Picture a three-guy trading floor. They would call a carrier,... [and] manually move trunks in and out of route by issuing SQL commands against the Veraz's Oracle database.... Let me write that out for you: One ass-hat residential customer with a 20yo telephone with four extra buttons did thirty million dollars in damages in less than one night. Anyways, that's how the company went bankrupt... and about 6000 or so people ... all got laid off.
posted by orthogonality on Feb 9, 2009 - 97 comments

Sad Guys on Trading Floors. (via)
posted by longdaysjourney on Oct 8, 2008 - 54 comments

"News-flow" analysis is used by some automated trading systems to buy and sell stock based on stories circulating in the media. United Airlines (UAUA) stock plummeted the other day. And it plummeted fast. Like, lost %75 of it's value in 20 minutes fast. The problem? The news-flow that triggered this sell off was based on a mis-labeled story from 2002. via /.
posted by butterstick on Sep 10, 2008 - 18 comments

The draft Garnaut Climate Change Review was released last Friday. This is the most comprehensive look so far at the economic implications of climate change and emissions trading for a developed country (Australia). Essential (but weighty) reading for those interested in the economics of the issue, a useful localisation of Stern (2006). [more inside]
posted by wilful on Jul 6, 2008 - 18 comments

Although Larry Summers drew fire for rather inappropriate comments illustrating differences between Men and Women, we all know they exist. [more inside]
posted by Mutant on Apr 9, 2008 - 62 comments

Oh, the tangled webs we weave when we practice to deceive... Two traders with Estonias most prestigious financial firm spider the Business Wire website and manage to read headlines of impending news stories effectively enabling them to time the market to the tune of 7.8 million in profit...
posted by Muirwylde on Nov 3, 2005 - 9 comments

Social theory trading cards, action figures and legos! [Via Boing Boing.]
posted by homunculus on Mar 16, 2004 - 5 comments

The barter system lives! Trodo.com is a recently unveiled bartering hub where you sign up, list three items you're willing to send away to new owners and start out with three credits for items of the same kind you listed, then accrue more credits every time someone requests one of your items.
posted by leahzero on Dec 11, 2002 - 25 comments

This new trading card game takes an ironic look a a bunch of "Bad Ideas" from the dot-com boom and bust. The object is to remain in business as long as possible by raising money from VC's and forcing your opponents to spend resources on developing bad ideas... You can't actually generate any revenue, of course :-)
posted by sib on May 1, 2002 - 7 comments

Did I say devaluation? Nothing important, just another presidential blunder that caused a bit of confussion among Japan traders. Here in Europe it's been all over the place in the news and I am surprised that that little detail has been absent of the main USA media. I'm sure I didn't do my (online) homework well, could you please help me?

Maybe is that the European media jumps at every oportunity to ridiculize Bush? Or is the american media protecting Bush image inside the USA?

Could things like this controversial Pentagon plan be the beguinning of a New Media War? We begin by hidding the little things and then we'll go for bigger and bigger blackouts, and then even lies?
posted by samelborp on Feb 20, 2002 - 17 comments

I'll trade you two Picassos for three Monets. While Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) may not be worth millions of dollars at auction (yet), the idea is starting to catch on. Participants create 64 by 89 millimeter (hockey card size) works of art using any media they want. Instead of selling the cards, the artists (and others) then trade them at local ATC gatherings. An exhibition of over 5000 cards is currently taking place in my hometown of Medicine Hat, but if Medicine Hat is not your holiday destination of choice, you could always organize a trading session in your own neighborhood.
posted by iceberg273 on Dec 3, 2001 - 4 comments

Recordnerd.com : Possibly a repeat - sorry if it is. This is a cool site for record nerds like me to get rid of some old stuff and search out some new stuff at the same time.
posted by paulrockNJ on Oct 16, 2001 - 5 comments

corporate totalitarianism and the ftaa: Activists will gather in Quebec City, Canada on April 11, 2001 to protest the upcoming Summit of the Americas (SOA) meeting. The purpose of the SOA, which will be held April 18-22, is to hammer out the first full text of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a proposed agreement that would turn the entire Western Hemisphere (except Cuba) into the largest international trading bloc in history.
posted by kliuless on Apr 10, 2001 - 3 comments

from this weeks nyt mag: a fantastic article by the always-excellent michael lewis: Jonathan Lebed: Stock Manipulator, S.E.C. Nemesis -- and 15
posted by palegirl on Feb 26, 2001 - 7 comments

California shuts down Nader-Gore vote trading site. This is absolutely ridiculous. "William Wood, chief counsel for the office of the secretary of state, said yesterday morning that trading for anything valuable is illegal. "
posted by bkdelong on Oct 31, 2000 - 12 comments