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Sunday, July 11, 2010

Kid Dynamite's Law

One of my favorite Laws of the Internet is Godwin's Law, which states:

"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."

In other words: in a comment thread online, eventually someone will call someone else a Nazi, refer to the other person's comments as something Hitler would say, or otherwise refer to the opposing argument as embodying the ideals of Hitler or Nazis.

Well, the 2010 version of this is Kid Dynamite's Law:

As a comment thread on any financial, economic or political article or blog post grows longer, the probability of someone blaming the underlying theme or a tangential effect on high frequency trading approaches one.

-KD

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

MarketGuy's Law: Since over 70% of all trading is algo and HFT it seems prudent that all conversations regarding market action should logically include it in any conclusive analysis.

Jon from Bkln said...

Wisdom of the crowds, no?

Kid Dynamite said...

Jon, I think i was hinting at the opposite - IGNORANCE of the crowds. while HFT is certainly relevant to discussions of equity trading and market structure, it bears no relevance to political discussions or most economic discussions - yet it's become a soundbite of blame for all that is wrong with our financial world, and thus pops up where it shouldn't in the comment threads.

Anonymous said...

MarketGuy that 70% of all trading in equities in the US by volume or by number of trades? What do you consider an algo?

Danny

Payson Hall said...

That's what Hitler would say...

Kid Dynamite said...

Dillon Ratigan exemplifies Kid Dynamite's law!!!

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/ratigans-righteous-rant.html

brings up computers who trade stocks and hold them for 10 seconds! in a discussion with a senator about jobs!