Main content

How to lose money - fast

Is the rapid growth of high frequency trading progress, or – as some think – a threat to the stability of the entire financial system?

Last week Knight Capital lost a lot of money very quickly.

It was the latest chapter in the story of something called 'high frequency trading'.

Investors have always valued being the first with the news.

But high frequency trading is different - algorithms execute automatic trades, conducted by computers, at astonishing speeds.

We ask - is the rapid growth of high frequency trading progress, or – as some think – a threat to the stability of the entire financial system?

(Image: $100 bills. Credit: AFP PHOTO/Karen BLEIER)

Available now

10 minutes

Last on

Sun 12 Aug 201215:50GMT
BBC World Service Online

More episodes

Previous

How to lose money, fast

Next

The great playing field sell off?

See all episodes from More or Less

Broadcasts

  • Sun 12 Aug 201202:50GMT
    BBC World Service Online
  • Sun 12 Aug 201215:50GMT
    BBC World Service Online

Unlock the history and truth behind the data with The OU

Unlock the history and truth behind the data with The OU

Explore how numbers shape, and sometimes mislead us, with The Open University.

When can you trust statistics?

When can you trust statistics?

BBC Ideas discovers three easy ways to help make sense of statistics.

Podcast

  • More or Less

    Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life