Network Delays Cost Stock Trading Firms Millions

By Lance Jepsen

Computer programmers have created an inexpensive solution for diagnosing delays in data center networks as short as a hundred millionth of a second. These very short delays measured in millionths of a second can cause multi-million dollar losses for investment banks running automatic stock trading systems.

The work was presented on August 20th, 2009 at SIGCOMM. The computer programming method was created by a joint task collaboration between the University of California and Purdue University computer programmers.

This small programming code can detect delays as short as a millionth of a second in a router. The code will also detect packet loss as small and rare as one packet loss in a million. Every router in a data center can run this small code.

No new hardware is required. The team of computer programmers call their code the Lossy Difference Aggregator. The programming code has no speed penalty on the router in which it runs.

Institution stock traders and corporations that sell online stock trading platforms will go crazy for this technology. The reason is that if an online brokerage firm has a stock trading algorithm that reacts to an incoming market data feed even just 100 microseconds faster than the competition, they can buy millions of shares before their competitors.

Exchanges like the Nasdaq use very expensive custom hardware designed to track delays in the performance of routers at different key points within a data center network. But these hardware boxes are too expensive to be added to every router within a data center's network. Especially if that data center is running an automated stock trading system. By the time the I.T. Department detects a problem router, it usually costs the company 1 - 3 million dollars in delayed entry and exits on trades.

Router vendors will now be able to add this programming code to every router at no extra cost to the customer. Expensive external router monitoring hardware will no longer be needed.

The way router performance is monitored now is by expensive external hardware that tracks when a packet enters the router and when it exists the router and then takes the difference of those times.

Instead of summing the arrival and departure times of all packets traveling through a router, the computer programmers new system randomly splits incoming packets into groups and then adds up arrival and departure times of each of the groups separately. As long as the number of losses is smaller than the number of groups, at least one group will give a good estimate.

Calculating the difference of the groups arrival and departure times and then dividing by the total number of messages gives a very accurate estimate of the average delay of a given router. This approach requires so little computer programming code that it really is about the same code as a simple counter.

A data center that has thousands of routers all running this new programming code in each router will be able to detect problem routers very quickly. In tests, a router that is adding a millionth of a second delay was detected instantly. The code even detected a router that was losing one packet in every hundred million. - 23223

About the Author:

Written by Lance Jepsen. When are you finally going to get tired enough of losing money in the stock market and do something about it? For stock trading secrets from millionaire stock traders visit stock trading

Day Trade Forex

By Ahmad Hassam

You should learn to day trade forex. But before you embark on your journey of forex trading, I want to make a few facts very clear. These facts should be the foundation of any forex trading system that you develop and use daily for trading.

The first most important thing that you should understand and make very clear is that forex is not a get rich quick scheme. Skilled currency traders can and in fact do make good money in forex trading. However like any other business or career, success just doesnt happen overnight or in a few weeks. You should use this great formula for success: Patience+Practice+Persistence=Profits.

There is no substitute for hard work and diligence. You should make it very clear. First practice trading on a demo account. Do not open a live trading account until you become profitable on your demo account. Pretend that virtual money is your own real money when you trade on the demo account. You can only be successful if you stick to a system and a plan. Double you demo account first three times in a row.

When you start trading forex, just choose two major currency pairs that you will trade in the start. It will become very difficult to keep tab on the all major currency pairs in the beginning. You should start with a major currency pair. The spread on the major pairs is the best and they are the most liquid. EURUSD pair is the most commonly traded pair in the currency markets and usually has the best spread because of its liquidity.

The USD/CHF is the most volatile and moves the most during the trading week. The USD/JPY moves a lot on the news out of Japan. GBP/USD is the most stable of the above three pair.

Follow and understand the daily forex news and analysis of the professional currency analyst. It is important to get a birds eye view of the currency markets and the news that affects the prices. It is also important that you know and understand what the key technical support and resistance levels are in the currency pair that you want to trade.

Support is the price level when there are more buyers than sellers. It is at this point the currency pair price action moves up on the charts. You should buy at the support level. Resistance is the price level when sellers jump into the market and overcome the buying pressure. It is where the currency pair price action moves down on the charts. You should sell on the resistance level.

Fortunately all the best forex news and analysis is available freely online. While you are reading the technical news and analysis, write down on a piece of paper what direction the analyst are saying about the currency pair that you are trading and the key support and resistance level.

You should learn how to use technical indicators. Always trade with stop losses! It is worth your time to be patient. Learn how to use technical indicators on the charts.

Learn to be disciplined when you are trading. Avoid emotions in trading! Stick to a good system and a plan. Depending on your risk appetite and strategy, set your stop losses accordingly when you trade. Try not to trade your gut feeling. - 23223

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading stocks and currencies. Know These Forex Broker Games. Learn Forex Trading!

News Straddling Strategy (Part I)

By Ahmad Hassam

Major short term currency moves are almost always preceded by changes in fundamental views influenced by the news. Traders around the world make a living by processing and translating information into money. The forex market is extremely sensitive to the flow of news related to it.

We live in an era where information can be extremely powerful and strategic asset. Timely information is vital to an individual or a corporation and information equals money especially to a trader. Shutting yourself off to the news can be suicidal.

The speed of the news dissemination is very important to traders. If you receive the news after some delay, it is almost of no use to you. Others have already taken advantage of it. Traders especially the day traders require the latest up to the second news updates. Latest news facilitates their trading decisions which have to be made at the lightening speed. A 15 minutes delay in receiving the news can mean losing the trade.

Online news services display the latest financial and economic news on their websites. You can also get breaking news alert through your email. Many professional traders opt for instant online news services such as the Bloomberg, Dow Jones Newswires, CNBC and Reuters. Reuters and Bloomberg are very popular.

News is important to forex trading because each new piece of information can potentially alter the traders perception of the current or future situation relating to the outlook of certain currency pairs.

News that is of great importance to forex traders is generally related to a countrys economic, monetary and political situations and socio-political events that are happening around the world like in Middle East and North Korea.

Based on this news, these traders will be preparing to cover their existing positions or initiate new positions. A traders action is based on the expectation that there will be follow through in prices when other traders see and interpret the same news in a similar fashion and adopt the same directional bias as the trader as a result.

News is a very important catalyst of short term price movements because of the expected impact it has on other market players. This is in a way an anticipatory reaction on the part of the trader as he or she assumes that the other traders will be affected by the news as well.

Suppose the news happens to be bullish for the USD. Traders who reacts the fastest will be the first to buy US Dollar. They will be followed soon by other traders. Other traders may be slower. They maybe were waiting for some technical criteria to be met before they jump on the bandwagon.

When others get hold of the delayed news in the morning newspapers or from their brokers, there will be many who will join in the frenzy at a later stage. An uptrend has already started. When these traders join the bandwagon, they will be reinforcing the uptrend. This progressive entry of the US Dollar bulls over time is what sustains the upward move of USD against another currency.

The reverse will happen on the surprise bearish USD news. Instantly traders will start selling USD on the assumption that when other traders will hear the news, they will also start selling. - 23223

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading stocks and currencies. Try Netpicks Forex Signals Free. Learn Forex Trading!

Determining Property Management Fees For Your Property

By Layla Vanderbilt

Investors should interview several property management companies so as to choose the best company to manage large numbers of properties. Investors should consider specific business practices of potential property managers. Since investor profits are affected by the management fees, the first consideration is the fee that the management company will charge; some management companies charge a monthly percentage while other charge a flat fee for their service.

The lowest management fee may not always be the best choice. Higher fees usually translate into more services. Also, management companies with lower fees may have extra charges for necessary services like as advertising. Investors need to know if the management company charges a fee for showing property to a potential client. Some management companies also charge leasing fees in addition to their management fee. Investors need to read contracts closely to know exactly what is included in the real estate management fee.

A property management company charges a real estate management fee based on the percentaage of income collected with a monthly base fee. A fee will vary according to the type and size of the property; for example, a fee for a single family home could be a flat rate while a large property might cost 6 percent of its value. Larger properties usually command a lower percentage rate (i.e., 2 percent) than a single family home that may be quoted up to10 percent. One negotiates fees on a per property basis and one considers many factors including condition, location and size of the property, etc. Management companies consider leasing to be an auxiliary service; it and other auxiliary service fees are separate and in addition to the management fee. The contract also needs to explain how and when the fee is collected. Do they bill the investor or do they deduct it from his account? Do they bill on a monthly or quarterly basis?

Another important consideration in choosing a property management company is payment. Some companies deduct their fee directly from the income your property generates, while others send a monthly or quarterly bill. Other fees a company may charge are for cleaning and preparing rental properties, or eviction fees. Be sure to take the time to discover and consider all fees charged by the property management company.

A management company performs many services for the investor. The company takes care of the daily activities of renting the property, collecting rents, accounting and monthly statements, hires contractors for services such as cleaning, hires groundskeepers and maintenance workers as well as supervises any work. The investor pays the real estate management fees for peace of mind. When an investor has interviewed several companies and found the fees are close in range with a few exceptions, he should then decide to further investigate each company?s contracts and references. By comparing all the services and getting good referrals, an investor can make an informed choice.

This interviewing process in the decision to select the most reliable and appropriate management company is only the first step. The total fee charged is important, but investors need to know how efficiently and effectively the company communicates with both the investor and the tenants of the rental property. Other important information for the selection of a management company is how problems are addressed and resolved, how attentive the company is to details in the leasing process, and how well the company maintains the property. All of these are important factors in the selection of the best property management company.

Hiring a good management company helps an investor rent his property faster and provide preventive maintenance before problems become major repairs and expenses. The investor should look at more than the initial monthly fees when determining how much it will actually cost them if they go with the cheapest company. An investor needs to be sure the company will actually help him avoid those expensive repairs and expenses as well as keep the property in good condition in order to make it attractive to prospective clients. - 23223

About the Author:

Layla Vanderbilt is the webmaster for a leading property management software review website which connects people with the leading property management tools.

Consider Blue Chip Stocks

By Michael Swanson

With all the bad things going on in the stock market these days, it's nice to at least know you can get something at a good price. This is especially true of blue chip stocks. Best of all, the companies that own these will typically pay you dividends even in an economy like this, so they're a good bet.

These stocks are steady because the companies behind them are too. In good times and bad, they manage to bring in reasonable profits and have a trustworthy portfolio along with stock prices that stay steady over time. With the fluctuation in the rest of the market, these options seem like a better one all the time.

You should be looking into the possibilities offered by getting involved with major companies. And you should do this soon. While most places will get back on track once recovery begins, these will surge. To get in on the benefits, you want to be sure you're ready well ahead of time.

By this point, you're probably curious about the name of the stocks. Blue chips come from gambling, and when you understand them, you'll see why the term was used here. Whether it's in a casino or in your stocks, blue chips have the potential to bring you in a lot of money and make your life better.

You might not have that much money for something like this, but the great thing is, you don't need a lot either. You can get a lot of stocks without spending much. Then, you just wait for their prices to rise. When you see how much you end up earning, spending initially will seem like nothing.

Of course, you are going to want to become familiar with the language of what you're doing so you can be prepared and take in the advice of others. Better yet, the more you learn, the more you'll be able to do. In no time, you'll be an expert making the kind of money others envy. - 23223

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