Finding Stock Trading Network Router Delays

By Lance Jepsen

Delays in data center networks can now be detected that are as short as a millionth of a second. Computer programmers have created a clever software program that can save investment banks running automatic stock trading systems millions of dollars.

The University of California and Purdue teamed up to create this cheap solution. The programming code was presented on August 20th, 2009 at SIGCOMM.

A delay as short as a millionth of a second can be detected in a router. Even packet loss as rare as one packet in 10 million can be detected with this programming code. This code can run on any router and does not slow the router down.

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.

Online automated exchanges like the American Stock Exchange use custom designed hardware boxes that are very expensive. These boxes are put on routers and key points in a data center network. These external hardware boxes are too expensive to put on every router within a data center network making it difficult to trouble shoot and find a problem router. By the time the problem is detected and fixed, it will cost the company anywhere from 2 to 4 million dollars because of delayed buy and sell orders.

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 a router's performance is measured now is that an external hardware device tracks when a packet arrives and when it leaves and then takes the difference of those times.

This new computer programming code works almost the same way but instead of taking the arrival and departure times of every packet, it splits the incoming packets into groups and then calculates the arrival and departure times of each group. As long as the number of groups is greater than the number of losses, at least one group will give a good estimate.

Subtracting these two sums (from the groups that have no loss) and dividing by the number of messages provides an estimate of the average delay with very little overhead. In fact, it really is just a series of lightweight counters.

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. - 23229

About the Author:

By Lance Jepsen. For free stock trading advice by master stock traders and free stock charting software go to stock trading

Forex 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.

In an era where information can be extremely powerful and strategic asset, whether to individual or 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 computer monitors. Many opt for instant online news services such as the Dow Jones Newswires, Bloomberg and Reuters.

News is important to forex trading. 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.

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

It is expected that other traders see and interpret the same news in a similar fashion and adopt the same directional bias. A traders action is based on the expectation that there will be follow through in prices. These traders will be preparing to cover their existing positions or initiate new positions based on this news. It is all based on your perceptions. Sometimes you can wrong too! Market may not react the way that you had anticipated.

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. Because of the expected impact it has on other market players, news is a very important catalyst of short term price movements. Markets hate surprises. If a news item has a very low surprise value, market may not react much. But if the news item has a high surprise for the market, the reaction will be extreme volatility until the surprise has been digested by the market.

If the news happens to be bullish for the USD, traders who reacts the fastest will be the first to buy USD 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 they 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. 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. - 23229

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

When a property investor decides to hire a management company to manage their properties, they interview many companies before they decide whom to hire. Among the things they compare are the real estate management fees the company charges. The investor must decide whether they want to pay monthly percentages or flat fees for the management company?s services.

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.

The real estate management fee is usually a minimum monthly base charge plus a percentage of collected income, and the fees vary according to the type and size of the property. The charge for single family dwellings can range from a flat rate to a percentage of the income, ranging from six to ten percent. Larger investment property is most always charged by a percentage which is generally lower, generally around two percent. Fees are negotiated by a number of factors that include the location, the size, and the condition of the property, and the total fee can also include additional fees for leasing and other auxiliary services.

Since the property management fee is based on services provided, investors should be aware of all included services. A regularly needed service is that of preparing the property for rent. investors need to be aware of any fee that the management company charges for the cleaning of vacant properties. Another service that is less regularly needed is the eviction service, and many management companies charge additional fees for evictions. This charge may be billed or deducted from the investors account on either a monthly or quarterly basis.

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.

Interviewing the management company to determine the real estate management fee they charge is only the first step to hiring a reliable company. Many things outside the monthly fee determine the final cost an investor sill pay the management company. How well the company communicates with the investor and tenants, how they handle problems, their attention to detail in the leasing process and their ability to maintain the property in good condition all determine an investor?s final costs on each property.

Certainly there are other factors for you to consider outside of the fee that will be charged. For example, reliable and quick handling of maintenance issues to prevent major expenses. A property management company should be able to rent out your property faster than you alone due to the fact that they are working in the business every day. - 23229

About the Author:

Layla Vanderbilt is the content coordinator for a leading property management solution review website which connects people with the leading property management tools.

You Can Cut Your Investment Losses And Save Your Credit Rating

By Steven Beckett

When a lot of people think of investment properties they seem to assume that they are treated much differently from the home that you live in, but that's not true, especially where issues like payments and foreclosures are concerned. Any investment property that's facing foreclosure is a serious problem because that will go on a person's credit like any other foreclosure. The payments on the investment property have to be kept current and that can be hard to do in a recession and a tight credit market where an investor might not know from month to month whether the money to make the payment will be available.

When the property market was going so strong there were all kinds of people buying investment properties. They were renting them out or flipping them and re-selling them for a lot more than they had paid. It was working well because people were eager to rent or buy them and sometimes there were waiting lists or 'highest bidder' scenarios.

It's become almost impossible to give some properties away now, though, and no one seems to want them. Some cities, like Detroit, have homes that can be bought for only a few hundred dollars, not the thousands or tens of thousands that they would normally go for. If a person was lucky enough to pick up and dispose of a lot of homes when the credit market was hot and everyone was buying he probably did very well, but what happened to those people and those properties when the market bubble popped and things weren't selling anymore?

If you're in that 'I don't know what to do with this investment property' situation, you're definitely not alone, and you'll find plenty of other people to commiserate with, most of whom have lost a lot of money to an uncertain and very volatile market. You could also be one of the people for whom things have gone from bad to worse and you're finding that your investment property is costing you so much that you're getting behind on the payments and can't make them for much longer. If that's where you are, you have two choices: you can try to stick it out because the market is showing some slow signs of improvement or you can try to sell the property and get out from under it before it totally destroys your credit rating.

As for your credit rating, it's possible that there will be some damage done already, but stopping that as quickly as possible would be the thing that you would want to focus on, since the sooner you get away from late payments and other problems and the shorter amount of time that they show up on your credit report the better off you'll be. If you aren't able to complete avoid the damage to your credit, lessening it is the next best step and to do that you'll have to work with the bank or lender that you're paying for the investment properties. Find out what you owe on the property, what it's worth through an honest appraisal, and what the bank will help you with to get out from under it, since you might be able to do a short sale or a deed in lieu of foreclosure instead of having an actual foreclosure and letting your credit take such a hit.

One of the smartest things that you can do with financial difficulties that involve paying for an investment property (or properties) is to talk with your lender and be honest and upfront about the issues that you're facing. It's best to talk with your lender before you get behind on your payments but a lot of people are afraid to do this and they are very uncomfortable and embarrassed about admitting that they can't pay their bills - and they keep expecting and hoping that things will turn around. You don't want to let those things ruin your credit rating and your financial future, though, so talk to your bank or lender right away, at the first sign of any upcoming problems.

Being up front shows the lender that you're making a good faith effort, and that makes most lenders more willing to work with you and try to get you a better rate, a longer term, or something else that will let you keep the property and make the payments. If it's obvious that the property can't be paid for, talk to your lender and see what options the two of you can come up with. It's very important to try to keep an actual foreclosure off of your credit record, so checking with your lender and talking through all issues is vital to your financial life. - 23229

About the Author:

Does it pay for me to refinance my home?

Stock Market Survival Tips: Avoiding Institutional Traders

By Steve Wyzeck

Are you losing money in the stock market because of false breakouts? This article could completely turn around your trading...

This behind closed doors secret about institutional traders will save you from being ambushed. This secret has saved me thousands of dollars and now I'm breaking my silence to show you how to do the same.

Institutional traders use dirty tactics in the stock market that are so bad, they should be illegal.

It might get you angry.

It may even make you want to close this page and forget you saw it...

But I'll make you a promise - stick with it, hear me out...

And you will be happy you did.

Because by the time you finish this article you'll have a whole new method for avoiding false breakouts...

First I will talk about what support and resistance lines REALLY are, and then I'll talk about false breakouts.

Learning the how and why resistance lines and support lines form will help protect you against false breakouts.

When traders buy and sell a stock, they commit emotion to the trade. It is their emotions that will keep a market trending higher or send it into a reversal.

When stocks fall, a few traders will exit their position and take profits, a few traders will exit their position for a loss, and a few traders will stay in their position and hold on.

A chart is really nothing more than the result of emotions coming from the crowd of people in that particular stock.

Pain Is the #1 Reason Why Support and Resistance Lines Form

If someone trading a stock is still holding that stock when the price finally comes back to their cost basis, they are likely going to sell. It is painful to be in this stock and the trader simply wants to get out. This pain relief will temporarily stop a rally. These painful memories are why support and resistance lines form.

Let us say that a $20 stock drops down to $18 and stays there for a few weeks. The longer the $18 level holds, the more that traders believe that this is a good support level and buy the stock. Now right after buying, the stock falls to $15. Skilled traders will sell quickly and exit their position at $17 or at $16. Amateur traders will stay in their losing position until, one day, it rises back to their original entry level at $18. They will then sell this stock never to return. They eagerly jump out at the chance to "get out even". Their selling will temporarily stop a rally and form a resistance level.

Support and Resistance Lines Are Caused By Regret

Traders who come across a stock that has spiked up feel as if they have "missed the train." If the stock drops back to a certain level, these traders who feel regret for missing the first move will jump at a chance for a second move. Their buying forms a support level.

Whenever you work with a chart, draw support and resistance lines across recent tops and bottoms. Expect a trend to slow down in those areas, and use them to enter positions or take profits.

Warning: False Breakouts Are Caused By Institutional Traders

When the market rises about resistance and pulls in new buyers and then suddenly reverses and falls back below that resistance, this is called a false breakout.

A false downside breakout happens when a stock falls below support. The bears jump in and short the stock. Suddenly the stock reverses and heads back up retaking the broken support level.

Any stock chart can form false breakouts but be especially careful of any stock that has a high percentage of institutional ownership.

Institutional traders cause these false breakouts to make a ton of money off amateur traders.

All limit orders are displayed on the screens of Institutional traders. They have the exact number of buy orders above a given resistance level.

Institutional traders have a secret practice they call "running the stops". A false breakout happens when institutions engage in hunting expeditions to run stops.

Take the following example: when a stock is just under resistance at $20, the buy limit orders come flowing in near $18.50. The institutions calculate the liquidity ratio which measures how much the stock will go up if all buy limit orders are executed at $18.50. They calculate that the stock will run to $21 if all the buy limit orders at $18.50 are executed. They short the stock at $20 to push it down to $18.50. At $18.50 they cover their short position and go long as the wave of buy orders are automatically executed pushing the stock up to $21. If greedy traders start piling in, the institutional trader will stay long the trade. As soon as the buy orders start drying up, they sell short and the price falls back below $20. A false upside breakout will show on your chart.

If you get stopped out on a false breakout, dont be shy about getting back into a trade. Beginners tend to make a single stab at a position and stay out if they are stopped out. Professionals, on the other hand, will attempt several entries before nailing down the trade they want. - 23229

About the Author:

By Steve Wyzeck. To turn your stock trading around go to stock market