Rise Of The Machines

Equity Trades Defy Economy as Wall Street Transformers Abound

Citadel Investment Group LLC -- Kenneth Griffin's Chicago- based hedge fund named to suggest a stronghold in volatile markets -- uses mathematical models and advanced computer systems to make investments that translate into about 5 percent of U.S. equity trading. D.E. Shaw & Co., which oversees $35 billion, relies on automated, 24-hour-a-day strategies that exploit shifts in asset prices around the world. The New York- based fund accounts for between 1 percent and 2 percent of trading at the NYSE.
...
Citigroup Inc.'s Automated Trading Desk tries to predict prices for 8,000 stocks 30 seconds into the future to give the largest U.S. bank an edge on rivals.
...
Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-biggest bank, expanded its rapid-fire algorithmic trading programs to more than 30 countries and almost doubled its equity revenue over two years to 7.75 billion Swiss francs ($7.03 billion).

Lehman Brothers, the fourth-biggest U.S. securities firm by market value, climbed the ranks of brokers on exchanges in Frankfurt, Stockholm and Toronto after retooling its order- processing systems to reduce costs. The New York-based company was the top broker in Europe last year, up from third in 2005, and climbed 18 spots to No. 6 in Canada, according to Thomson Corp.'s Autex.