December 16, 2015
The current mkt structure provides micro-seconds
whereby HFTs can buy or sell before retail orders
arrive profiting from the price differential. Moreover,
HFTs also have micro-seconds to analyze order flow and
decide whether to cxl/chg posted buy or sell orders so
that real buyers and sellers have to pay up or sell lower.
While microseconds don't seem like enough time to analyze
order flow and news data to capture risk free profits at the
expense of other market participants, it is. Frankly, to a computer its almost an eternity.
IEX is one step to fixing a badly broken market. I support
their application and urge the SEC to approve it.