HFT: Welcome To The Machine

The Flash Crash of 2010. The wild week in August when Standard & Poor's downgrade of US debt hit. Triple-digit last-hour moves becoming the norm. Turbocharged high-frequency trading firms are in the crosshairs of investors and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But are they really to blame? Over the past couple of months, it's become apparent that this new type of institutional trading is a big concern of individual investors—and it's a hot topic at client events at which I've spoken, so here's my take: