Federal Government Asks for Closed Courtroom to Protect Goldman Sachs Secrets

spinola · Oct 30, 2010, 5:02am

Quote:

The U.S. Department of Justice has requested that a federal judge seal the courtroom of a trial involving computer code theft in order to protect trade secrets of Goldman Sachs.

Sergey Aleynikov was arrested by the FBI on charges of stealing computer code that supports Goldman’s high frequency trading system, which allows the bank to buy and sell stocks in a fraction of a second.

Goldman Sachs and others use “flash trading” to send out automated sell offers at higher and higher prices until one comes back with no buyer. The program then drops back to the highest acceptable price and sells at what the buyer set as his maximum limit. This allows Goldman to always obtain the best possible selling price, while the buyer loses the normal give and take of bargaining. In the case of large orders, such as those from pension funds or mutual funds, this can cost the buyers a small fortune.

Federal prosecutors have argued that the general public should not be allowed to observe the trial when details of Goldman’s trade secrets are discussed. They also asked that any documents related to Goldman’s trading strategies be sealed.
While it is common to protect proprietary corporate information during trials, the case of Aleynikov is unusual because it involves “secrets about a potentially lucrative trading system, rather than, say, ingredients in a soda formula,” wrote the Wall Street Journal.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

http://poorrichards-blog.blogspot.co...or-closed.html

It's like the KFC of the trading world ! I wonder what the code is ? - 180, go long !

arabianights · Oct 30, 2010, 5:17am

the so-called "algorithm" described there is averaging by another name... I like to think they're more sophisticated than that!

meanreversion · Oct 31, 2010, 11:08am

Arabian, are you the only punter >5k posts? You should campaign for a new category, Omniscient Member maybe??

wackypete2 · Oct 31, 2010, 11:35am

Just another example of how the gov't lets Goldman get away with screwing the public for profits, completely unabated and with Gov't approval....meanwhile us small retail investors must be protected from ourselves so we get regulated up the a**. We also get blamed for wall streets problems and so we get taxed on our transactions in order to pay to fix them...meanwhile goldman and others are exempt from those taxes....SH1T...I could go on and on....

Peter

Oct 30, 2010, 5:17am	#2
arabianights Legendary Member Member Since Jan 2007 6,782 Posts	Re: Federal Government Asks for Closed Courtroom to Protect Goldman Sachs Secrets the so-called "algorithm" described there is averaging by another name... I like to think they're more sophisticated than that! __________________ World's leading STIRs chatroom - www.propboards.com - register, then click on chat. Don't let the lack of posts on the forum put you off - the action happens in the chatroom. Targeted at locals, but hedge funds, brokers (including IDBs), market makers, and a few sizable amateurs are all represented. When it's quiet, banter is encouraged and anything goes. No nuisance spread betters please. Anyone else welcome.

Oct 31, 2010, 11:08am	#3
meanreversion Legendary Member Member Since Jan 2009 3,392 Posts	Re: Federal Government Asks for Closed Courtroom to Protect Goldman Sachs Secrets Arabian, are you the only punter >5k posts? You should campaign for a new category, Omniscient Member maybe??

Oct 31, 2010, 11:35am	#4
wackypete2 Legendary Member Member Since Sep 2008 8,999 Posts	Re: Federal Government Asks for Closed Courtroom to Protect Goldman Sachs Secrets Just another example of how the gov't lets Goldman get away with screwing the public for profits, completely unabated and with Gov't approval....meanwhile us small retail investors must be protected from ourselves so we get regulated up the a. We also get blamed for wall streets problems and so we get taxed on our transactions in order to pay to fix them...meanwhile goldman and others are exempt from those taxes....SH1T...I could go on and on.... Peter __________________ ********************************************** ***************** I'm not into Fundamentals. I'd trade anything for T & A ********************************************** *******************

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