October 14, 2009
To whom it may concern: I represent a group of investors/traders. We have been customers in good standing of the financial industry for over 20 years. Since the introduction of "flash orders" where computers and computer programs are taking advantage and "ABUSING" the system.
We have literally been put out of business. We can no longer bid or offer a stock without a computer driven system cutting us. These computer driven systems coinciding with flash orders are circumventing the laws of the stock exchange and undermining the general principles that this business was built on. Simply put, they are "CHEATING" and for some reason it is being accepted.
In addition it has been documented that "Regulators worry that certain unscrupulous participants in the market with ultrafast computer technology could game these orders, trading ahead of them and affecting the price of the security" This has come to fruition. These unscrupulous participants are spending miliions of dollars installing generators to run these superfast computers to take advantage of this "glitch". Havent we learned anything from the greediness and abuses from the subprime meltdown and banking debacle.
Thank you, I remain, Joseph Affrunti