charlie munger speaks about something he knows nothing about. he's an old fool it seems. he should down size his age by 80% he says hft's operate at his expense. ummm, is he saying the old specialist system with 1/8th spreads was better? duh. should we all be driving 57 chevy's and grabbing a root beer float down at the local diner before heading off to the drive in theater?
Well the argument he makes against HFT (it adds no social value) could be made against all traders regardless of duration. Other than providing that ever elusive "liquidity" it is difficult to see what social value any trader has. Face it, none of you entered trading to benefit society. You did it to make money.
Speculation exists in all businesses not just trading. The shop keeper on the corner buys food with no intention of eating it. He buys it only to sell it at a higher price, driving up the real price. So he provides no social value either. In essence 70% of all business provide no social value. That's life.
The retail grocer does provide a service -- he brings food from various places and makes it easy to buy it all in one place close to your home. Without him you'd have to drive many more miles each week to pick up food from various warehouses. And if the warehouses didn't exist you'd have to drive hundreds (or thousands) of miles to various farms and food processors to get your food.
98% of statistics are made up. Take the merchant's business model: Buy good at Place A. Sell good at Place B. Charge a service fee. Do you not see the social value right there?
theres a diff tween a middleman and a plunderer. theres a diff tween a middleman and a blackmailer. theres a diff tween a middleman and an extortionist. is everyone here an idiot?
and what exactly were the traditional nyse specialists and nasdaq market makers? were they non profit organizations? wtf are you talking about?