5 ms·

> You'd have to write a feed handler for every exchange, and a real-time composite orderbook so you could see where the best order was at every point in time. F

> You'd have to write a feed handler for every exchange, and a real-time composite orderbook so you could see where the best order was at every point in time. For every stock. You'd need to rent the fastest network as well. Why would I need to rent a fast network for every stock? I didn't say abolish the exchange, I said make the data open, generally available so I can see for myself whats going on. Also smart order routers are there already, so no I don't have to write them again, every other broker already offers them. Now just cut out the HFT frontrunners and I can actually the price I see on the terminal. > A lot of businesses provide no real value to society. The only way to do that is to interact with a large portion of society. So restaurants for instance only serve the local market, no real value. I mean who benefits, other than the people who eat there? I could go on with a whole load of other businesses. That may be right, but that doesn't make HFT any better.

dsacco 9y ago
> Now just cut out the HFT frontrunners and I can actually the price I see on the terminal. High frequency trading is not front-running. High frequency traders 1) do not have a fiduciary duty to other traders in the market, which is a hard (and definitional) requirement for front-running; and 2) cannot see a retail investor’s order before it is executed on an exchange. They can only alter their prices in reaction to orders that have already executed. > I didn't say abolish the exchange, I said make the data open, generally available so I can see for myself whats going on. Also smart order routers are there already, so no I don't have to write them again, every other broker already offers them. 1. This data is already available for purchase. There’s nothing intrinsically preventing you from acquiring it as an individual. I’ve personally purchased this data as an individual. 2. Even if you can “see for yourself what’s happening”, without the extremely fast market making provided by HFT you’ll be waiting significantly longer just to find a trading counterparty. Your proposal sacrifices the liquidity and price efficiency provided by HFT in exchange for freely available market data, which the vast majority of retail investors will not be able to use (let alone want to). 3. Smart order routing is possible because there is sufficient inter-exchange liquidity. In fact, it is directly facilited by HFT. I’m not often this blunt on Hacker News, but in this case I think it’s warranted: you do not appear to have even basic familiarity with what you’re criticizing.

dsacco 9y ago

> Now just cut out the HFT frontrunners and I can actually the price I see on the terminal. High frequency trading is not front-running. High frequency traders 1) do not have a fiduciary duty to other traders in the market, which is a hard (and definitional) requirement for front-running; and 2) cannot see a retail investor’s order before it is executed on an exchange. They can only alter their prices in reaction to orders that have already executed. > I didn't say abolish the exchange, I said make the data open, generally available so I can see for myself whats going on. Also smart order routers are there already, so no I don't have to write them again, every other broker already offers them. 1. This data is already available for purchase. There’s nothing intrinsically preventing you from acquiring it as an individual. I’ve personally purchased this data as an individual. 2. Even if you can “see for yourself what’s happening”, without the extremely fast market making provided by HFT you’ll be waiting significantly longer just to find a trading counterparty. Your proposal sacrifices the liquidity and price efficiency provided by HFT in exchange for freely available market data, which the vast majority of retail investors will not be able to use (let alone want to). 3. Smart order routing is possible because there is sufficient inter-exchange liquidity. In fact, it is directly facilited by HFT. I’m not often this blunt on Hacker News, but in this case I think it’s warranted: you do not appear to have even basic familiarity with what you’re criticizing.