Trump Goes After Bloomberg: Starting March 1, BLS Will Ban Lockup Computers, Hitting HFT Revenues
As first reported on Tuesday, moments ago the BLS confirmed that starting March 1, the Trump admin will ban all electronics including computers from the room where journalists receive early advance access to major economic reports such as the monthly payrolls report, in an effort to "ensure a level playing field", a U.S. official told the same wire services that stand to suffer the most from this major overhaul of how economic data is disseminated in a time of HFTs, when a 1 millisecond delay can mean the difference between profit and loss.
As discussed on Tuesday, currently, the Labor Department hosts "lockups" for major reports lasting 30 to 60 minutes, where journalists receive the data in a secure room, write stories on computers disconnected from the internet, and transmit them when connections are restored at the release time.
And confirming our speculation that this was a way for the Trump admin to hit Mike Bloomberg and his eponymous organization where it hurts, the U.S. official, speaking on a conference call with journalists, said "the change is being made because several news organizations that participate are able to profit by providing the numbers to algorithmic traders in a format that provides them an advantage."
Translation: Trump is now going after the source of Mike Bloomberg's wealth - the selling of zero-latency market-moving information to HFTs.
That, as Bloomberg which would be directly and very adversely affected notes, "could hinder the media’s ability to provide headlines, comprehensive stories and tables at the exact release time."
That's one interpretation, another is that it will further democratize information, allowing, or rather forcing, everyone to come up with their own fast take of the data, and even open up the field to new competitors who currently don't have access to the lockup.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-goes-after-bloomberg-starting-march-1-bls-will-ban-lockup-computers-hitting-hft
No comments:
Post a Comment