I buoni vecchi tempi!

Perdonate questo post un po' frivolo, ma non ho resistito leggendo l'articolo e vedendo la foto che lo accompagna, che indica anche un certo gusto per la provocazione... Ecco a voi, dal Wall Street Journal del 10 settembre, 
un articolo sulla dolce vita di tre esperti di trading algoritmico

The Traders Who Skip Most of the Day

At Briargate, Stock Market's Open and Close Is All That Matters. Then, Golf.

Michael Rubenstein for The Wall Street Journal

For Briargate's Rick Oscher, Steven Rubinstein and James DeMaira, 'midday action' means soaking up the sun.

NEW YORK—On the day the "flash crash" bludgeoned the stock market and chaos swept over the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, the founders of Briargate Trading were at the movies.
Rick Oscher and Steven Rubinstein weren't playing hooky. Briargate, a proprietary-trading firm that the two former NYSE floor "specialist" traders started in 2008, is mostly active at the stock market's open and close.
In between, when market activity typically drops, the Wall Street veterans play tennis in Central Park, take leisurely lunches, visit their children's schools and work out at the gym.(...)
Briargate—an anagram of "arbitrage"—isn't the only firm taking an extended recess during the 6½-hour U.S. trading day. Trading has become increasingly concentrated in the first and last hours of the session.
Those two hours now make up more than half of the entire day's trading volume, according to an analysis of data provided by Thomson Reuters. In August, the first and last hour generated nearly 58% of New York Stock Exchange primary volume, up from 45% in August 2005, the analysis shows. The rise of high-frequency trading, where algorithms are used to exploit small discrepancies in high-volume situations, amplifies the concentration of trading at the beginning and end of the day, analysts say.

Il piccolo fondo propietario ha solo altri due dipendenti, oltre ai tre traders che vedete rilassarsi nella foto.

Briargate trades mostly stocks, using computer algorithms that still require human decision-making. Sometimes the firm's programmer is left in charge when the rest of the staff leaves the office.
Mr. Oscher said the firm, which trades only its own money, hedges its risks "so there isn't any scenario that would move our profit and loss beyond boundaries of comfort."(...)
Mr. Oscher says their compensation is "in line" with what they formerly made as specialists. Successful specialists could make upward of $500,000 at the industry's peak, while partners could bring home more than $1 million.
Both feel their freedom is fragile, as trading invariably carries risks. Says Mr. Oscher: "We say all the time—these are the good old days."