It looks look your fears that high frequency trading (HFT) screwing up the markets are correct. We have often wondered how this benefits anyone other than the HFTs and the exchanges. Most individuals and small institutions do not have anywhere the infrastructure like the HFTs have. These can get closer to the NYSE and to the NASDAQ, literally, and in many cases they have significant advantages that Joe Public does not have.
It turns out that the bulk of financial institutions are at a disadvantage as well. An outfit called Liquidnet, an institutional marketplace, noted that about two-thirds of institutions are worried about HFT, led by global firms and in the U.S. and in Europe.
