Re:The Accidental HFT Firm
by kajaktum on Saturday June 10, 2023 @10:46AM
(#36270940)
HFT provides liquidity and depth to the market tho. It does serve a purpose. How much? Not sure. Does it need to be super duper fast? Not sure. But that is natural in industries like this, because if you don't do it then someone else will.
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Re:The Accidental HFT Firm
by skippyboxedhero on Saturday June 10, 2023 @11:05AM
(#36271137)
It provides unbelievable amounts of value. Most people who complain about HFT, even those who work in the industry, say this from a position of total ignorance about what things were like before.
Even ten years ago, commissions were sky-high in comparison. Twenty years ago, it wasn't possible for most investors to access markets directly at all. You had to go through several layers of intermediaries just to get market exposure (it isn't just execution costs, HFT is an enabler for other innovation like ETFs)...you paid your wealth manager, the fund manager, who paid the broker, etc. Your returns were getting cut by a significant amount.
This trend is still working it's way through the industry but even versus ten years ago, you have seen massive improvements for consumers.