Arb, short for arbitrage, is the system of hand signals used to communicate buy and sell information in an open-outcry trading environment.
Traders usually flash the signals quickly across a room to make a sale or a purchase. Signals that occur with palms facing out and hands away from the body are an indication the gesturer wishes to sell. When traders face their palms in and hold their hands up, they are gesturing to buy.
When you touch the forehead, digits equal multiples of ten so below I’m indicating that I intend to sell 40 shares!
Making money hand over fist
The use of hand signals on the trading floor began around the middle of the 19th century. Brokers and traders were trying to get in the best position to see the trading boards and access the brokerage service windows, from which information could be retrieved, interpreted, and acted upon. As you can imagine, it got quite heated at times!
Brokers needed to be able to pass information quickly and directly to a trader on the floor without revealing it to anyone else and this is where arbitrage came in.
Communicating using hand signals is actually very efficient, practical and mainains confidentiality.
These days, open out-cry environments have pretty much all been replaced by electronic methods of trading and whilst I simulated arb for a laugh, all my trading is done either on-line or over the telephone.
I purchased DS Smith stock some time ago and they have continued to do well since.
I purchased at around £3.19 per share so multiplied by 40 that equals £128. I sold 40 shares at £4.40 which equals £176. The difference between the two is £48. Once I had taken the brokerage fee into consideration, coincidentally, this left a margin of almost £40 on the sale of 40 shares!
As I purchased more than 40 shares in my previous transaction, selling the 40 felt more like cashing in some of the profit by liquifying some of that stock.
I hereby pledge to give that profit away via a subsequent #40s440 donation 🙂
The Thirty Third of my Fourth donations goes to OCEARCH. OCEARCH is a non-profit, data-centric organisation built to help scientists collect previously unattainable data in the ocean.
You may have seen footage of them tagging and taking samples from huge sharks on a specially made submersible (and raiseable) pontoon:
OCEARCH is recognized as a world leader in generating scientific data related to tracking (telemetry), and biological studies of keystone marine species such as great white sharks, tiger sharks, and more. OCEARCH has embarked on 39 ocean research expeditions as of September 2020.
Their mission is to accelerate the ocean’s return to balance and abundance, through fearless innovations in scientific research, education, outreach, and policy using unique collaborations of individuals and organisations in the United States and abroad.
OCEARCH maintain a free open-sourced Shark Tracking service so you can see where individual sharks are in the world and how far they travel! This allows scientists, educators, and fans alike to learn about the never before documented movements of our ocean’s apex predators.
However, I could not get in touch with them for love nor money and despite the website being up and running, it doesn’t even seem to be registered on Google Maps.
I thought my luck had run out but on the contrary, it was only just beginning!
An intelligent and bold individual whom I hadn’t previously met their acquaintance messaged me to suggest we should meet 40 times in 40 different places and even proposed the first venue – Forti Pizzeria!
Mashallah, I am grateful for such blessings and people coming into my life.
We shared a Polli and had some drinks (menu can be downloaded via the above link) The Pizza was excellent but only Coke and Water on the menu and Sprite available if you asked – I’m not used to the drink selection being so limited.
In any case Forti was popular and based on the food and the service, it will remain so.
At the time of writing, Four Square have this restaurant rated as an 8.9 out of 10; Google reviews say 4.2 out of 5.
For the past 70 years, UNRWA has been delivering effective and reliable humanitarian support to Palestine refugees living in Gaza, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Hostilities in recent days have caused the loss of human life and the destruction of physical infrastructure. Already high levels of psychosocial stress, especially among children, have been further exacerbated. As the need grows, we need your help more than ever. Support Palestine refugees in Gaza now.
Your donation helps ensure that Palestine refugees receive essential service including education, health, emergency cash and food assistance and protection.
Show your support to Palestine refugees in Gaza: https://donate.unrwa.org/one-time/~my-donation
The Terrence Higgins Trust is a charity that supports those living with HIV – they are the largest voluntary sector provider of HIV and sexual health services in the UK, running services out of local centres across Great Britain.
No one really wants to live with this; it’s not limited to any one section of society.
The Terrence Higgins Trust estimates that about 7% of the roughly 103,800 people living with the virus in the UK, do not know they are HIV positive.
Their vision for 2030 is that there will be no new HIV transmissions in the UK.
The thirtieth of my 40 donations goes to World Animal Protection. What appealed to me what their Sea Change campaign that reduces the huge suffering caused by ‘ghost gear’ – abandoned fishing gear that turns oceans into death traps for sea animals. This is something I am passionate about having almost always returned from a dive with some cast off fishing gear or other rubbish in my pocket.
Spending longer underwater than some people work in a week sounds extreme but breaking it down into 40 one hour-long scuba dives way off shore in the Red Sea made it a pleasure, especially during the pandemic!
Most dives last around 1 hour. At least, that is what I typically aim for. Sometimes, if there is strong current or some other issue then they may be shorter and equally, provided that it is safe to do so, it may be worth hanging around under the surface a bit longer (like I did to spend more time with the shark under our boat in the below video).
Plan the Dive, Dive the Plan:
My plan was to do all the dives during the pandemic once domestic travel was possible. I therefore would do the following trips to try and achieve it:
Farazan Banks July 2020 (a total of 9 dives over 3 days) – cumulative total 9
Yanbu September 2020 (a total of 12 dives over 3 days) – cumulative total 21
Yanbu October 2020 (a total of 11 dives over 3 days) – cumulative total 32
Rabigh May 2021 (a total of 12 dives over 3 days) – cumulative total 44
I figured that with 44 dives to go at, I had a 10% buffer / margin of error to make up any shortfall. However, things don’t always go to plan…!
Highlights:
Being able to do this during the pandemic kept me sane; a few things really stand out so I have listed them below:
Interaction with a Silky Shark
Freediving the Aiona
My deepest dive to date
Having a reef named after me (Budgie Smuggler Reef, Marker 35)
Farazan Banks July 2020 (a total of 9 dives over 3 days):
We did 9 dives over the long weekend and had some amazing experiences including a very up close and personal encounter with a beautiful and inquisitive Silky Shark:
The dive sites were as follows:
Day 1:
Canyon Reef
Malathu Island
Shi’b Ammar Reef (night dive)
Day 2:
Belgium Reef
Malathu Island
Marmar Island
Shi’b Ammar Reef (night dive)
Day 3:
Aramco Reef
Aramco Reef
God laughs at people who make plans:
Due to an avoidable and thoroughly regrettable error on my part, I did not download the detailed data files from my dive computer before they were overwritten by the data from new dives. The computer records the total number of dives and has therefore recorded the dive took place but it only has capacity to hold the detailed data for 59 dives.
So, I can prove I was there and that I did 9 dives but if I rely on these dives, I will be unable to prove categorically that these dives equate to 9 of the 40 hours underwater!
This issue was exacerbated by me using my diving watch for freediving. Even when it is on Gauge mode, the number of dives racks up fast and risks overwriting important earlier dive data. I have addressed this by purchasing a separate watch, specifically for freediving.
I hereby commit to downloading my dive computer data after each and every trip going forward!
Moving on:
Since then, I managed to do the other 35 scuba dives so I’m confident that I have spent well over a total of 40 hours underwater. That being said, for the sake of completeness, I will gladly do another 5 dives to collect the 40 dives worth of data and post it on this blog.
For each dive, I’ve put a picture of the relevant dive maps or nautical charts below with some other links and photos etc. I’ve also included the detailed data from my dive computer for each of them. This allows you to see the maximum depth, total time, water temperature and dive profile of each dive, amongst other things.
Yanbu September 2020 (a total of 12 dives over 3 days):
Yanbu, KSA – nautical chart
The dive sites were as follows:
Day 1:
Aiona Wreck
Marker 32
Abu Galawa
Abu Galawa (night)
Day 2:
Mansi
Marker 39 Tes Tes
Marker 35 Budgie Smuggler Reef
Abu Galawa (night)
Day 3:
Marker 34
Marker 29
Shermo Reef / Aiona
Shermo Reef / Aiona (night)
Dive computer information and maps:
Aiona Wreck:
Marker 32:
Abu Galawa:
Abu Galawa (night):
Mansi (HH):
Marker 39 Tes Tes:
Marker 35 Budgie Smuggler Reef:
Abu Galawa:
Marker 34:
Marker 29 (no map available):
Shermo Reef / Aiona:
Shermo Reef / Aiona (night):
The sun setting at Shermo Reef
Yanbu October 2020 (a total of 11 dives over 3 days):
The Aiona is a wreck in the Red Sea. The story I was told is that the ship was captured from the British by German submariners in World War 2. The Germans gifted it to their Turkish allies who ran it onto a reef off the coast of Yanbu, Saudi Arabia and it’s been there ever since!
I’ve explored between 35 and 40 metres deep a number of times on this particular dive site and become familiar with it.
Here is a video of an earlier trip:
This 40s 4 40 trip, I was with a number of very experienced divers, none more so than my buddy. We wanted to know how deep the sea bed is and so took measurements in the sand, a few meters out from the propeller. Previously, I had only ever hovered above the sea bed, toward the top of the propeller.
By doing so we achieved a depth of 48.7 metres – that’s my deepest dive so far.
Diver above the starboard side of the propeller
Diver going through the starboard side of the propeller
A few metres from the propeller
My buddy depth checking the sea bed
The Port side of the propeller
Even though I was only 5 minutes into my dive, you can see from the below data how little time was available at that depth before I had to ascend to a more shallow depth to stay within no decompression dive limits (<2 minutes):
I descended to 48.7m in 5 minutes, took some pictures and headed back up
Clearly, I was aware of this and started to ascend too quickly for the dive computer’s liking; I was only 8 minutes into my dive and already on my ascent but within one minute of no decompression time!
Dive computer screen warning me to slow down on my ascent – note 1 minute of no deco time remains
Once I had added a few more minutes on my no decompression time by ascending, I slowed my assent rate appropriately.
My deepest dive to date – 48.7m
The rest of the dive was spent at a more shallow depth exploring the wreck itself and the reef to the North of it, before returning to the dive boat. The brief dip during the safety stop was to retrieve something.
Going beyond no decompression limits is not necessarily a problem provided you manage it correctly but I believe it is good practice to stay within no decompression limits when recreational diving unless exceptional circumstances and experience provide good enough reason to go beyond them (e.g. an emergency or something like a specific wreck or incredible marine life).
I experienced no negative effects during or after this dive. I’m left with a recollection of feeling lonely down there and it clearly being time to get back to the surface (full Buddy respect).
Suffice to say, it is of the utmost importance to always dive within your personal limits, relative to your qualifications and who you are with.
Here are some pictures of the Aiona from an earlier trip:
Being reasonably familiar with the Aiona and with the support of my friends and dive operator, I freedived the wreck. The highlight for me was penetrating the wreck through a hatch on the port side and swimming up through the hull of the wreck before exiting through its broken deck to re-surface.
You can watch more about the Aiona in the amazing documentary ‘Desert Seas’ by David Attenborough:
The twenty eighth of my 40 donations goes to the Shark Trust who are safeguarding the future of sharks through positive change. The Sharks Trust believe the best way to safeguard the future of sharks is through a solutions-based approach that promotes positive change.
The Sharks Trust’s conservation goals set the agenda for their work. They achieve their goals through projects and campaigns that bring together different players. All of their projects, campaigns, and policy actions drive progress towards these 3 key goals:
SPECIES PROTECTION – protection of endangered species through legislation and effective conservation action. Their Saving Species projects place science at the heart of conservation action.
FISHERIES MANAGEMENT – fisheries managed for sustainability to prevent declines in non-threatened species. They’re working to transform fisheries to prevent population decline through overfishing.
RESPONSIBLE TRADE – They promote responsible trade and reduced demand for non-sustainable shark products.
There’s lots of ways you can help. From raising awareness about shark conservation, to taking part in one of their citizen science projects – they’ve got something for all ages. Visit their Get Involved page to find out more.
The twenty seventh of my 40 donations goes to the Social Mobility Foundation charity (SMF).
The SMF is a charity that helps talented young people from low-income backgrounds enter top universities and professions. The SMF’s programmes include mentoring, university application support, work placements and skills sessions across the students’ sixth-form and university years.
The Education Select Committee report warns that white pupils on free school meals underachieve from early years in school through to GCSE, A-levels and university entry, compared with pupils on free meals from other ethnic groups.
At GCSE, in 2019, 18% of white British pupils on free meals achieved grade 5 in English and maths, compared with 23% for the average for pupils on free meals
For university entry, 16% of white British pupils on free meals get places, compared with 59% of black African pupils on free meals, 59% of Bangladeshi pupils on free meals and 32% of black Caribbean pupils on free meals.
The underachievement is down to a “poisonous mix of place, family and local culture”, said Chris Zarraga, director of Schools North East, a regional network of head teachers in one of the areas with the biggest concentrations of disadvantaged white pupils.
Without tackling the underachievement of white working class pupils the wider aim of narrowing the attainment gap between rich and poor will fail, warned former Ofsted chief, Sir Michael Wilshaw.
