[KingMob]

"This is a point that is most aggrevating about the narrative that Michael Lewis is pushing about HFT. The people being "hurt" in his hypothesis, are in fact the people who create esoteric forms of finance. The big institutions are upset by HFT because it has cut into their profits, not because it is unfair."

Yes, this was definitely glossed over in the article. But some of those large investors are things like pension funds, which hold ordinary people's savings. I'm not sure to what extent that trickles down though. Also, what about the flash crashes?

[kasey_junk]

Pension funds are operating more cheaply now than at any time in history. It is a myth propogated by large bank trading desks that HFT profits come from pension funds. Instead they come from trader bonuses that are no longer necessary.

As for flash crashes there are 2 answers to that question 1) they correct so fast that they impact very few people. 2) if exchanges would stop busting trades during crashes the practices that lead to them would stop.