Under the programme, contractors get a small fee when someone joins the scheme but they are only liable for larger fees once they have been in work for an extended period of time - of up to two years.

BBC: Work Programme under fire as charities shut down

But instead of dropping price improvement or addressing customer problems, Lutnick slapped BrokerTec with a suit, claiming it had violated eSpeed's patents on such bond-trading conventions as the "work-up" (a practice that gave a trader, buying or selling at a given price, the right to execute all trading at that price until he's done) and "trading time" (the grace period a trader has to act under a work-up).

FORBES: Briefing Book: Howard Lutnick

Continuing to chew after the warm-up period seems to have required too much jaw-work, and burning more energy negated the benefits.

FORBES: Chew Yourself a Better Brain