Recent content by Mattybuoy

One of the beauties of Linux (UNIX) is that you can use whatever language you like. Compilation is only really required if a lot of number-crunching is involved. What would be important from a trading viewpoint is the APIs that are available. Or, if not actual library level APIs, then some...

As an aside, and with respect to what I thought this thread would be about before I looked ... ;) I think that it will be the NYSE that ends up merging with or taking over the LSE. From a structural viewpoint NASDAQ would be more logical but these cross-border exchange deals are rarely about...

They are completely different markets in the way they work. "Auctions" at the LSE are special events that mainly take place before opening and after closing. Otherwise, it is either order-book or market-maker driven, depending mostly on the market cap of the stock in question. Whereas the...

I forgot to say. ETFs are exempt from Stamp Duty.

BTW my understanding of why the UK does not have retail margin accounts is two-fold: 1) There is no "stocks" culture here. It is only a very small minority of the population who plays in the markets. This goes back to the class system ... 2) Apparently, because a margin account involves...

AFAIK the only genuine margin account available for UK stocks is the IB one. It covers the top 1,000 stocks for longs and the top 100 or so for shorts. Which is fine except for the afore-mentioned Stamp Duty of 0.5% on all purchases. That is the main reason CFDs are so popular over here...