Scarsdale Vibe Would Approve

[rich]

 The idea is straightforward: Computers take information — primarily
“real-time” share prices — and try to predict the next twitch in the
stock market. Using an algorithmic formula, the computers can buy and
sell stocks within fractions of seconds, with the bank or fund making
a tiny profit on the blip of price change of each share.

There’s nothing new in using all publicly available information to
help you trade; what’s novel is the quantity of data available, the
lightning speed at which it is analyzed and the short time that
positions are held.

You will hear people talking about “latency,” which means the delay
between a trading signal being given and the trade being made. Low
latency — high speed — is what banks and funds are looking for. Yes,
we really are talking about shaving off the milliseconds that it takes
light to travel along an optical cable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/opinion/29wilmott.html?ref=opinion