Paradigm Intel has recreated this conversation:
Between Wall St Bank CEO and their top trading strategist.
Gerald on floor of NYSE
#1 is CEO
#2 is trading strategist
#2 hello sir, we secure?
#1 yes room has been swept by the top TSCM
What have you got?
#2 Well we can manipulate the market, and
make billions maybe even a trillion in few hours.
#1 isn't that illegal, do we need the lobbyist to
get congress to change some laws?
#2 I think the lawyers can make a defensible
case we didn't break the law, and if we loose
we can rig the fine so our profit is still really huge.
#1 sounds risky, after the sub-prime gold mine
the public is still up in arms but so far unable to
do anything.
#2 We can hide the entire operation, and run it
from a distance, the SEC certainly can't track it,
maybe NSA could but they won't even look.
If we don't get caught its not illegal.
#1 Yes but I don't want to add any fuel
to the hatred of the Wall St Banks, and
develop enough momentum where we
couldn't buy off congress.
#2 Not a problem sir, we can run it
from the black pools outside CONUS,
there is no regulation or over site, and
maybe not even any jurisdictional
authority, and the possibility of denying
SEC any jurisdiction.
#1 How does it work?
#2 Programed trading sir, we know
most of the competitions action points
with in a few points, and once enough
of these levels are broken programed
trading takes over, humans out of the loop.
And the programs will sell everything,
many programed to go short even.
#1 Go Short? Thats where they sell
shares they don't have, right.
#2 Yes sir, but its not limited to shares,
includes options, puts, and futures,
and even options on futures.
The leverage can be huge.
Really really huge.
#1 and the profits also really really
huge?
#2 Yes sir, as I said trillion or more in
just hours, actually min.
And the SEC can't see any of it, they
have no way to trace it, we can blame it
on a glitch. They can't prove otherwise.
#1 So we so to speak just have to tip
the scale, and trigger programmed trading
on the down side, and the computers run it
into the ground? How do we make money on
a disaster?
#2 Well sir we make huge bets the market
will be going down, for every point it goes down
we make millions, depending on the leverage.
At the bottom we quit selling and start buying
and double our money as we ride it back up,
to normal reasonable levels.
#1 not bad, I assume your bonus is in the
hundreds of millions?
#2 yes sir.
#1 DO IT as soon as practicable, when every thing
is set up.
#2 yes sir.
END OF FILE
Second discussion about a week later:
#1 ok is it safe to talk about this now?
Things settled down?
#2 Yes sir, you had the room swept again?
Yes by the Granite Island Group .
We are safe.
#1 well what to hell happened?
#2 Well sir it went to good, in 10 min
well you saw it drop.
SEC and others stepped in and broke alot
of trades, and just as I said SEC is clueless.
They couldn't trace any of it, and we are pointing
them in the direction of a GLITCH, they seem
to be buying it.
#1 but we made money?
Down $862 billion in less than 20 minutes
#2 yes sir almost a Trillion.
Mostly in the dark pools.
But who would have thought
they would break trades, that cost us
the second Trillion in profits.
#1 ok how soon can we do it again?
#2 Well sir we think we need some
cover, something big happens we can blame it on.
But they have circuit breakers in for many of the
markets, we are running computer models to
check out how effective they will be and
how we can circumvent them.
#1 Well not much changed, and it looks
like we can do this again any time we want.
#2 Yes sir the Fibonacci 'sell levels' are known
and 'support /resistance' levels tracked too.
So we can trip it all over again, and let
the computers and programed trading take
it down.
#1 And SEC can't do a damn thing, or even
see any of it?
#2 Yes sir, it would take an act of congress
and we control them. The SEC did a survey to
determine the cause, HA HA HAAA.
#1 Best billion I ever spent paying congress off.
Later #2.
#2 yes sir.
END OF FILE
Gerald
Series 3 and 7.
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More than 80% of advisers said use of computer systems and high-frequency trading contributed to theMay 6 volatility, according to a poll of 380 US retail