Blog

Beyond Speed and AI: Using Technology to Build Better Markets

By Don Ross Five years ago, Michael Lewis set off a firestorm in the trading community with his bestseller Flash Boys, accusing high-frequency traders of robbing innocent investors to the tune of untold billions each year.  Unnuanced, for sure, the book nonetheless captured for the general public a problem institutions had been wrestling with for... Read more

Posted on: August 01, 2019

To Avoid Latency Arbitrage, Trade Multilaterally

Don Ross On April 10, Matt Clarke published a superb overview and analysis of anti-latency arbitrage (ALA) mechanisms here in Tabb FORUM, making a strong case for incorporating them (“Speed Bumps: Anti-Latency Arbitrage Mechanisms Make Markets Better”).  I share his view that the high (and rising) cost of shaving nanoseconds in the race to take... Read more

Posted on: June 19, 2019

Why On-Demand Auctions Aren’t Just a Nice Idea

  When I left the world of high-speed market-making back in 2014, friends were flummoxed.  Auctions?  Really?  Nice for openings, nice for closings, but all-day long?  What are you thinking? To be sure, I still have great regard for speed.  As a trader, it served me well for ten years.  But I could also see... Read more

Posted on: April 03, 2019

Instead Of Protection And Price Controls, Let’s Try Competition

The only thing actually disciplining exchange transaction and market data fees is SEC price-capping – not competition, argues PDQ CEO Donald Ross. But, he says, the industry doesn’t need lower price caps; it needs real competition. And we will only get that when the Order Protection Rule is repealed and exchanges are forced to compete... Read more

Posted on: October 26, 2018