Britain’s Political Struggles Overload Financial Traders

 

As Britain tries to withdraw from the European Union, the move is presenting complex problems for some in the financial industry.

Computer trading systems in the international currency markets are struggling to make sense of all the hourly information. This overload¹, some say, is making it more costly² and risky³ to trade the British currency, the pound.

Prime Minister Theresa May has failed three times to get a deal approved by the British parliament to leave the EU.

Last week, she sent a letter to the European Council. She asked for a delay of Britain’s proposed withdrawal⁴. European Council President Donald Tusk⁵ reacted by suggesting a delay of one year.

No one knows when, how or if Britain will truly complete “Brexit,” the British exit from the group.

Britain’s government is divided over the issue, and the number of people who can influence events has grown very large. This has caused problems for computers with “reading algorithms,” or algos. These algos are designed to consider the most recent words of important people before making investment decisions.

Usually computers evaluate people’s words by simply deciding how important they are, or how many times they have been spoken. Neil Jones is the head of currency sales at Mizuho, a Japanese bank in London. Brexit has so many people making important decisions and then talking about them that the computers are unable to keep up, he said.

News reading algos are a part of a revolution in investment banking⁶ and money management. Machines have replaced the humans who once decided⁷ what to buy and what to sell. Costs are lower and decisions are made more quickly by the computers.

At first, reading algos evaluated economic information or central bank policy. But they have grown more intelligent. For example, they can evaluate information that comes from Twitter in a matter of seconds and decide whether or not to invest in a currency.

The problem for the computers is that Brexit is simply creating too much information. Reuters has published up to 400 news stories on Brexit each day in recent weeks. Before Brexit, there were about 15 British political stories.

Bloomberg, another news group, has published up to 1000 stories a day, their spokesman said.

All of this proves that computers, which are logical, may never understand human beings, especially when they are foolish.

I’m John Russell.

Words in This Story

currency – n. the money that a country uses

algorithm – n. a set of steps that are followed to solve a mathematical problem or complete a computer process

evaluate – v. to judge the value or condition of something carefully or thoughtfully

logical –adj. of or relating to the formal processes used in thinking and

1 overload   

vt.使超载；n.超载

参考例句：

• Don't overload the boat or it will sink.别超载，否则船会沉。
• Large meals overload the digestive system.吃得太饱会加重消化系统的负担。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

4 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

5 tusk   

n.獠牙，长牙，象牙

参考例句：

• The wild boar had its tusk sunk deeply into a tree and howled desperately.野猪的獠牙陷在了树里，绝望地嗥叫着。
• A huge tusk decorated the wall of his study.他书房的墙上装饰着一支巨大的象牙。

6 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。