even a few seconds makes a huge difference.[/QUOTe
"High-frequency traders are using an experimental type of cable to speed up their systems by billionths of a second, the latest move in a technological arms race to execute stock trades as quickly as possible.
The cable, called hollow-core fiber, is a next-generation version of the fiber-optic cable used to
deliver broadband internet to homes and businesses. Made of glass, such cables carry data encoded as beams of light. But instead of being solid, hollow-core fiber is empty inside, with dozens of parallel, air-filled channels narrower than a human hair.
Because light travels nearly 50% faster through air than glass, it takes about one-third less time to send data through hollow-core fiber than through the same length of standard fiber.
The difference is often just a minuscule fraction of a second. But in
high-frequency trading, that can make the difference between profits and losses. HFT firms use sophisticated algorithms and ultrafast data networks to execute rapid-fire trades in stocks, options and futures. "
You are talking about a few seconds. Other people are trying to get ahead of you in billionths of a second. Is that important? It is something to think about,
