[Taek]

Some exchanges are going to be more permanently divergent. Does the software handle this well?

An exchange can be permanently cheaper if withdrawals are limited, trust is lower, or some other effect reduces trader confidence in the exchange.

Major events like hacks are also imo likely to cause this software to stumble. Are there safety features to make sure it'll stop trading if something sufficiently unusual is happening?

[butor]

You're absolutely right: some exchanges are systematically divergent. It has been the case with BTC-e for a long time. This is not natively handled by the software.

The long/short mechanism overcomes the market risk (i.e. risk of losing money due to market moves) and reduces the slippage risk, but not the other risks, like technical issues on an exchange.

[wocram]

Why is BTC-e divergent? Are prices in blackbird adjusted for that, or other more easily quantifiable things such as fees?