Paul Rowady is the Director of Research for Alphacution, a research and strategic advisory platform uniquely focused on modeling and benchmarking the impacts of technology on global financial markets and the businesses of trading and asset management. He is a 35-year veteran of the proprietary, quantitative and derivatives trading arenas.
In this Feed post, Alphacution connects some very unusual dots to frame the recent announcements by ICE/NYSE, CME Group, and others to become aligned with betting and event contract markets. Sound business? Or, something else?
Alphacution presents evidence for how dominant prop firms are starving smaller competitors out of business - a sign that we may be approaching some kind of peak. One of the highlights of this post is a rare, long-term chart of the rise of the top proprietary traders - including Citadel Securities, Jane Street Group, and Susquehanna International Group (SIG) - and the decline of banks in the US equity option market...
In the September 21, 2525 article, Bloomberg's Lulu Yilun Chen and Katherine Doherty provide a rare look inside the unique goal-setting ritual at Citadel Securities.
Robinhood disrupts its way into membership in the S&P 500 index. Alphacution offers some charts - and thoughts - on the significance of this market milestone, including a new "torque" factor...
Alphacution quoted in Bloomberg's September 2, 2025 article by Katherine Doherty on recent record trading revenue from Jane Street, Citadel Securities, and Hudson River Trading...
As a continuation of Part I, this Part II represents a deeper dive into Alphacution's latest analysis of the US affiliate of legendary, Amsterdam-based derivatives trader, Optiver - including comparisons with the other legendary, Amsterdam-based derivatives trader, IMC Financial Markets...
Bloomberg's recent exposé on legendary Amsterdam-based derivatives trader, Optiver, is heavy on gloss and sabre rattling - against market leaders like Citadel Securities, Jane Street, and Susquehanna International Group - and light on strategic and competitive analysis. In Part I of this Feed post, Alphacution begins to fill that gap with data, context, and perspective...
Retail engagement in US equity options is directly having an outsized impact on US capital markets and indirectly on global market sentiment. Alphacution presents its latest charts on the topic, including clues related to the growth of international retail trading in the US equity market...