November 21, 2009
Flash orders should be allowed. These types of orders represent risk capital that provides vital liquidity to our nation's equity markets. Let us not be naive – without a profit motive, risk capital would not be supplied and liquidity would suffer. As a private investor, I trade in stocks routinely. I understand that while someone may profit from my orders, my outcomes would be less favorable if fewer participants existed to act as the counterparty to my transactions.
The idea that flash orders have an advantage is not in dispute. They are a successful innovation that increases the overall efficiency of our nation's capital markets. Please allow American markets to remain deep and liquid by maintaining a level playing field for healthy business competition and continued innovation.