Lecture 8 (no lecture 7) Flashcards
What is market making?
It is an activity where a firm’s trader stands ready to buy and sell
What do market makers need to do/exercise in order to balance their inventory of holdings in these stocks?
Exercise judgement
What is HFT? (give 4 characteristics)
HFT is a type of trading using computer algorithms to rapidly trade securities
1) HFT is characterized by high speeds, high turnover rates and high order-to-trade ratios
2) HFT uses market making and trading strategies carried out by computers to move in and out of their position in milliseconds
3) The high volume and high speeds aims to capture as small as cents in profit on every trade using significant amounts of capital
4) HFT can achieve potentially ten times higher sharpe ratios than traditional buy-and-hold strategies
How do HFT firms perform “market making” activities?
HFT firms use a set of high frequency trading strategies that involve placing a limit order to sell (or offer) or a buy limit order (or bid) in order to earn the bid-ask spread.
What may happen to HFT in extreme volatility
The HFT firm has no obligation to maintain this activity during periods of extreme volatility
What are the 4 impacts of HFT
1) Liquidity
2) Volatility
3) Price discovery
4) Market confidence
What is Liquidity in the 4 impacts of HFT
An increase in liquidity has come from HFT which has led to a reduction in bid-ask spreads
When may trading volume and narrower bid-ask spreads NOT be a reliable indicator of liquidity
During times of significant market volatility
What is Volatility in the 4 impacts of HFT
Volatility can be increased by more aggressive HFT strategies
What is “front running”
It is an illegal practice of having knowledge of your client’s order and executing your own orders first
What is Price Discovery in the 4 impacts of HFT
HFT is good for pricing in short term but not in long term
What is Market Confidence in the 4 impacts of HFT
Market participants may lose confidence in the overall market since they may think it is a rigged system, with HFT having an edge at the expense of investors
What are the 3 things that can be done about HFT
1) Good
2) harmful
3) very harmful
What is “good” in things to do about HFT
HFT has made markets more liquid and decreased transaction costs
What is “harmful” in things to do about HFT
Traders who post standing limit orders that cannot reflect changes in value due to news changes fast enough and lose HFT
What is “very harmful” in things to do about HFT
HFT traders front run traders who are working larger orders, making their trades more expensive
How do HFT firms make their profits/ranges? How do they get an edge over other investors?
HFT firms use faster computers, locating servers closer to exchanges, using algorithmic code, employing many types of orders and paying high speed data feeds and dark pool access and being faster by milliseconds
What needs to be done to fast HFT’s to help out slower ones? What is the risk to these slower HTF’s
The market needs to be slowed down because the fast HFTwill make the slower ones go out of business, allowing for less competition. Less competition will make only a few firms in business increase spreads and increase transaction costs for all participants
What risk does algorithmic trading by HFT pose?
It poses systematic market risks
What are dark pools
Private exhanges not accessible to the public, usually owned by broker-dealer
What does cycle analysis attempt?
attempts to find recurring major and minor peaks and throughs in price movement for better trade timing
How can actual price be forecasted in cycle analysis
By adding short, medium and long term cycles together
What are cycles like in trading ranges?
cycles are fairly regular in that the market peaks half way through the cycle
What are cycles like in trending markets
cycle peak tends to shift left or right depending on the direction of the larger trend (called left or right translation)
What should prices do in rising markets?
Prices should spend more time going up
What should prices do in falling markets
Prices should spend more time going down
How do we define one cycle?
Price movement from a local bottom to a local top and then back to the bottom