would be interesting.  Maybe they went laser in order to reduce chance of interception.  Or is it really latency related?  Is there a physics guy around to determine propogation of light vs of microwave, which can't be all t hat much.    Or is it a difference in propogation delay through the electronics?

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:24 | 6969197 NuTroll
NuTroll's picture

""You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads!"
Dr. Evil , Austin Powers

You only think its pretend because its rediculous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh7bYNAHXxw

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:38 | 6969235 black rifles ar...
black rifles are cool's picture

This gives new meaning to the term "flash orders".

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:39 | 6969241 quartshort
quartshort's picture

Next up: Particle accelerated collider trading

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 02:44 | 6969466 pakled
pakled's picture

Or they may just fast forward to quantumly entangled paired consoles. Zero time lag. 

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 08:08 | 6969733 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

The CERN facility was taken over by HFTs today shortly after scientists announced they had penetrated the future.

We can now make trades based in the future, said Dr Hiram Firem.

Some sources say the Big Bourses have been behind CERN all along.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:39 | 6969246 Jack Oliver
Jack Oliver's picture

They couldn't find the MH370 - Probably weren't looking huh - We searched and searched here in Australia and it cost us SHITLOADS looking for a plane that wasn't there ! Should have checked with Wall St !!!

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:42 | 6969257 Surveyor4Pres
Surveyor4Pres's picture

If only the space between the towers consisted of no atmosphere, aka "space".  Then they'd be really fast.

And don't forget the effect of gravity.  Perhaps they should find a location on Earth where gravity is the smallest possible value.  Not sure what the gravitational specs are, in NY.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:43 | 6969260 Ajax_USB_Port_R...
Ajax_USB_Port_Repair_Service_'s picture

You could have some fun with just a Mylar "Get Well Soon" balloon on a string.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 04:06 | 6969540 Barrack Chavez
Barrack Chavez's picture

What if one of those idiots that is constantly shining green lasers into pilots eyes at Newark realizes the pilots (and passengers) are not the enemy?

What if the idiots decide to aim their green lasers at these towers (or at the receivers at the other end)?

A really smart engineer might be able to send in bogus quotes / bogus trades ... but almost anyone could jam the signal with garbage laser light. and for a tiny fraction of the cost.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:47 | 6969270 Government need...
Government needs you to pay taxes's picture

Would be poetic is a bit of pidgeon shit took down the entire market, HFT's first.

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 01:03 | 6969306 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

Bullshit takes it up and down all the time, so I have faith that pigeon shit could do it as well.

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