High frequency trading (HFT) strategies, risks and regulations show their effects across markets tilted by managements of exchanges and regulators to favor HFT over investors. It continues with constant market changes that supports the tilt against investors. All the while HFT uses technology and strategy unavailable to any investor. Aware investors can use strategies that protect themselves from HFT.
What you Learn with the lesson, High frequency trading strategies, risks and regulations:
The lesson covers the extensive and growing ways HFT strategy affects all markets. As a result, HFT risks and regulations affect all investor returns with costs. In particular, you learn how HFT advantages with data and technology produces profits. Most notable, those profits are for HFT while costs rise for investors. Become aware that major stock market changes favor HFT. That knowledge informs you and gets you ready to respond to HFT.
FAQs investors asked about high frequency trading strategies, risks and regulations
These questions and answers about high frequency trading strategies, risks and regulations have overlapping answers which help investors understand how stock markets, investing, and money-making interrelates.
Does high frequency trading change investing?
High-frequency trading has changed investing and markets in large and small ways. As a result, the effects of high-frequency trading strategies, risks, and regulations have cascaded across all markets.
Although risks are part of any market, stock exchange management decisions and technology-tilted markets favor high-frequency trading interests above all others.
Those advantages, including the first and fastest connections to markets, premium trading data, and access to all investor market orders, put high-frequency traders ahead of any large or small investor's market orders.
In response, sharp investors changed how they place and control their trading orders to minimize the impact of high-frequency trading.
Does high frequency trading affect markets?
Yes, the activity, risks, regulations, and strategies of high frequency trading impact markets.
Management of exchanges changed policies, processes, and technologies to favor high frequency trading over large and small investors.
That gave high frequency traders an advantage, but aware investors can take steps to protect their investment orders from high frequency traders.
What risks come with high frequency trading?
Three significant market risks and flaws of high frequency trading include:
1. Pushing price dips and spikes to skim profits increases systemic market risks.
2. The increased volatility ripples across interconnected markets.
3. Misinformation streams of false prices and ghost orders mislead markets and increase uncertainty.
Repeated direction pushes, volatile swings, and misinformation erode confidence and market integrity as high frequency traders, their trolls, and bought allies amplify public market misinformation.
Does high frequency trading provide liquidity?
Liquidity is added by any volume, including from high frequency trading. However, high frequency traders misrepresent that volume as market-making liquidity.
They spin that nonsense to mislead investors and market watchers. Real market-makers step up to provide volume regardless of the circumstances. That is especially important when other orders dry up.
But in any market disruptions, high frequency traders instantly flee for cover, providing no market-making liquidity. That doesn't stop the high frequency trading minions from endlessly chirping self-serving misinformation.
Does high frequency trading affect individual investors?
High frequency traders can take advantage of any market order of large to small investors.
Therefore, their activity affects all investors and traders across markets. That includes investors managing the most significant pension and institutional funds to minor retail investors.
Additionally, their participation in rebate programs increases their profits, while technological speed and execution advantages can affect all market orders.
As a result, the answer is yes, high frequency trading impacts all individual investors.
High-frequency trading changed investing
High-frequency trading significantly changed investing with advanced algorithms and high-speed data networks to execute trades at fractions of a second. The resulting impact includes liquidity changes with increased order flow, tighter bid-ask spreads, quicker trade executions, and higher risks.
Algorithms react swiftly to market news and price changes to rapidly adjust to new information. The automation and increased volume lowered the overall cost of executing a trade with the tradeoff of increased volatility. That volatility can exaggerate price fluctuations. It can produce abrupt price swings, especially when markets are stressed or uncertain, which can badly impact investors.
High-frequency trading also drives market fragmentation across multiple interrelated exchanges, complicating market structure issues and increasing the risk of disruptions. Those issues raise regulatory concerns and scrutiny about market manipulation and fairness.
In response, regulators implemented circuit breakers and trading restrictions seeking to mitigate the associated high-frequency trading risks and ensure market integrity. However, market participants, regulators, and academics continue to debate the challenges of regulatory concerns and heightened volatility.
The High frequency trading scheme
HFT uses exchange location advantages and data for an inside track to profits as parts of their high frequency trading strategies. As a result, informed investors must know the advantages of those HFT strategies. Knowing the HFT helps investors understand that complex scheme. See lessons 4 to 8 for details on the data and exchange location advantages. Here we discuss the use of those HFT advantages as expressways to more revenue and bottom line.
That setup of HFT harms everyone else with costs while giving all benefits to the HFT few. Those privileged inside few, effectively impose a tax on all investor trades. But the collected benefits go to the HFT firms. They make no contribution to public good but take it all for their private gain. These guys have crafted a brilliant money making scheme!
High frequency trading firm types
HFT firms come in many variations. Some are stand alone organizations, others are parts of related organizations. HFT can be a private trading firm, a financial services subsidiary or a fund management firm. They can also be a subsidiary of other organizations. As a result, they can and do legally trade against customers and clients. Thus, clear surface conflicts get covered by clever legal wrapping. So much for transparency, fairness or an old fashioned level playing field.
Proprietary firms
The largest number of HFT firms use private money and proprietary strategies. These are very closed shops staffed by tight lipped groups. Some contract as exchange liquidity providers. That does not make them real market makers but they do claim to fill a market making role. That topic gets detailed coverage in lesson 11.
Broker-dealers
Broker-dealers running HFT set up separate firms to push the scheme. In general the setup appears as a proprietary desks. That allows them to claim they are separate from their client business. This type of firm or structural scheme can include the largest investment banks. All tightly wrapped for the insiders. Certainly, legal and tidy but not furthering the interest of any investing client.
Hedge funds
Naturally, real hedge funds get in on the HFT scheme. Most often they trade price differences to arbitrage between securities and asset classes. There are many firms calling themselves hedge funds that do not in fact hedge. In any event they do trade and many run HFT schemes. As pointed out in lesson 9, many arbitrage trades are perfectly legitimate and useful.
Good or evil, HFT are smart people
High frequency trading strategies, risks and regulations combine to play out in both good and evil ways. HFT systems are created by smart people. These smart people create, use and exploit markets with HFT. They are very good at what they do and their creative minds always have more ideas coming. HFT strategies, risks and regulations have effects across markets. A few examples of wide HFT use give some understanding of the breath of their actions. However, this is nowhere near a comprehensive list. Such a list would run many pages, be as large as the human imagination and continue to grow.
More high frequency trading strategies
Beyond the arbitrage strategy covered in Lesson 9, HFT uses many other strategies. This builds on the last lesson to take us further into how HFT operates. HFT strategies focus on proprietary trading or trading for the firm, not for clients. They profit from trading, not serving clients.
A nice daily start - liquidity pay!
As detailed in Lesson 6, HFT can get paid for liquidity which gives their trading day a nice start. On top of getting paid to play, HFT often attempts momentum ignition as a basic technique.
When front running is not front running
The first covert developments of HFT were quiet creations by a few players. They were secret additions to the market mix. They came to play but made no announcement. Rather they benefited by skulking around in the dark.
When HFT first appeared in stock markets the effects were immediate but limited. See Lesson 5 for the story of the discovery and exposure of HFT.
As HFT grew in markets, some traders became aware that markets changed. Sharp observers noticed that someone always got in front of their investment orders. Once exposed to the public, critics accused HFT of front running investors.
Despite exposure, no HFT firm got called out or stopped. Did regulators change the rules to make front running acceptable? As covered in Lesson 6, HFT has legal cover for their actions.
HFT are not front running, they are just running much faster. Their technology and built-in exchange advantages give them an inside track. That track, built inside exchanges, always gets them to the trade much faster than any human can.
Momentum ignition, the ultimate head fake
Momentum ignition in markets is like the head fake of an athlete to fool a competitor. In the same way, in markets, HFT momentum ignition feeds a series of trades in one direction. After all is that fake interest draws in other traders, the tables are soon turned.
Anyone taking the bait thinks they see momentum building. They jumped in thinking they are getting in an early stage price brake or trend. Enough bites creates a spike that the HFT faker quickly trades against. As a result, anyone taking the fake gets their pockets picked by HFT.
Ambush trades or contemporaneous trading
Investor orders can get ambushed by HFT. As happens across the financial services world, nasty actions get covered in jargon. In this case, it gets called contemporaneous trading. But still, you get ambushed! They get your money.
As markets are now set up, HFT can prey on all investor orders. By intercepting investor orders they can learn trading intentions behind each order. Then they use their technology advantages to profit by trading against them. As a result of their speed, they always get there before any real investors.
This action impacts large funds far more than individual investor orders. That happens due to the far larger order sizes placed by funds. The HFT technology advantage puts this beyond what any human trader could do.
Flash orders or puff, your money is gone!
HFT generates flash orders or orders that last mere milliseconds. Almost none get filled or ever intend to wait for filling. They get cancelled. These are fake orders intended to mislead others or bluff the system. As you will see below, there are variations and extensions of this basic idea.
Head fakes variations are endless
Related orders around so called market making, HFT plays many games. A head fake is another version of the quick placement and cancellation of orders. This is one variation of ignition momentum attempting to tempt momentum traders. Flash, head fakes, momentum ignition are all versions of the same fakes.
Macro market movement and the big news event
Strategies playing global macro or large world market movements trade the big picture. For example, broad global markets like oil can have large price movements. So a world event can trigger a major change in the value of oil. Or the comment of an official or world leader can trigger big price changes. As noted in lesson 2, trading on news is part of markets. Headline trading has happened throughout the history of markets but HFT takes it to a new level.
Layering orders pile on fake orders
Yet another technique related to faking orders is layering them. By doing that, HFT intends to generate waves of false orders. That signals buying or selling interest and pressure. Or at least that is the intention.
Called layered orders because, like a layer cake, there are several levels. Each level gets a different price or layer. They intend to fake a so-called deep market. After all, if they can fool investors, they have a picket to pick.
Any investor thinking there in a deep market and buying interest may place an order to get in on the party. Layering attempts to fool investors, rival algorithms or any fund manager looking. As before, HFT lurks waiting to pick the pockets of any investor that responds.
Long, short or playing both sides to play both ways!
HFT strategies include playing equities long, short or both! That can happen because HFT always seeks to play price movement not direction. So playing both ways can work for them. In fact they can play, trade and profit on both sides as long as they have investor pockets to pick. They need investor victims and momentum to make this work well.
Order stuffing another tune from the fake order song sheet
One variation, quote or order stuffing enters large numbers of orders. Again, as a result the market gets the signal a flood of orders is hitting the market. In this case, those orders vaporize as fast as they appear. None ever get filled.
This can have two purposes. First, just another HFT fake order scam to mislead. Or, second, a flood of orders to slow competitors or markets. One result of an order flood is computers at an exchange or at a competitor use processing time.
Torrents of orders take time to process. That can do two things. First it can have the effect of plugging up competitive processors with noise. Second, it can have the same delaying effect on exchange computers. This is nothing but a market manipulation technique in the new world order of HFT.
Pinging for anybody home or willing to trade
A basic method of testing market interest is pinging. In order to ping, many small orders get placed. That will be a multitude of 100 share orders. The purpose is to see who bites. In cases of suspecting large orders, pinging can often draw a bite.
Large orders often hide in dark pools to avoid trading predators. HFT predators may ping dark pools to test for bites. A few bites can show a large order lurking and reveal institutional trading interest. Like a submarine pinging to find a ship to sink, HFT ping markets to find prey. When a ping gets a hit, follow up pings zone in on the target and their level of interest.
When finding or suspecting a target, HFT buys up any supply of the interesting stock. They attempt to control the supply so any buyer must buy from them. After HFT buys up all supply of the wanted stock, they immediately sell it to the institutional buyer. But, naturally at a higher price!
That raises the cost for the buyer and the millions of investors that may be their clients. And it takes a slice of profit for the HFT that found prey. As you can see, this near risk free hunting for targets raises costs for buyers trying to build a position. No investor benefits there but higher costs for no service.
Scalping, a little from you, a little from me, everybody pays!
Scalping captures small profits from every trade they can intercept. Any price change up or down draws HFT to clip a small slice from each order. Doing this millions of times produces huge profits for HFT. Stepping in front of many trades is most effective in volatile markets. In such cases there are many and continuous price movements. Technology and HFT advantages always puts HFT at the front of the line. Investors get to pay that tax but get no benefit.
Spoofing yet another false play
HFT generates orders and cancellations in huge waves. These false orders serve to manipulate the market. They are trying to get a price to move or induce a particular market reaction. All based on fake information.
Spoofing orders are fake. Posting and killing large volumes of fake orders are bluffs. Cancelled before any possible filling, they are bluffs. Fooling other traders is their only purpose. Victims fall for them as indications of order interest but only get their pockets picked. The spoofing game gets played again and again...as long as there are suckers that bite the bait, there will be spoofs.
High frequency trading taxes investors
Investors can wonder if exchanges, regulators and HFT conspire to pick their pockets. It seems they do. HFT strategies, risks and regulations have effects across markets. At the same time, it seems all the costs go to investors.
Smart people created HFT predator algorithms to do some clever and wicked things. Exchanges cooperated in setting up a legal insider trading scheme. This clever scheme taxes investors to pour revenue into the pockets of the HFT cabal. The effect is a HFT transaction tax across markets. But it is only investor costs that rises without benefit with revenue for HFT pockets.
High frequency trading brings risks
But the HFT schemes come with risks. HFT risks include trading, software and market manipulation risks. Without doubt, HFT affects markets including increasing risks. Done well HFT produces profits without market disruption. But not always.
Regulations allowed the infrastructure and incentive changes that brought HFT into markets. HFT claims the best execution of trades happens without humans. They can trade multiple markets and assets the ability of any human. That demonstrates just how technology is integral to markets. It does not always go so smoothly.
There is another side to the HFT coin. When done poorly HFT can produce financial or market disasters. It can build systemic risk - that risk to the financial system is the biggest HFT risk. It risks the company, markets and economy. HFT can increase volatility, ripple effects and uncertainty. Each such change can increase the overall market risks. Those HFT strategies, risks and regulations have affects across markets, including the following:
Trading risk of spoofs, fake order and fast movers
Spooks, false or fake orders by you, me or a human trader are illegal. If it were not serious, spoofing risks of HFT may make us smile. Because spoofing is illegal, it can bring an ironic smile. That happens when HFT speak saying that detecting spoofing remains complex.
In my view, that means they still get away with it. Regulations and infrastructure allows HFT to get away with fake orders. That still does not make it a good idea across markets. But it does point out one risk is regulatory risk and that all players are not equal or treated as equal.
Software risks
Bad programming or software can bring disasters. A simple program can have bugs, complex ones more so. And anything as complex as advanced HFT algorithms and trading systems do have bugs. Any part of the programming can have errors or math formula mistakes. Algorithm errors happen. Often shortcuts and developer mistakes show as algorithm errors.
Those new to programming may not understand the importance of testing. Tests can find limits and vulnerabilities or not. But flawed code deployed early can be a disaster waiting to happen. Such mistakes have burned lots of money.
A software or programming error can both gush cash and wreck a company or disrupt markets. At times, market dynamics may produce conditions a program code can not deal with. Like the rest of us, programmers make mistakes and do not think of everything. However, in an ironic twist, HFT now have developed crash algorithms. They stand ready to profit from market turmoil and stress. As always, providing no benefit to investors.
Market risks
Market manipulation risks are direct effects of HFT activity. The interplay of share supply, demand and pricing are the bases of market dynamics. Change in any part of those relationships produces market changes. Markets, like life, have surprises. HFT can quickly exaggerate any market movement to a bubble or dip. A blip can flash into a crash.
Named as dynamic acceleration, we see it as a flash crash. We have seen it in markets and also seen it happen to the shares of an individual company. For example, Aug 1, 2012 Knight Capital Group in a “trading glitch” of 150 stocks evaporated $400 million in an hour! They got bailed out by a takeover and sent back to risk management school.
Regulations and compliance rules are parts of the HFT risk mix. This part of the HFT risk story can be a trip down a legal rabbit hole. Going there adds no information helpful to most investors. So we move on to other risks.
There is one huge risk when markets get tilted. Investors can lose money, but of greatest importance is investors can lose confidence. The possible loss of investor confidence and belief in market integrity is a risk. Regulators give it lip service but don't actually do much of anything to ensure it. They certainly do not address HFT as a systemic risk let alone a risk to investor confidence.
Daily flashes, crashes or spikes!
Market flashes are direct effects of automated trading. Daily nanosecond HFT systems can flash endless parades of millisecond orders. That can send spikes and plunges blazing through markets. These regular HFT occurrences with many stocks are market noise. Still, most investors do not know these daily occurrences even exist.
Superior investors must know but filter out this manufactured noise. Avoid HFT bait or get caught and served for lunch in the market maker trap. Learn to manage HFT risk exposure and strategies in Lesson 13.
Amplification of systemic risk
Markets now have regular HFT induced spikes. Most pass as instantly ignored flashes. But not all. As noted below, the Flash Crash did happen. Such drama could not happen without automated trading. It serves as an example of how HFT can amplify market flaws, mistakes or fakes to rock markets and investors. We know, HFT strategies, risks and regulations have effects across markets. Some parts of that and the causes should alarm both investors and regulators.
Flash Crash! A trillion dollar wipe out!
HFT caused one of the greatest market failures in history. That was the Flash Crash of May 6th, 2010, the trillion dollar market wiped out in a plunge of almost 1,000 points! The shares of over 300 companies traded for as low as a penny and as high as $100,000! Interlinked markets send such fakes and mistakes around the world. In a 36 minute flash the market dove to almost fully rebound!
SEC responds by expanding market-wide circuit breakers
After a study of the Flash Crash, SEC regulators added a new layer of circuit breakers. Circuit breakers are brief trading timeouts supporting broad market stability. These were additions to existing circuit breakers.
Circuit breakers were first implemented following the Black Monday crash. That happened on Oct. 19, 1987 when panic spread from market to market across the world. That day the NYSE dropped over 22%. At that time big economic worries panicked markets that fell and stayed down.
The SEC came up with the idea of inserting brief trading timeouts during selloffs. The idea was to allow traders to take a breath and settle down. Panics are ugly, costly, unstable and largely irrational. The pause introduced some breathing space which helps restore order and stability. The aim being to help markets become more stable.
Circuit breakers seek calm during times of market strife
Regulators attached the first circuit breakers to the S&P 500 Index. With the circuit breakers in place an index moves of 7%, 13% or 20% triggers a 15 minute market-wide timeout. When tripped during later trading hours markets close for the day.
Those index related circuit breakers worked for over 20 years. They were in place well before HFT became a factor in markets. But things had changed, markets had changed.
Stub quotes and opportunistic stinks
Index related circuit breakers did not stop the Flash Crash plunge and rebound. They were not fast enough as in moments devastation hit many individual stocks. Some plunged in panic to hit $0.01 stub quotes!
Those are the stink bids! Stink bids or stub quotes priced well below the markets sit and wait for extended periods. Opportunistic traders place them to take advantage of panic of careless selling. A reckless seller may dump a position or sell through all offers to plunge to a crazy low price.
Stub quotes stink up the market
Stub quotes are stink bid or ask orders. For example, for a quality company trading for say, $50.00 a share gets priced at $0.01 or $0.05 to buy or $1,000 or $10,000 to sell.
Quotes so far from the market action never expect a fill. Market makers used stub quotes to meet their obligation of always having a quote in place. Having a stub quotes in place market makers met their market making agreement to have a quote in place.
But stub quotes certainly were not in the spirit of market making agreements. Stub quotes were market maker traps. They were only filled when panic, or ignorance drove an order to fill at such levels. The SEC soon grasped the need to address the problem.
LULD
Limit Up Limit Down in stub quotes out
LULD collars are in and stub quotes out! Not a change in fashion but a regulation response to the Flash Crash. The Flash Crash showed a flaw in index triggered circuit breakers. Index circuit breakers trip when prices spike or plunge across the index.
But the index does not move very much in response to any movement of an individual stock price. As a result, the price of an affected stock can spike or plunge to trade at ridiculous values. To put a damper on such panics, regulators established price movement limits.
Regulators set Limit UP - Limit Down or LULD for individual stocks and ETFs. Should a price movement of 10% up or down happen within 5 minutes, it triggers a 5 minute timeout. Called collars, based on a % of trading prices respond to market movements. With LULD in place individual stocks have circuit breaker stability.
The SEC also addressed stub quotes by banning them for market makers. Many exchanges did the sensible thing and banned them for everyone.
To wrap up the Flash Crash story, many of the panic trades and stub orders got cancelled. Not everyone was happy about that but in general common sense prevailed. When HFT strategies, risks and regulations have affects across markets changes restored order.
Secret confidentiality and alienation
HFT developed, grew and operates in secrecy. HFT keep their knowledge, programming and strategies to themselves. That works for confidentiality but also alienates them from outside their own shop. That continues to build their opposition.
While HFT firms are small in number, they now account for the majority of trading volume. A growing number of proposals opposing HFT may change things and move against them. We live in interesting times of evolving HFT operations. Technology, growth, innovative strategies and change will keep things interesting!
Our HFT operations our tour begins with strategies that catch the most attention. Then we progress to other common HFT approaches. This helps us understand the deep penetration of markets today by HFT.
Market making fails and HFT busts.
Basic HFT makes a fraction of a cent profit on millions of high-speed trades. Money gets made a little at a time in a rising market by buying low and selling high in milliseconds. Millions of transactions add up to many dollars.
HFT can play both ways. In a declining market, HFT profits by shorting and covering in milliseconds. That process begins with HFT selling at the higher price and then covering the short by buying at a lower price. With price movements up or down HFT takes a slice of passing trades. Technology and exchange advantages let them come between buyer and seller. They take a slice of each passing trade and move on to clip the next order.
Good, bad, ugly high frequency trading
According to HFT advocates, investors enjoy benefits from HFT actions. There may be some but others are dubious and fail when given a close look. Most often tying benefit claims to arbitrage plays casts then in the best light.
Such claims often list the benefits from electronic trading as HFT. Lesson 4 reports long before HFT, option markets demonstrated electronic trading benefits. Common wilful ignorance and misinformation are tools of HFT trolls. They may as well claim credit for gravity and sunshine. Saying it, even shouting it and repeating it, does not make it so.
Market making pretenders
HFT are market making pretenders. Real market makers stay through thick and thin. When easy profits leave, so do high frequency traders skittle away. That is not market making.
HFT are pretender part time market makers. Designated market makers (DMM), introduced in Lesson 2, are the real deal. DMM are humans contracted to provide liquidity and support for market stability. They use technology but trades as informed and experienced humans.
HFT scurry away from any market storms. At best they are sunshine only market makers that avoid dark days. Real market makers are in markets through thick and thin, up and down, good and bad.
HFT leaves markets and accepts no obligation to market make in all circumstances. That is not market making. Rapid HFT withdrawal from a market can destabilize not add stability and liquidity. That hit and miss participation increases risk rather than stability. Mythical market making can be a better name for this part time or sunny day market making.
Positive high frequency trading claims
Liquidity rebates, market making magic and some positives for high frequency trading. High trading volumes from HFT do increase liquidity which can help order flow. Like one hand washing the other, good order flow does increase liquidity.
We learned of liquidity rebate programs in Lesson 8. Typical rebate programs pay for trades done at the bid and ask prices. That means HFT gets paid to trade back and forth at bid and ask prices for no capital gain. Like a taxi getting paid to wait. Phony volume to mislead investors. Any real liquidity gain is minimal as the HFT focus is profit no liquidity.
Exchange Revenues Increased
Without question this HFT claim is correct. HFT pays exchanges big dollars! Financial statements released to the public show exchanges report huge revenue increases. Data and colocation fees that arrived with HFT account for the difference.
Spreads Narrowed
Volume narrows spreads or the difference between the bid and ask prices. Both updating speed and accuracy on exchanges produces competition and narrows bid-ask spreads. Other contributors are electronic trading, computer and algorithm trading and yes HFT. Spreads narrowed as the result of much more at play than HFT.
Volatility Increased
Rapid HFT with ultra short term holds give rise to price fluctuations and volatility. HFT produces high portions of total volumes increasing market volatility. Placing and cancelling waves of phantom orders sends false signals of interest. That increases volatility while adding no market value or benefit to real investors.
Price movement attracts predators
Trading predators, like HFT, pick up on price movements. For instance, anyone can move the price on their order when filling a larger order. But, any price movement immediately shows the market your interest. Most important, it shows you are willing to pay a little more. On the other hand, when selling, it shows you will take a little less to get your larger trade filled.
Cases like that, immediately attract HFT. In such cases, HFT technology and market monitoring catch the price moves. They identify price and volume as an opportunity. HFT algorithms instantly jump in front with orders to make profit from any spread.
HFT technology takes advantage and profit from the action of the less informed or quick. Clever HFT algorithm creators continue to innovate, test and deploy new ideas. Ideas that make profits stay, the others get deleted or tweaked for further testing until they do.
As a matter of routine, HFT often places orders at off market prices to test for direction interest. This means they offer and cancel larger amounts of stock at prices just off the market. Should you try to take the trade, it instantly fades away hoping you will chase and move your price further yet.
They feast on anyone placing orders that acts on the belief those HFT orders are real. In some markets regulations ban this practice and other HFT strategies. Some markets and regulators have done something. Policies or imposed costs on HFT can make specific strategies unprofitable and obsolete.
High frequency trading broad impact
HFT strategies, risks and regulations have affects across markets and impacts all investors. That includes you and the largest investment funds in the world! At least we are in some very good company! In a game of many pay and few get the benefits, HFT imposes costs across the market to deliver obscene profits to a few.
HFT has no customers! They are self serving predators delivering no net benefit to investors. HFT prey on investor orders making the investor the event! Investors can not avoid this exchange imposed market rig. HFT is a systemic problem.
Now You Know, High frequency trading strategies, risks and regulations!
This lesson, High frequency trading strategies, risks and regulations, gives superior investor knowledge. It is a lesson from the Ultimate Guide to Stock Market Investing Success.
Knowing HFT makes money using data, technology and stock exchange advantages informs you. You also know that HFT schemers drive up investor costs and that makes you a better investor.
Knowing that technology and exchange management favors HFT helps you understand markets
We know, HFT affects markets in large and small ways. The effects of HFT strategies, risks and regulations show across markets. Although market risk is a constant, changes and technology moved the advantage to HFT.
HFT advantages put investors behind. Details and discussion follow in High frequency trading strategies risks and regulations. The effects of HFT now touches and changes every market and affects every investor.
In addition, you know these lesson takeaways from,
High frequency trading strategies, risks and regulations:
HFT risks and regulations show their effects across markets. Those markets, tilted by regulators and exchange managements, favor HFT over investors. It continues with constant market change that supports the tilt against investors. All the while HFT uses technology and strategy unavailable to any investor. Only aware investors can protect themselves from HFT. .
HFT operations affect markets and investors.
Most HFT firms are proprietary, broker-dealers or hedge funds.
Trading at the front of the line is not front running.
HFT strategies include: momentum ignition, macro movements, long, short or both, ambush trades, flash orders, order stuffing, spoofing and fakes, layering and pinging and endlessly more.
HFT brings trading, software and market risks.
Systemic risks can wipe out markets.
Regulations include circuit breakers and LULD collars.
HFT are market making pretenders.
HFT increased exchange revenues.
Across markets electronic trading narrowed spreads.
HFT increased volatility.
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High frequency trading explained, lesson links:
Introducing high frequency trading explained Lesson 1
Racing for profits drives high frequency trading Lesson 2
Markets and technology built HFT Lesson 3
Technology powers high frequency trading Lesson 4
High frequency trading secrets exposed! Lesson 5
Laws and ethics beat investors Lesson 6
Market management burns investors Lesson 7
High frequency trader 3-Way ambush Lesson 8
Fair and foul high frequency trading Lesson 9
High frequency trading strategies, risks and regulations Lesson 10
Misinformation myths of high frequency trading Lesson 11
Markets technology and laws respond to high frequency trading Lesson 12
Next lesson, course 510 lesson 11: Misinformation and myths of high frequency trading
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