Bloomberg (November 19)
“As the rest of the world looks for ways to rein in high-frequency trading, Japan is making a mistake by letting it expand unchecked.” High-speed trading accounted for nearly half of TSE trading last year, but officials have done little to examine or regulate high-frequency trading. In contrast, stricter rules are being implemented overseas in Europe, the U.S. and even China.
Advanced Trading (September 27)
Despite several major incidents upsetting markets, “U.S. regulators have been slow to act” to regulate high-frequency trading. Germany, Canada, Australia, the EU and other countries, however, are moving ahead. Approaches include transaction fees and minimum time requirements before orders can be cancelled. These countries “think that by acting now, they can protect their markets against the types of technological disruption we’ve seen here. Let’s wait and see if it works.” High-frequency trades now account for 65% of U.S. stock trading and 45% of European stock trading.
Tags: Australia, Canada, Germany, High frequency trading, Regulators, the EU, U.S.
USA Today (September 26)
The SEC should curtail high-frequency trading, which breeds insanity. Traditional investors act “based on a belief that a company will prosper and that its price will rise, or… on the opposite belief.” High-frequency traders do not care “a whit about a stock’s fundamentals” they simply “buy and sell individual stocks multiple times in a fraction of a second, all in search of micro-profits with each trade.” This increases the risk of yet another flash crash. “These practices undermine the core purpose of markets, which is to raise capital in pursuit of enterprise, profit and economic growth.” The SEC should “slap a small transaction tax on rapid trades, impeding the practice and returning markets to their core purpose…. The only people harmed would be those now putting everyone else at risk.”
Securities Technology Monitor (August 6)
High frequency trading “can wreak havoc in the global financial marketplace by amplifying moves on the up- and down-sides.” The “Knightmare on Wall Street” focused attention on this issue when a software glitch at Knight Capital caused almost 40 NYSE-listed stocks to move more than 10% in less than 60 minutes. “The problem with the rising popularity of High-Frequency Trading is that it may be distorting global financial markets significantly, increasingly destabilising those markets and causing the rise of systemic risk.”
High frequency trading “can wreak havoc in the global financial marketplace by amplifying moves on the up- and down-sides.” The “Knightmare on Wall Street” focused attention on this issue when a software glitch at Knight Capital caused almost 40 NYSE-listed stocks to move more than 10% in less than 60 minutes. “The problem with the rising popularity of High-Frequency Trading is that it may be distorting global financial markets significantly, increasingly destabilising those markets and causing the rise of systemic risk.”
