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Is High Frequency Trading a Force for Good or Evil?

Jim — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 14:34:25 +0000

We've previously discussed a variety of academic and political views on the costs and/or benefits of high frequency trading here on the Trading Gurus blog. If that type of thing is of interest to you as well then you might want to wander over to The Economist, where a "virtual debate" is currently taking place on the topic of "This house believes that high-frequency trading contributes to the overall quality of markets".

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Jon Corzine's MF Global is Bankrupt

Jim — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 09:25:01 +0000

The global financial crisis took yet another turn for the worse on Monday. According to Yahoo! Finance:

MF Global's meltdown in less than a week made it the biggest U.S. casualty of Europe's debt crisis, and the seventh-largest bankruptcy by assets in U.S. history.

The chief executive of MF Global Holdings Ltd. is Jon Corzine. According to The Economist recently, Mr. Corzine is:

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Are High Frequency Traders About to Destroy the City of London?

Jim — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:53:29 +0000

My attention has recently been drawn to an academic research paper entitled High Frequency Trading and The New-Market Makers. The author, who is from the VU University in Amsterdam, investigates the connection between high frequency trading and the emergence of new exchanges here in Europe:

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How Goldman Sachs Can Wreck Your Forex Account

Jim — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:31:15 +0000

The publicity battle over financial reform in the United States gets ever hotter. A variety of glossy magazines are currently sinking their teeth into Goldman Sachs following the news that the investment bank is under attack by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. Although its articles are sprinkled with the word "alleged", Time seems to have already judged Goldman Sachs and the rest of Wall Street guilty as charged. In one article this weekend Time highlights the irony that Gary Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs partner and now chairman of the CFTC, is currently gunning for his previous paymasters. According to Time:

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“Morally Bankrupt” Goldman Sachs Investigated by SEC and FSA

Jim — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:36:03 +0000

Last Friday the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the investment bank Goldman Sachs and their London based Vice President Fabrice Tourre with fraud:

The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) that hinged on the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Goldman Sachs failed to disclose to investors vital information about the CDO, in particular the role that a major hedge fund played in the portfolio selection process and the fact that the hedge fund had taken a short position against the CDO.

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Is a Scalping Ban Next on the Regulators Agenda?

Jim — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:48:40 +0000

The BBC reports this morning that Lord Myners, the UK "City minister" and former head of fund manager Gartmore, has his doubts about the development of high-frequency trading (or HFT for short). He told the BBC that:

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NFA "Respectfully" Criticizes SEC Capital Requirements

Jim — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:18:27 +0000

In a recent letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission the National Futures Association commented on proposed further increases in net capital requirements for Futures Commission Merchants and Introducing Brokers.

Whilst the NFA:

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