“NYSE measured the distance to the furthest cabinet, which is where people put their servers. It was 185 yards. So they gave every [high-frequency trader] a cable of 185 yards. Then, traders who were previously closer to the [exchange server] asked to move to the farthest end of the building. Why?
Because when a cable is coiled up, there’s a light dispersion that is slightly greater than when the cable is straight.”
More from Morgan Housel
“Consider that in 2015, more than 100% of the S&P 500’s gain came from Facebook, Apple,…”
“The math of stock market returns blows people’s minds. According to research from J.P.…”
“In 1990 there were 610 hedge funds managing $39 billion of assets, according to Hedge Fund…”
“The amount of time the average stock is held for has fallen off a cliff, from more than…”