this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2024
142 points (94.9% liked)

Explain Like I'm Five

14289 readers
1 users here now

Simplifying Complexity, One Answer at a Time!

Rules

  1. Be respectful and inclusive.
  2. No harassment, hate speech, or trolling.
  3. Engage in constructive discussions.
  4. Share relevant content.
  5. Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
  6. Use appropriate language and tone.
  7. Report violations.
  8. Foster a continuous learning environment.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
sabbah@lemmy.world
AradFort@lemmy.world
rikudou@lemmings.world
Don_Dickle@lemmy.world
Rikudou_Sage@lemmy.world
142
ELI5: Why is high frequency trading allowed? (lemmy.ca)
submitted 2 months ago by Eiri@lemmy.ca to c/explainlikeimfive@lemmy.world
30 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I don't see how it's a benefit to capitalism or companies or, well, anyone, really, to allow people to make thousands of trades a day for minute profits on each.

My gut feeling is that the stock market would not suffer, and less resources would be wasted, if trades and updates to stock prices were limited to, say, one batch per hour.

There are probably reasons the system is the way it is though.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago

That sort of limited trading does happen for some very niche products that don’t have a lot of potential buyers and sellers.

It's actually way more common than you'd think. Trading is frequently internalized in order to maximize arbitration profits.