We made another video that slows things down even more and shows 1/100th of a second of trading in Merck: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5cZaIZ5bWc

1/2 second of trading activity in Johnson & Johnson (symbol JNJ) on May 2, 2013
This video was featured at Wired Business Conference (watch it now:  http://fora.tv/2013/05/07/Nanex_CEO_Eric_Hunsader_Flash_Trading_Detective_Work)
Follow us on twitter @nanexllc for Wall Street Breaking coverage.

Set to lowest resolution for an "artistic rendering", or highest resolution for science.

The animation tool that created this video was written in "C" using Windows GDI - simple lines, polygons and ellipses. We wrote it to explain to the SEC and CFTC (the regulators) how our markets work. We got the idea after realizing, in face to face meetings with them, they didn't understand market structure or the importance of latency and the consolidated feed. That was several years ago. We still aren't sure if they get it, or are just playing dumb.

The bottom box (SIP) shows the National Best Bid and Offer. Watch how much it changes in the blink of an eye.

Watch High Frequency Traders (HFT) at the millisecond level jam thousands of quotes in the stock of Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) through our financial networks on May 2, 2013. Video shows 1/2 second of time. If any of the connections are not running perfectly, High Frequency Traders can profit from the price discrepancies that result. There is no economic justification for this abusive behavior.

Each box represents one exchange. The SIP (CQS in this case) is the box at 6 o'clock. It shows the National Best Bid/Offer. Watch how much it changes in a fraction of a second. The shapes represent quote changes which are the result of a change to the top of the book at each exchange. The time at the bottom of the screen is Eastern Time HH:MM:SS:mmm (mmm = millisecond). We slow time down so you can see what goes on at the millisecond level. A millisecond (ms) is 1/1000th of a second.

Note how every exchange must process every quote from the others -- for proper trade through price protection. This complex web of technology must run flawlessly every millisecond of the trading day, or arbitrage (HFT profit) opportunities will appear. It is easy for HFTs to cause delays in one or more of the connections between each exchange. 

http://www.nanex.net/Research/IsNBBOIgnored.html

Nanex ~ Order Routing Animation ~ 02-May-2013 ~ JNJ

Capitalism ([via](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB5jJuMP84E))

It can be hard to wrap your head around the blistering speeds that rule the world of high-frequency trading. We know what a few seconds worth of computer-powered HFT [looks and sounds like](http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/what-high-frequency-trading-looks-and-sounds-like). Turns out trading in and out of stocks down to the microsecond--the idea being to shave off fractions of a penny per share, or whichever currency unit) on trades--with short-term positions mounting positive earnings day in, day out, is obtuse, and not pretty.

"The stock market today is a war zone," Felix Salmon [wrote](http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/08/06/chart-of-the-day-hft-edition/) last year in Reuters, "where algobots fights each other over pennies, millions of times a second."

But to really get a grasp for how truly insane HFT really is, you need to break things down even further. Take [Order Routing Animation](https://manage-motherboard.vice.com/article/update/5669) by [Nanex](http://www.nanex.net/Research/IsNBBOIgnored.html). The visualization connects the untold hundreds of thousands of quotes jammed in Johnson & Johnson stock by high-frequency traders sitting at terminals on May 2, 2013, over the course of one-half second. _One-half second_. Think about that for a full second. Thing is, this is kind of beautiful looking?

Each box represents one exchange. The SIP (CQS in this case) is the box at 6 o'clock. It shows the National Best Bid/Offer. Watch how much it changes in a fraction of a second. The shapes represent quote changes which are the result of a change to the top of the book at each exchange.

The time, which runs along the bottom of the screen in EST, has been slowed down to the millisecond level. That's 1/1000th of a second. Worth noting is the price discrepanices that can arise from bad connections. Traders can exploit these busted connections for big profits. As one self-professed Wall Street arms dealer [told me](http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/brief-encounters-with-a-wall-street-arms-dealer) a few years back, &#x201c;You&#x2019;ll hear about this \[HFT\] 10 years from now. Some guy will be hauled off to jail.&#x201d;

Then again, [maybe it's nothing to cry over](http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/can-we-stop-overreacting-to-computerized-trading)?

_Reach Brian at brian@motherboard.tv._ **[@thebanderson](http://www.twitter.com/thebanderson)**

_[What Computer-Powered High-Frequency Trading Looks and Sounds Like](http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/what-high-frequency-trading-looks-and-sounds-like)_

_[Can We Stop Overreacting to Computerized Trading?](http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/can-we-stop-overreacting-to-computerized-trading)_

FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

This Video of a Half Second of High-Frequency Trades Is Just Too Much

Capitalism (via)

FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

This Video of a Half Second of High-Frequency Trades Is Just Too Much

Capitalism (via)

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