SEC wants python code for simulations of financial instruments. See; Accelerando | Hacker News Reader

SEC wants python code for simulations of financial instruments. See; Accelerando

jrvarma.wordpress.com

52 pointsetherael17 comments

Now, if only they add a provision that enables wily coders to earn bounties on finding flaws in the assumptions...

In almost all cases where you have a prediction, you can put your money where your mouth is. If you find a flaw in the original program, you can make better predictions than it. Then you can invest in things that correlate with the correctness of your prediction (or you could just use Intrade).

This is why program trading code is such a closely guarded secret, any why this was such a big deal http://blogs.reuters.com/archive/tag/sergey-aleynikov/

If you can regularly find such errors and build a reputation, you could certainly sell access to your work output, since spotting errors and misstatements will have a direct effect on the value of the securities in question.

Written by cstross ( http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cstross )

* waves *

(Currently stranded in Akihabara by an angry Icelandic volcano god ...)

I just received an 8-book shipment from Amazon. I hadn't read any of your books before, but got turned on to them by Alastair Reynolds' writing.

So far I've read (and enjoyed!) Singularity Sky, and have just started The Atrocity Archives.

Thanks for writing!

Ouch, I'm about to pop back to the US from Saitama... why the hell are you staying in Akiba? There are plenty of nicer places to wait out volcanic doom...

Isn't Akihabara like the tech-mecca of Japan?

It is, but, well, I guess I'm just a weird nerd... you can buy the same (new) electronics at pretty much any Yodobashi Camera store, and if you're not heavily into action figures, anime, or porn, than there isn't much else in Akihabara, in terms of food or nightlife.

It's a fun shopping day, but if I was going to spend a week or two in Tokyo... well, I'd go to Osaka. But failing that, Shinagawa and Ikebukuro have better dining, Shinjuku has everything, and there's a ton of restaurants near the Tokyo station.

Although, if you want good food, and you don't feel like paying for the 'atmosphere' of a high-class restaurant, stay somewhere near a major university (Waseda, Tokyo, or Chuo). The restaurants all cater to students, which means they're cheap-ish, but not so cheap, that the quality suffers.

Interesting; thanks for the insight.

We're in Akihabara because: (1) Good public transport access (JR commuter rail to Tokyo station or a 20 minute walk), (2) convenient walking distance of lots of downtown stuff (for values of "think nothing of walking a couple of miles"), (3) a really cheap hotel deal, and (4) Nerd Paradise.

The SEC should have gone with JSON or YAML rather than XML though, as long as we're trying to keep things readable.

Otherwise I applaud this requirement for filing.

I would love to run to track the history of all submissions over time and see which are the most accurate performers.

XML has the advantage that validation is part of the DNA of the data, while JSON is useful the world of JSON validation is not mature by any stretch.

_Accelerando_ available here:

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelera...

Go. Read.

This is exactly like locking the barn door after the vampire bats have bled the horse to death.

This is such a good idea - and so obviously for the public good - that I am 100% confident it will not be adopted.

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