From: Mike Markley <mmarkley@microsoft.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 94 09:17:35 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Quants vs Congress
Message-ID: <9404141518.AA06429@netmail2.microsoft.com>
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| From: Timothy C. May  <netmail!tcmay@netcom.com>
| To: John E. Kreznar  <jkreznar@ininx.com>
| Cc:  <cypherpunks@toad.com>
| Subject: Re: Quants vs Congress
| Date: Wednesday, April 13, 1994 8:13PM
|
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| In-Reply-To: <9404140219.AA09878@ininx> from "John E. Kreznar"
| at Apr 13, 94 07:19:36 pm
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| John Krexnar writes:
|
| (Duncan Frissell's section elided)
|
| > Aw c'mon Duncan.  Derivative of what?  What's a quant?  Where was the
| > term ``intermediation of political risk'' used?
| >
| > I love your postings when I can make sense of them.  This one is so well
| > encrypted I can't.
|
| "Derivatives" mean secondary financial instruments, based on ("derived
| from") things like stocks, bonds, and real estate. Things like futures
| markets, "baskets" of other instruments, etc. These started, it may be
| argued, in the trading pits of Chicago, but have now spread around the
| world. I think I recall reading (in "Time"'s cover story last week on
| derivatives and quants, ironically enough--the Wall Street nerd with
| the "messy room" has replaced the hacker as the Number One Threat to
| Civilization) that $ 4 Trillion in derivatives trades _daily_.
|
| "Quants," closely related to "rocket scientists," are those who use
| math and statistics for investment purposes. Short for "quantitative."
|
| I urge all Cypherpunks who can afford to do so to subscribe to "The
| Economist." It's filled with good, incisive articles, including the
| best treatments of breaking science and technology stories in any
| general magazine. Shoot your t.v., maybe, but don't let your
| subsription lapse. Available also on newstands, whence information on
| subscribing may be found (read the mag long enough, and you too will
| speak in terms of "whence").
|
| --Tim May
|
|
| --
| ..........................................................................
| Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
| tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
| 408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
| W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
| Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
| "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."
|

The derivatives market is a very dangerous place also. In yesterdays 
financial section here in Seattle there was an article about how 
Proctor and Gamble is reporting a loss of over $100 million in the 
mortgage derivative market. Also in RISKS Digest 15.75 there is an 
article with the subject ' God Grants Granite Gift to RISKS Punsters' 
that talks about a company losing $600 million over the period of 
several weeks in the deriviative market.

Mike.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Mike Markley              || The opinions here do not represent the
mmarkley@microsoft.com    || opinions of my employer. Attempts to
			  || associate the two are pointless.

   "I want to look at life, In the available light"
					- Neil Peart -