PROJECT TITLE :

High-Frequency Trading: The Faster, the Better?

ABSTRACT :

The floor of the New York Stock Exchange, stuffed with traders in a frenzy of activity, is maybe the enduring image of financial markets. But these days, the TV pictures we have a tendency to see of the trading floor are largely symbolic. The frenzy of activity instead takes place in server rooms, with human market makers replaced by the algorithms of high-frequency trading corporations. They make their cash with razor-thin margins and huge volumes. To thrive, they have to master each technology and strategy. The debate currently rages as to how beneficial they're to markets and how they should be regulated.