• Jul
  • 27
  • 2007
  • 7:57 AM

The hidden part of the iceberg

By: Ray Pellecchia
File Under: NYSE

Nobody but the short sellers was happy about yesterday's selloff. My colleagues in Technology and Operations could take some solace, however, in the fact that amid record share volume and message traffic, our systems held up just fine.

The visible tip of that iceberg is the share volume, which is mentioned in today's Wall Street Journal here and here (subscription required). Share volume on NYSE was reported at 2.749 billion, and I don't think that included our crossing sessions. Will update that if I get new information.

But the big, hidden chunk of the iceberg is the electronic message traffic that coursed through our systems, and there were a number of records on that front (all data preliminary):

Reports: 144 million
Orders: 134 million
NYSE quotes: 54 million
Away quotes: 250 million

That's a total of 582 million electronic messages right there. Just to give you a sense of the velocity, our Common Message Switch experienced a record 25,754 messages per second (mps) for a one-minute period, and 21,563 mps for a five-minute period.

I'm not looking to pat ourselves on the back while so many are sore in the wallet today. But as you'll recall from last February, the only thing worse than a selloff is a selloff with a glitch attached to it. Giving you continuous, reliable access to the market (no matter how bearish or bullish the market) is an essential component of making the wheel go 'round.

Think of it as the power staying on when the heat wave hits, allowing everyone to stay cool.

May the same thing happen every day. The systems working fine, not the selloff, that is, of course.

Anyway, it's Friday. I looked and found not a single thing of interest on this date in stock-market or rock-music history. So I offer up this poor substitute:

On This Day in Ancient History -- your humble blogger was born. And in honor of the occasion, I'm taking the day off. Good trading today and have a good weekend, folks.

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Comments

Happy B-day Ray. Many more my friend. Thanks.

by tony dey on July 27, 2007 8:19 AM

Happy Birthday, Ray! Enjoy your day off.

by brenda on July 27, 2007 9:14 AM

A poor substitute indeed! My hat's off to the NYSE's first and finest blogger. Happy birthday, Ray. Hope you have a wonderful day.-- Margarida

by Margarida Correia on July 27, 2007 9:27 AM

Happy Birthday, Ray! A happy healthy year ahead!

by Ali on July 27, 2007 11:37 AM

Nice reading today!

Keep up the good work.

Oh yea ...

I'm a large NYX shareholder.

Anything you can do ... to get the stock price up ...
Would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks ... Ron

by Ron on July 27, 2007 12:43 PM

C'mon Ray, what year?

It's hard to gauge... the music taste says you were born in 1949, but the "hip" blogging says no earlier than 1970.

Anyway, happy birthday.

-DT

by Dinosaur Trader on July 29, 2007 6:26 PM

Thanks for the birthday wishes, all.

DT, you bookended my age just right. Split the difference between 1949 and 1970, and you have it: I was born in 1959. Like I said, ancient.

Ron, on the stock price, wish I could help. We're all doing the best we can, me included. Hey, I wonder if anyone has ever studied the effect (if any) of a corporate blog on a company's stock price. That is, do the stocks of companies with blogs fare better than those without? If anyone has ever looked at that, I'm not aware of it.

I don't think that a corporate blog in and of itself would be material, but perhaps it is an indicator of a company that is more open and responsive to customers. I'd like to think that's the case.

BTW, I just checked, and our stock closed at 56.50 on 9 Dec. 2005, the day this blog was born. Any gains between then and now, I claim all the credit. :>)

by Ray Pellecchia on July 30, 2007 8:47 AM

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