A sure thing, not so sure anymore…HFT (High Frequency Trading) slows….JK’s Travel Schedule Reminder

We along with many others have commented somewhat neutrally to the uprising of the machines… AKA High Frequency Trading (HFT) it appears their dominance may already be waning.

On May 6, 2010 HFT was thrust into the headlines as a sudden and sharp drop in capital market indexes was blamed on a collective HFT shut off by several firms, leading to thin and low trading volumes on many stocks and allowing for sporadic pricing when large orders came to the market.

Fast forward to today and as a recent New York Times Article pointed out, HFT trading dominance may be on the way out.  It appears that HFT was not as profitable as once thought, and participants once rushing for the gold pan, are now leaving the equity market. We have noticed less HFT distractions during trading as well. It is nice how markets adjust to weed out unnecessary participants.

It is worth keeping an eye out for other playgrounds as some may take their tools to another stage i.e. futures, commodities etc…. time will tell.

As a reminder, I will be traveling on Thursday and Friday (18-19) of this week, but will be tethered electronically to the office.

Have a Great Day!

JK