I’m like not 100% sure what floor traders even do besides pose for reaction photos when the stock market does something. Basically professional mourners but for capitalism.
They stopped being a thing back in the '00s. Floor trading is all done by algorithms now. Specifically, the High Frequency Trading algorithms, that perpetually scan trading indexes and place orders in anticipation of arbitrage opportunities.
You’ve got a few people on the floor who function as IT and tweak the algorithms as necessary when they encounter bugs. But that guy is more likely freaking because his API is bugging out than because of any change in equity values.
There are still traders who work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)—where some large companies still trade in the pit—as well as commodity and options exchanges like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
I’m like not 100% sure what floor traders even do besides pose for reaction photos when the stock market does something. Basically professional mourners but for capitalism.
They stopped being a thing back in the '00s. Floor trading is all done by algorithms now. Specifically, the High Frequency Trading algorithms, that perpetually scan trading indexes and place orders in anticipation of arbitrage opportunities.
You’ve got a few people on the floor who function as IT and tweak the algorithms as necessary when they encounter bugs. But that guy is more likely freaking because his API is bugging out than because of any change in equity values.
No, those are still actual traders at the NYSE. An overwhelming amount of trades are electronic, but the NYSE floor is still a thing.
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/09/traders-floor-exchange.asp
They’re there almost exclusively for the cameras. It’s essentially a TV set.
Yes, you’re not wrong, but they are making actual trades.
If I had to guess, they aren’t doing the small high frequency trades, but big movements.
Just like my IBS.