> of course you do need to execute intelligently; you can't just plop a million-dollar order in a hundred-million-a-day market and expect the market not to move against you
It's fine for the market to move against big orders, I just want the movement to, like, take one second. I don't want anyone to change their position in response to an order that hasn't even resolved.
> (do you even remember markets before decimalization? minimum spread 12.5 cents)
Well I'm not suggesting we undo that.
> if you're an investor, otoh, the lower spread and greater liquidity means timely execution costs you less, not more. you aren't paying them for liquidity; they're paying you, or rather you're paying them, but much less than the spread you'd've paid an old-style open outcry market maker
In this scenario I'm a long-term investor so the cost means nothing to me. So it's a matter of whether I want HFTs to profit, and I don't, because their actions are often not win-win. If HFT worked somewhat differently I wouldn't mind them the same way.
It's fine for the market to move against big orders, I just want the movement to, like, take one second. I don't want anyone to change their position in response to an order that hasn't even resolved.
> (do you even remember markets before decimalization? minimum spread 12.5 cents)
Well I'm not suggesting we undo that.
> if you're an investor, otoh, the lower spread and greater liquidity means timely execution costs you less, not more. you aren't paying them for liquidity; they're paying you, or rather you're paying them, but much less than the spread you'd've paid an old-style open outcry market maker
In this scenario I'm a long-term investor so the cost means nothing to me. So it's a matter of whether I want HFTs to profit, and I don't, because their actions are often not win-win. If HFT worked somewhat differently I wouldn't mind them the same way.