InvestorsHub Logo
icon url

Techamental Logic

04/04/14 11:20 AM

#2427 RE: JDUR #2425

It isn't like that at all and the alternative would be to move back to market makers full time. $7 trades would be history and would likely rise to a minimum of $13-15 each.

A penny is a way high estimate. At most it averages a .002 per share, it happens on less than 60% of trades and I'll gladly pay an HFT $3 to $5 for providing me with instant liquidity on every other trade than pay an additional $6 to E*TRADE and every trade and have to once again deal with the market maker nonsense that plagued exchanges for decades! What is even worse is that market maker nonsense really only happened 10% of the time but it was blamed every single time.

Banro would not be nearly as fun to trade, daily volume would strain to hit 100K most days. The problem is this has been hyped in the extreme and blown so far out of proportion that it is in truth very similar to the Salem Witch Trials. "Flash Boys" is a moronic book that fans the flames of fear and because people fear what they don't know the flames get hot.

This is reminiscent of the old days when people would fill iHub boards with posts about MMs. Financier's like Asher would laugh themselves to the bank as people blamed VERT and VFIN when in fact it was Asher and Continental doing everything and the MM name is just what is seen on the L2.

If even 10% of that book was true the SEC would have stepped in long ago but it is just a work of fiction and nothing more. Front running is the only illegal thing HFT's do and I hope they do bust a few because when the public sees that they busted an HFT who front loaded 1 million shares yet came away with a profit just under $10,000 everyone will look at the author of "Flash Boys" and realize they've been duped into spreading false hype about a non-issue.
icon url

investorwisdom

04/04/14 2:04 PM

#2454 RE: JDUR #2425

You have computers pinching a penny from everybody, eventually the people have no money left, and the computers have penny by penny accumulated all the wealth. All the market will be left with is computers at war with each other trading back and forth with no human being. Also over time the liquidity in the market will decrease greatly, and it's liquidity that was never there to begin with because is was all in the name of trading, this could very well be the cause of the next market crash creating a massive liquidity crisis when the HFT stops, what will the volume and breadth of the markets be. Some say HFT accounts for 70% or greater of the trades taking place in the market today. Used in context of private placements, sweep trades and advanced schemes, it's outright fraudulent to use HFT. Something has to be done soon or the market will be doomed to the next bubble bursting, it's probably too late to prevent the next crisis, and regulators only act in retrospect after the damage was dealt. So sit tight and hold on for the wild ride ahead.