Summaries

'Ghost Exchange' probes the volatile state of U.S. capital markets and their critical impact on America's economic future. The film explores the acceleration of the evolution of U.S. stock exchanges, and uncovers the risks resulting from this wholesale adoption. Wall Street has transformed from the world of human touch trading, to computer algorithm trading- where stocks are owned for mere microseconds. The thought-provoking documentary also examines how recent financial headlines are a direct result of automated systems running unchecked. The capital market system that many considered as the world's best, may have been inadvertently lost by the pursuit of speed and efficiencies that we still do not truly understand. Wall Street has become a 'ghost exchange'.—Anonymous

Ghost Exchange probes the current state of US capital markets, the impact of high frequency and algorithmic trading, the lack of, or ineffective regulatory oversight and the risks that are now inherent in our markets by going right to the source -Wall Street's leading insiders - who shine a light on startling signs that the US stock market has built so much speed and complexity into the current system that it is impossible to regulate. The system has become - a Ghost Exchange. The technology powering these markets has evolved at breakneck speed and change has accelerated dramatically. An unrelenting focus on technology, hyper short-term trading, speed, and volume has eclipsed sanity in some areas - benefiting an increasingly smaller group of players. Mathematical algorithms conduct nearly 75% of US stock trades today. Machines trade against each other, chasing mathematical models written by an elite group of engineers and mathematicians. The idea that Wall Street is a loud market place of open commerce is a long gone myth. Now, traders' machines are moving blocks of stock and holding them for less than a microsecond. The film seeks to explain how all this happened, who did it, what it means, and what's coming next- understanding the true implications of events ranging the "Flash Crash" of 2010 to the trading system crash for the Facebook IPO in 2012...and most importantly, what it may mean to the investing public, what can be done to change it and what the SEC is (or isn't) doing about it.—Camilla Sullivan

Details

Keywords
  • independent film
  • stock market
  • wall street
  • securities exchange commission
  • high frequency trading
Genres
  • Documentary
  • News
Release date Feb 28, 2013
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) Unrated
Countries of origin United States
Language English
Filming locations Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
Production companies Arbitrage Pictures

Box office

Budget $150000

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 28m
Color Color
Sound mix Dolby
Aspect ratio 16:9 HD

Synopsis

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