Monday, March 21, 2011

High Frequency Trading: Can Any Stock Replace Citigroup? (C)

From NetNet:
Can any stock replace Citigroup at the top of the volume ticker?
Citigroup [C  4.4325    -0.0675  (-1.5%)   ] stock has been the darling of the high frequency trading (HFT) community. Big volume, big float, low volatility, low price—perfect attributes for a stock that is being traded for the sake of being traded, not for any kind of investment. As CNBC’s Bob Pisani has been pointing out today—the goal of all this trading was at least in part, a rebate paid by exchanges to traders that sent volume their way. 

Manoj Narang, Tradeworx Founder and CEO and perhaps… the personification of the high frequency trading market agrees. 

“Rebate-capture on “C” is clearly a "bread-and-butter" trade for lots of HFT firms,” he says.
“There is no such thing as "taking its place", because HFTs are already trading other stocks— presumably at maximal levels—based on their suitability for such a strategy."...MORE