Flash Boys

I just read “Flash Boys” by Michael Lewis. Is the book accurate? Does “front-running” ever happen to retail traders?

 

Hft are typically liquidity providing so ya they trade order flow... Not without risk..

 

Honestly, I don't give it a second thought but I never trade big size.

 

Not front-running exactly, perhaps, but there are questions being asked about the treatment of retail orders by internalizing wholesalers, such as Citadel and KCG.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-probe-exclusive-idUSKCN0Y11CJ
http://www.wsj.com/articles/wall-st...-for-treatment-of-retail-investors-1462906454

 

what kind of liquidity are you talking about?

 

I think these kinds of things should be forbidden, hft are just parasites who use the market only with their own interest.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...icted-of-spoofing-gets-three-year-prison-term

When HFTs have orders resting on the exchange that they never intend on allowing to be filled, it's standard operating procedure. When an individual does it, apparently they can end up in prison

But honestly, every order I place has a limit price. Either a counterparty (HFT or not) is willing to trade, or not. I believe that the more market participants there are, the better for all traders (e.g. smaller bad/ask spreads.)

 

It only seems fair to start jailing the creators of HFTs now. Please let me be on the jury.

 

Interesting, I never knew about Liquidity Rebates.....9:45

How HFT Works

 

It was a great explanation of HFT. So for every million dollars traded, the HFT firm gets about $2500 in rebates ? So whats the average daily volume of an HFT firm ?